What I like

Is not what we have. But, you can't always get what you want. Alas.

Super Sunday.

Again.

Pack v. Steelers

Sounds boring, unless you are from Green Bay (like the LeDucs) or Pittsburg (like the Katos). We're neither, so skiing is a viable option--as always. I would be tempted to go even if it was a team I like.

Conditions today were more or less a repeat of the past four weeks. Sunny, spring conditions, and small crowds.

I left the battery to my camera in the charger at home, so Diane was the team photographer today.

Dylan worked hard on the 540 today.

And the video proof.


It was a great day to enjoy the sunshine in the mountains with the family.

Despite that, I'm coming to the conclusion that deep down I'm a powder snob. Yep, there, I said it. Powder snob.

While any day skiing is better than a day in town, and definitely better than a day at work...nothing beats a powder day. How can one deny the feeling of anticipation of fresh snow? The beauty of snow-laden trees? The feeling of weightlessness that dropping into a steep slot in the trees? The peacefulness of snow falling deep in the mountains?

There is no doubt...powder is more fun.

But that's not what we have today. Or this month. So, I'll patiently wait for the next storm cycles. For the base to build back and for that next 12" or 24" or 36" dump. It's inevitable.

Alas, instead of dreaming, I'll accept what we get--a gloriously sunny day in February.

Spring Break

That's right. Spring break. In January.

I'm simply registering my complaint that it hasn't snowed in nearly a month and that we haven't had any measurable precipitation in a couple of weeks. Looks like more of the same is on the way for the coming week.

The upside is spring conditions in January. The downside is the snowpack is getting decimated. We were up to about 60" at the lodge; it's now down to 22" and shrinking.

When the snow starts melting, Dylan heads for the Park. Some Smart Style advice for newbies.


Respect gets respect, especially when you fly high.
Trails merge.

Diane enjoys the sunshine.

So, while the rest of the country is languishing in deep winter, we get spring. This is trending towards a trend--that is the mid-winter drought. By my estimate it's happened 4 of the last 10 seasons. Feels like a change is in progress.

If this season trends like previous seasons, a return to wet conditions should be in store. Until then, we'll enjoy the sunshine.

The Tree

Tragic.

That is the only word for what happened today. I spent a week thinking about what to write about today, and couldn't get past the charred hulk of metal we passed on the way up. And The Tree.

Family Remembers UO Students

By Jeff Skrzypek -- KEZI

Thursday was a chance to say "good-bye" to two University of Oregon students killed in a weekend car crash. Family, friends and teachers gathered near campus to remember both Collin La More and Ellis Heyer. It was a difficult day for those close to Heyer and La More.

"Ellis was an amazing kid, he just really loved life," said Sheila Heyer, Ellis's mother.

However, it was also a time for laughter and smiles, when family and friends thought back to the two young men that were so full of life.

"He was just such a loving and caring and adventurous person," said Jill Duthie, Collin's mother.

Words that the family of Ellis Heyer and Collin La More use to describe the young men. The two died this past weekend, when the car they were riding in slid off the road and crashed into a tree near Oakridge. Heyer had big plans after college. He wanted to travel to China, in the hopes of sharing eastern medical practices with the west.

"He had so many things that he wanted to do. And just knowing that he's not going to do those, knowing that we're not ever going to be able to huge him," Heyer said.

La More, having already had a brush death once in his life when he was very ill a few years ago, was about to achieve his dreams in life. He was set to graduate in just a few months.

"I will miss that, that I wont get to see him carry on. But I have to keep telling myself, that he did live a full life," Duthie said.

A full life, with memories that spur tears, smiles and laughter from those who loved La more and Heyer. Also, a reminder about just how precious life is.

"Everybody is reminded of that that is apart of our community. I think people should value everyday," said Mike Strong, UO faculty member.

Just as Heyer and La More did.

"Both exceedingly smart. Just great good people in every sense of the word you can think of it. They tried hard in everything they did and wanted the best for everyone. And well miss them everyday and think about them everyday," said Zane Kent and Brooks Chiong, friends.

The Tree. I considered posting a picture of it, but didn't. To provide the details, three UO students were headed up to Mt. Bachelor and hit a patch of ice and skidded into The Tree. Passersby rescued the driver and then shortly later the car burst into flames and burned.

