Matt – Splitboard Oregon

December 31, 2025 – Keeping the Streak Alive!

The final day of December finally arrived, and with it, so did much anticipation for whether or not we’d be able to get out and find some snow for Dan to ski on to keep his Turns-All-Year streak alive. After skiing in early November, Dan had knee replacement surgery around the 12th of the month, and whether or not he’d be able to keep his streak going was very much in question. He’d been experiencing some stiffness and soreness during Christmas week, but fortunately he was feeling good during the last week of December and the weather aligned for the Pass to have (only) the Sleepy Hollow chairlift spinning, so we made plans to head up and see if he could make a run or two. Joe and I met early at Dan’s house, and after loading our gear into his Tesla, we headed up to the Pass.

Since none of us had patrolled yet because the season was off to such a dismal start, we met up with Chris to get our season passes printed, and then geared up in the patrol room. Both Joe and I were glad to see Dan was able to step right into his skis and skate over to the chair, and we worked our way over as well.

We loaded the chair without incident, and Dan unloaded without a problem as well. As soon as he took off, I could tell it was going to be a good day — it was like he was feeling 100%. I headed down and snapped a few photos as he skied by, and as usual he made the turns look effortless, despite being just over 6 weeks out from having a fully replaced knee.

Dan enjoying some turns on the final day of December

On the drive up, we had discussed maybe doing two to three laps, but Dan was feeling good so we pounded out 6-7 laps in rapid succession, enjoying both sides of the lift on good grooming on the man-made snow. After 7 laps or so, we decided to head in and take a break and enjoy a beverage as well as a bite to eat.

Dan and Laurie outside patrol after a morning of turns

We ditched our gear near the patrol room, and set up shop on a couple of coolers behind Dan’s car. The sun was out and it was a beautiful day, and everything almost seemed to be normal, with the exception of the lack of snow in the ski area. There wasn’t even enough snow to make a berm from what had been plowed in the parking lot.

Dan enjoying a cold one after a few good laps

I pulled out a tasty Hop Lei IPA from Aloha Beer Company that I’d picked up on the Big Island in Hawaii a month or so earlier while vacationing with my family, and it hit the spot. I reveled in the moment of hanging out with Dan and Joe, enjoying a good beer in the sunshine, and making turns on Sleepy, and was super glad that I’d took the day off work to take part in keeping Dan’s streak alive.

Enjoying a break at the car after several Sleepy laps

After our beverage and snack, we headed back over to the lift to pound out a few more laps. Dan even took the camera and snapped a few shots of me enjoying some New Year’s eve boarding on Sleepy!

We rode the lift four more times for a total of 11 laps, with a combined vertical of over 1,000 feet, which Dan counted as legitimate to keep his streak alive (his usual number is 1,500 feet, but 1,056 would have to do for December). Satisfied with a great day of making turns, we ended the day by heading down to the Gold Lake snow park to grill up some brats. As usual, the brats hit the spot, and put the cap on an excellent day of skiing and riding at the Pass. Although it wasn’t big vertical, deep powder, or riding gnarly terrain, it will go down as one of my favorite days at the Pass and one that won’t soon be forgotten. Cheers to Dan for keeping his streak going. His consecutive month count as of December 2025 now stands at 362 months (30 years, 2 months).

Apres grilling at the Gold Lake snowpark

December 28, 2025 – Mt Hood, Southside

I was wanting to get a second day in during December, which seemed pretty dismal considering during a normal December I’d have 7 or 8 days of skiing, but given this year a second day was a nice treat. Conditions were looking good up at Mt Hood, so Joe and I made plans to head up and see what we could find. We met early at the Cop Shop in Albany, and after piling gear into Joe’s truck, we headed up the freeway, making it to the mountain in time to see the sunrise over the hills to the east.

There were quite a few folks already gearing up, given both that it was winter break and that the sun was out after a bit of fresh snow. We geared up quickly, and hit the skin track with the masses, working our way up towards the top of the Mile and then on to the Palmer.

December view from above the Climber’s Lot

I got a text from Rich, who I’d ridden with a few weeks earlier, that he was about 20 minutes behind us, so we stopped at the top of the Palmer to enjoy the views and eat a snack while he worked his way up. A few minutes later, Rich showed up, and we headed on up since the snow conditions were conducive. I donned ski crampons above the Palmer, which made for smooth traveling. Joe had the wrong bindings for his crampons, but made do without too much issue.

The traveling above the Palmer was smooth, with the snow being somewhat smooth and wind buffed. The weather was gorgeous, and I snapped several shots as we worked our way up, including several below. The rime on the steel cliffs was particularly beautiful…

A few hundred feet below the White River headwall and the Devil’s Kitchen area, the snow surface became icy, and we switched to booting with crampons. Joe had an issue transitioning in a difficult spot from skins (without ski crampons) to crampons, so we lost a bit of time. Rich continued on, and we caught up with him later at the Devil’s Kitchen area…

Looking small skinning under the massive rime cliffs

Illumination Rock on a sunny late December day

At the Devil’s Kitchen, the fumaroles were puffing out sulfur as usual, and we enjoyed a quick break in the warm sun. The temps were quite warm for mid-December (an omen of the warm winter to come, unfortunately), and I stripped down to just my base-layer before we headed up towards the Hogsback ridge.

