Willamette Pass
Finally. It finally snowed enough to get me up at 6:30 on a Sunday and head for the mountain. Eight inches doesn't exactly qualify as an epic dump, but given that it was 50 degrees two days ago, it's enough to check out. I misplaced my phone during prep and ended up leaving 15 minutes later than I wanted. I arrived at 8:30 and the parking lot was already 1/3 full. As always, straight to guest services to get my pass before the line gets outrageous.
In the liftline at 8:50 and watching patrol go up. Operations were unusually prompt today.
The restless masses await the ceremonial rope drop.
Eight inches was just enough to cover the icy rime underneath from all the warm weather. As always, the first few runs we're pretty fun.
Went over to the backside as soon as it opened. The Einstein lifty wasn't paying attention when we loaded and the random guy next to me sat down just as I tried to flip the chair down. I bailed into the pit since riding up with the seatback up wasn't super attractive. The other guy did it.
Backside I
Backside II
I pretty quickly got off in the steep deep. This particular line was very steep and pretty deep. Much steeper than the photo suggests.
First run through the woods was great - I was the first person in so it was all virgin pow.
The Dragon's Back.
In the "I'm insane and wanna die" department, someone straighlined down the side of Dragon's Back. I unfortunately missed this event, but note the line terminates in some very large trees on a pretty steep angle. I've seen people ride this before, but never straight down. Props to whoever the mad person was.
As if straightlining were not enough, the second line on lookers right over the spicy basalt was even more insane. Again, I didn't get to witness this stroke of madness. Looking at the line it terminates in the deep woods. Much respect for whoever tracked that. Hopefully they'll posted POV footage on youtube.
The sun does shine in Oregon in February.
Lots of cool misty clouds started rolling in by afternoon.
Diamond Peak and Odell Lake.
Odell Lake.
Overall, a great day. I left around 2 - it got warm and the snow started consolidating. More annoying was the number of people making tracks through my private stash. The ski team shredded part of it (good for them, bad for me). The word apparently is getting around. I blame social media and bro culture. Modern equipment doesn't help--it allows people to do things beyond their ability.
I was home by 4:30. Since it was still light and the lawn was exceeding 8", I mowed the lawn and raked some leaves. Then I went and put a coat of paint on the downstairs bedroom I've been working on. All the repairs are starting to come together. They need to - my guess is we'll put the house up in about two months.
Hopefully I won't have to wait another month for the next powder day. The season is passing right before my eyes and I want to get as much skiing in as possible. Right now it looks like the next pow is at least 7-10 days out. Ugh.