The tree is big leaf maple by the side of the highway. It is now charred about 25 feet up and serves as a reminder of what happened there on January 22, 2010. From the looks of it, the tree will bud out and leaf this year. The trunk is more or less permanently damaged.

We've been driving up to The Pass for more than a decade and have seen our share of accidents--including fatal ones. It always serves as a reminder of how everything can change in a moment. Everything.

Nothing like a pointed stick to help keep things in perspective.

The Other Side

The Other Side. The dreaded Other Side.

It's an unambiguous statement any way one might interpret it. It might refer to an opponent, the opposite side of a coin (or anything for that matter), the afterlife, or any number of other things. A Wikipedia search suggests that lots of books, movies, and music refer to The Other Side. It also poses the question: "why did the chicken cross the road?"

You know the answer.

For the purpose of today's entry, it refers to the parking lot on the South side of Highway 58 from Willamette Pass Ski Area. The dreaded Other Side. We don't like it; parking on the other side means you get to walk across the highway to get to the lifts. It means you got to the mountain after the 800 other cars in the parking lot. It is more an inconvenience than anything. Dylan thinks we overreact to parking across the highway. Maybe. When you consider major resorts, it is not uncommon to park long distances from the hill. You might even have to take a shuttle from the parking lot.

But...we're not talking about major resorts here. We're talking about Willamette Pass.

The view from The Other Side.

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II.

III.

I guess the view from the other side is not so bad. But, as the cliche says: the snow is always whiter on the other side of the road.

The Other Side means traffic hazards. The chicken must cross the road, and avoid cars, trucks, semi's and snowplows in the process.

The good news is we made it. There and Back.

Conditions were not stellar today. That was my rationale for rolling out of bed late and getting to the mountain around noon. Fortunately, my information sources are accurate. Conditions were not stellar today: a dusting of snow over hard pack.

The good news was the resort built new features on By George. Three big jumps and a rail. I want to think that our comments might have had some impact on management...but I'm not that naive. At any rate, Dylan was not complaining (nor were any of the other park rats).

Dylan and Diane have fun on Good Time Charlie.

Dylan looking back at Diane.

I'm goin' there. Right there.

And then I'm riding the pipe to air city.

Dylan thought it would be a good idea to attempt a Backside Rodeo 540 today. Since I wasn't sure what a Rodeo entailed, I looked it up:

Turning frontside 180 while completing an inverted 360 rotation for a total of 540. A rodeo 720 is when you would turn frontside 360 while completing an inverted 360 rotation for a total 720.

But that's a frontside Rodeo. To elucidate:

Coming off a jump and turning your back down the hill, flipping 540 and landing fakie or rotating a total of 720 and landing regular.

Ok, that clears up everything. Here's Dylan's second attempt... in time stop photos.

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IV.

V.

VI.

Crash landing.

Somehow, I don't think that's it. Dylan says it's essentially a backflip with a 180. Here's a how to guide:

How to Backside Rodeo 540

We'll see how this progresses over the season.

Dylan airs into the trees.

 

Shiny, happy skiers...

This year goes to 11

Or at least that is what Nigel Tufnel from Spinal Tap would say. As well as a lot of my friends who have a strange sense of humor. As it turns out, this is also my 11th day of this season. Ten days on the mountain before new years--that's the most early season skiing I've bagged since growing up in Colorado.

We reinstated the New Year's Day tradition of skiing instead of hanging around drinking and watching football. It's kind of any easy choice, no? Apparently, many other people are adopting our tradition--much to my disappointment. It used to be that holidays were the best time to ski--everyone else was off celebrating in places that left the best to us.

No more.

We arrived fashionably late today to a full parking lot and no less than half a dozen buses...presumably full of gapers. When I registered my surprise and dismay, Diane reminded me that I said the same thing two years ago when we went on New Year's Day (we were rained out last year). Ugh, why do all these people adopt our traditions? One could look at it in the sense that we were ahead of the curve, or conversely, that they are late to the game. I wish they would just stay home and watch the game. Navigating around them on the hill is annoying, and slightly dangerous.

