Author: Matt

The first weekend of June arrived, and with it, so did the “25th Annual Gathering of Friends” for the Nuts and Bolts ski patrol clinics at Mt Hood. I was looking forward to heading back to Mt Hood again this year, and excited to have a few new crew members joining us. It was going to be a bittersweet Nuts and Bolts for me as well, since my son Shaun, who had accompanied me for the last three years, was going to be graduating on Sunday. At any rate, I met up with Brian and Shannon at the Harrisburg exit on I-5 on Thursday afternoon, and Brian hopped in the Tesla (Shannon drove their truck) and we caravanned up the freeway. After a brief stop to get some fresh strawberries, we pulled into Govy and checked into our condo at Collins Lake. After unloading our gear and getting the situation in order, we headed up to the Huckleberry Inn to get some food, and were joined by James, Ian and Matty.

The milk shakes at the Huckleberry always hit the spot, and we even were gifted a few huge donuts by the staff to take with us. We headed back to the condo a bit later and enjoyed the donuts, and Brian served everyone up a piece of huckleberry pie he ordered from the restaurant earlier. Before long it was getting late, so we headed for bed in anticipation of a fun day of clinics and free riding in the morning. 

The morning dawned cold, but the sun was out and it looked like it was going to be a good day. We arrived at Timberline around 7:30 am, and after checking in and donning gear, attended the morning meeting with the cadre of Friday patrollers. Plenty of the usual suspects were in attendance, and we chatted about various topics to take place during the day.

As usual, I snapped several photos during the morning check-in, and then found my way to my group, which was the instructor trainer’s workshop with the Edge sled. I paired up with Brian, at least initially, and also with Jack who was going to lead the discussion and training.

After getting our groups coordinated, we headed to the lifts with orders to shuttle gear to the top of the Palmer and meet up there. The scene at the bottom of the Mile was pretty typical of past years with patrollers and gear everywhere, albeit one difference was we had to walk to the lift and upload it with our gear in tow, since there wasn’t any snow this year down low given the terrible winter.

We made it to the top of the Palmer in short order, and the wind was blowing and it was quite cold. The snow was also firm, but well groomed and looked ready to rip! We took a lap and enjoyed some fun turns down to the mid-station, and then loaded back up to talk about the finer points of running the Edge sled.

For our first run down the hill with the loaded sled, I volunteered to hop in the sled and be ballast, and a patroller named Wally assumed the position in the handles. We headed down, and I snapped a few photos from the sled, which always look pretty cool…

We worked our way down to the Palmer mid-station, and loaded the sled and headed back up the hill for another run. Over the course of the next couple of hours, everyone took a turn in the handles, on the tail rope, in the sled, and providing feedback. I was able to snap several more photos as the morning progressed, including the shots below…

The weather stayed cold all morning, but it kept the snow nice and we were able to spin multiple laps without it getting too soft. We took a quick break for lunch around noon, and I enjoyed a peanut butter and honey sandwich along with the view, and then it was time for a final round of sled work before cutting loose to freeride for an hour or so before calling it a day on the slopes.

After our final sled lap with the Edge, we stowed the sled and gear at the top of the Palmer and I regrouped with Brian and we enjoyed a couple of laps on the Palmer before heading down. The snow was still riding great, and I captured the below photos of Brian enjoying a few nice turns on the Palmer…

A bit later, having satisfied our urge to carve a bunch more turns, it was time to head down the Mile and regroup with the rest of the crew at Timberline. I stopped partway down the Mile Canyon to snap a phone selfie, recognizing it might be the only photo of me on snow for this trip given the inclement weather forecast for Saturday, and then headed down.

At the lodge, the Willamette Pass contingent ordered a drink from the Ram’s Head and found a table on the main level to enjoy our tasty beverages before getting ready for the remainder of the day. My gin and tonic hit the spot, and it felt nice to relax in the warm lodge after a cooler than usual day on the mountain.

A bit later, we departed the lodge and headed back down to Govy, and I was stoked to get the mountain bike out of the garage and head up back up the hill with Brian to get some riding in. Usually there’s too much snow in early June to get on the bikes, but that wasn’t the case this year, so we were keen to take advantage. Shannon was game to drop us off at the lodge so we could ride back to town, and a few minutes later we were geared up and ready to go. The plan was to take the Timberline trail down to Govy, and it worked out pretty nicely.

The ride down was sweet, and we only encountered a few snow patches on the upper section. The trail spit us out basically right in town, and we swung by the Mt Hood Brew Pub so I could get a six-pack of their pale ale for a future snowboard session. From there, it was a short ride back to the condo, and then it was time to head to the Ratskellar for the evening of pizza and fun with the entire Nuts & Bolts crew. The evening was fun as usual, although I was missing Shaun after getting to hang out with him at that venue for the past three years. Nevertheless, it was a great evening, capped off by a dip in the hot tub with the crew before heading home for the night.

The next morning, the weather turned, and it was raining hard. It was announced that the on-mountain events for the day would be postponed, so I made the decision to head to Bend since I wouldn’t be able to attend Sunday anyway due to graduation. My friend Stratton’s memorial was later that afternoon, and I was grateful to be able to attend. The drive to Bend via highway 26 and 97 was really pretty, and Stratton’s memorial was well-attended and moving. Stratton, I miss you my friend.

After Stratton’s memorial, I departed from Bend and headed home, arriving late but happy with a good couple of days thus far. The following morning I attended Shaun’s high school graduation with the rest of my family, and that along with the after-party capped off a great three-day weekend. I’m super proud of the man that Shaun has become, and can only look forward to more fun days of turns in the mountains with him as he works his way through college and beyond. Until then, below is a parting shot of Shaun and I at his graduation.