No new snow today, and the weather was partly sunny and cold. Cold is good, but Northwest cold is Cold. Twenty degrees here feels at least ten degrees cooler than in Colorado. I attribute it to humidity.

Since there was no new snow, I tele-d all day. It was pretty painful--not because I'm out of shape, but because my body seems to be revolting against too much skiing. I may have to consult my personal trainer.

Amazingly, management put new features in the park. Two big jumps to replace the little rail (which was completely buried from last week's storm), and a smaller jump and a reconfigured kink rail. Dylan was stoked.

Here's Dylan doing a 360 off the big jump in time-lapse:

I. Cutting it off the lip

II. Backwards with the grab

III. Holding on

IV. Finishing up the rotation

V. Release

VI. Landing


And that, folks, is how it's done.

One of the fun things about small resorts and six buses of gapers, is that all the dudes head for the park. It's some kind of macho thing. Most of them can barely ride, much less ride off a jump, but that doesn't stop them. A decent percentage don't carry enough speed to make it up the ramp; well over half don't clear the knuckle and land hard on the flat. It's sort of amusing and annoying all at the same time.

Dylan gets good air off of the small jump.

Dylan does the indy grab on Peekaboo.

We didn't spend the entire day stalking Dylan in the park. We did a lot of runs on the lower mountain and then ventured up into the fog on the top and over to the back side. It was cold, cold, cold.

Diane braves the cut through to get back to the front side.

The sun was peeking through the clouds. This picture doesn't really do justice to the lighting. It was quite striking.

Diane gives me the look that let's me know I stole her picture idea. Whaddya gonna do?

One last huck off the little jump.

And then home to play guitar with my musician buddies.

All in all, a great way to start the new year. And remember,

This year goes to 11!

The Test

After yesterday's expedition, we knew conditions would be, as they say "epic" today. Not only that, but the snow report indicated 10" of new in the last 12 hours; the DOT, 20. All we needed was some electricity to get the lift moving.

The drive up was frustratingly slow. It got cold in town and big stretches of road had a layer of black ice. No big deal with studs, but a scary proposition without them. Moreover, some assjack trucker was going 40 mph all the way to Oakridge and didn't have the courtesy to realize there was a long line of anxious skiers behind him. The nerve.

As you might ascertain, we made it. We boarded the lift at 9:05, five minutes later than scheduled, but before the first chair made it to the top. Looking up Success from EPA. If you look closely you can see our boot pack line up the left side. Not much left of it due to the 10" of fresh overnight.

It was a bluebird day. We don't get many of those this time of year in Oregon, so you have to enjoy them when you can. Looking west from the 50-degree face of SDN.

As conditions dictated, no stopping for photographs occurred until run #8. We ravaged the runs, then worked our way into the trees on the front side, and ultimately over to SDN. I found myself in a spot I didn't want to be in on the first trip down--at the top of a cliff with few options. For a moment, it looked like I might have to bootpack out; the worst of all possible outcomes. Instead I billy-goated over a small tree to my left and found a chute to slide down to where I could ultimately shred out.

That did not happen a second time. We dialed in on a few really good slots and hit them over and over. All you needed to do was move one line of trees over to get an untracked line.

Dylan shreds the steep and deep (very deep... 3+ feet) on SDN.

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II.

III.

I'm really enjoying the new camera (thanks Diane!). It has a burst mode that is fast enough to get some really nice segments. The three photos above and below are all from the same lines (not necessarily in exact sequence of the burst).

I got the next line over below the cliff band.

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III.

Thanks to Dylan for stopping long enough to hold the shutter down. Some of the best powder skiing I've ever done. I keep saying that, so we must be in the right place.

On to the topic of today's post: The Test. I call it The Test because what better way to put my new fatty boards through their paces than in three feet of powder? If you can think of one let me know. I'm here to report that they passed. I'm getting the feel for the skis and really like how they handle in deep snow. My theory is that it's a combination of the width, the rocker, and the twin tips that makes them so easy to handle. They turn on a dime and it's really easy to scrub speed on them when you need to (like to jib around a tree to get to the next slot on SDN). In short, they are precisely the ski I hoped the would be. Thanks again to mom and dad for setting me up.

We were rotating runs through the trees with hits on the road so Dylan could practice the front flips.

He's getting it dialed in.

The aftermath.

Diane came up later and we did a run from the top. She got to witness Dylan's progress on the flipping action. I'm not sure she entirely approves.

I'll close out today with the cold smoke of Dylan shredding through the trees.

Happy penultimate day of 2010!

The Expedition

After watching it rain all day yesterday, we were enthusiastic about the weather report. It called for freezing levels to drop substantially and for 15" - 24" of new snow at pass levels. I had a good feeling when I woke up and saw the temperature was 35 degrees at our house. That means it will be somewhere around 20 degrees at the pass. The DOT report said 9 inches; The Pass said 15. We decided to see for ourselves.

So we left early. It was snowing hard by Oakridge. People were chaining up at 2000'. The trip up the pass was as bad as I've experienced, but the ski wagon can do anything with the studs on.

We arrived at The Pass to a line of cars backed up on the highway. It was easy to see the problem: some bonehead in an Audi had abandoned his car (no snow tires or chains) in the drop-off area and the cat was broken down on the other side. Pretty standard operating procedure for The Pass... let it snow a bunch and don't bother to plow the lot until it's too deep to do effectively. The got it done... sort of.

The base looks, um, adequate. There's a good two feet.

In short, La Nina delivered.

We got ready and headed for EPA to catch rope drop. Something, however, was not right. Nobody was standing in line and lots of folks were heading for Twilight.

This underscores one of the flaws of having a 480 V 3-phase electric left at the top of the pass. It doesn't function so well when the power is down. It was looking like we would be spending the day riding Twilight with the holiday gapers. Oh the horror.

What you can't see from this photo is that most of those people are bogged down in two feet of fresh snow. The lower mountain is not steep enough to ride with this much snow.

We knew at that moment what had to be done and who would do it. The Expedition was on!

It is probably not much of a mystery to readers, just what this expedition entailed. But, in the event you have yet to catch on...

It entailed bootpacking up 800 feet of vertical through three foot deep snow. We were not in the least bit intimidated. The prospect of untouched lines through three feet of fresh snow was the only alternative.

Initially it was just Dylan and I. We were shortly joined by Brian, our new best buddy on The Expedition. We welcomed his arrival as a fellow brother seeking the best the day had to offer. Besides, having another warm body to break trail was not something we would argue with.

The going was tough.

But the tough kept going. Two more bros joined us about two-thirds of the way up. We got a lot of love for breaking trail that far; they were eager to share the wealth and immediately jumped to the front of the line.

New bro Brian looks back down The Expedition line.

We finally made it to the top. The big question was RTS or Success? It was Success, while others in the line opted for RTS, the wind was blowing a gale straight up it--our evaluation was it would be scraped for the first couple hundred feet and visibility would be sketchy at best.

Dylan braves the elements at the summit.

We ripped down Success in less than two minutes. 90 minutes of hard bootpacking for two minutes of ripping. On the balance...totally worth it!

So worth it, we did it again. The second trip up was like walking up an 800' column of slippery stairs. Much easier than breaking trail, but by no means easy.

Dylan ponders the value of The Expedition.

The weather is even more gnarly as we approach the summit for Round II.

Staging for the second run. We opted for Timburr this time--less wind exposure.

Dylan rips 3' of fresh I:

II:

III:

The snow was bottomless, but not in the sense that you sunk to the bottom. The float was outstanding--I didn't sink in more than a foot or so on any turn. Some of the best powder, and hardest earned, that I've ever skied.

We needed a break after 1600' of vertical (probably more like 2500' given the fact that every step smashed down more snow) and headed to the lodge. The lower mountain was ravaged and very difficult due to a combination of poor visibility and being hammered from all the hiking and skiing.

We retired to the lodge for lunch where we found out that we were soaked inside and out. Inside from sweating during the climb up, outside from, well, all the snow. We decided we'd had enough. The prospects of EPA opening today were slim to none and bootpacking up Success twice was all we could muster. The walk to the car was as cold as anything I've experienced in years.

Today was a new record for us: three runs in three hours and out. We probably got all of 3,000' vertical feet, but it was worth the effort.

With any luck the power will be on tomorrow and we'll get to ski everything that got left behind today.