Looking down towards the White River Headwall

After our quick rest, I headed up to the Hogsback with Rich, and enjoyed the views while waiting for Joe. Rich was keen to tag the summit, so he headed on up, while I chilled with a view to the south as well as of the upper fumarole and waited for Joe to arrive.

Joe arrived 20 minutes later or so, and after some discussion, I decided to forgo a summit climb and instead enjoy a beer at 10,500 feet along with the excellent views. My beer of choice for the day was a smooth drinking and aptly named White Mountain Porter from the Big Island Brewhaus that I’d picked up while vacationing in early November with the family on the Big Island. It hit the spot, and it felt good to enjoy the tasty beverage in the warm sun with the good views.

White Mountain Porter from Big Island Brewing

A bit later, we readied to enjoy some quality December turns. Before heading down, Joe snapped a shot of me on the Hogsback, and then it was time to step into bindings and get our ski on. I dropped in first, and enjoyed some quality wind buff down towards the Kitchen, and then stopped at a suitable spot to shoot a few shots of Joe as he dropped in.

The turns were fun, and we worked our way through a couple of spicy spots and then headed out towards the White River Headwall, traversing hard right to ski the Zigzag side, which held fairly smooth snow.

Once we worked our way into the Vietnam couloir, Joe grabbed the camera and fired off several shots of me enjoying the turns, including the four shots below…

Enjoying some late December snow on Mt Hood

We continued on down, and I captured some pics of Joe enjoying the smooth snow in the late December sunshine. Once we made it to the top of the Palmer, we took a quick break to catch our breath and contemplate our best path down.

It looked like about 500 people had been up to the top of the Palmer judging by the number of tracks on the snowfield, and it wasn’t surprising given the weather and winter break time frame. That said, skier’s left looked to be mostly untracked with smooth snow, so we clicked into our bindings and headed down. Indeed, the turns were creamy and smooth.

We continued left, and were rewarded with good quality turns. As we scoped things out further, it appeared that the Salmon River canyon was untracked and filled in enough to link turns all the way down. Score! We headed in and made some of the best turns of the day. I snapped a bunch of photos of Joe on the way down, and we milked the turns right down to the Climber’s Lot.

At the lot, both of us were stoked on the day and really happy to get an additional, and quality, day in December. We hung out for a few minutes after de-booting, and then it was time to hit the road. Unfortunately, the traffic in Govy was absolute shit, and it took over an hour to go a couple of miles with all the people out and about. Eventually, we made it out of the traffic jam, and the rest of the drive home was smooth sailing. All in all, it was another good day on the mountain, and one I won’t soon forget.

Looking back at the mountain after a great day

December 13, 2026 – Mt Hood, Southside Corn

With winter taking it’s sweet time to arrive, and since I was itching to get some December turns in, I decided to head up solo to Mt Hood to see what I could find. I left the house early, and made the drive north, arriving at the climber’s lot around 7:45 am. The mountain was looking more like October rather than December, and it felt weird to be heading up the road in approach shoes rather than snowboard boots. Nevertheless, I felt like it was going to be a good day.

About halfway between the car and Silcox, the morning alpenglow on the mountain was undeniably beautiful, and I had to stop to snap a few pictures. A short time later, I arrived at the overlook into the Mile Canyon, and made a mental note to take a different route down on the descent.

A bit more hiking brought me to Silcox, around 7,000 feet, and it was at this elevation that I was finally able to don skins and put the shoes on my pack. The snow was quite frozen and firm as I headed out, and after a few hundred feet I decided it was appropriate to put the ski crampons on to be more efficient.

I worked my way up the Palmer and made good time. Above the mid-station, the Timberline crew was performing some maintenance on the lift. The line on one of the spans had come off and they were de-icing it and working to get it back on the sheaves.

One of the Timberline cats on the Palmer

I skinned by them and arrived at the top of the Palmer, and found a few other folks there. One group of two were quite interesting – a couple of younger guys from Guatemala. One of them, named Joseph, offered me some Guatemalan coffee, which hit the spot after climbing a couple thousand vertical. Turns out he was quite the volcano addict and photographer. He showed me some pretty cool pictures he’d taken of Volcan de Fuego in his home country and it was unlike anything I’d seen before. Definitely pretty cool. We exchanged Instagram info and then it was time for me to take a lap and see if any of that firm snow was turning to corn.

Cell phone selfie from above the top of the Palmer

A few minutes later, I shoved off from the top of the Palmer and started down. The top few turns were firm but carvable. Further down, the snow softened and became really nice, and the lower third was some of the best corn I’d skied in several years. Pretty ironic for mid-December, but I definitely wasn’t complaining. I worked my way down below the mid-station and into the gullies, stopping a few hundred feet lower. When I’d shoved off at the top of the run earlier, I wasn’t certain if I was going to do more than one run, but now I was stoked and definitely ready to make a full day of it.

I skinned back up with an extra spring in my step, and made it to the top of the Palmer again in nothing flat. While there, I met Rich, who I’d known casually through his work at Backcountry Gear in Eugene before they closed last year. We chatted some and decided to head up above the Palmer to check out the conditions. The snow was firm, but the temps were warm, so we donned ski crampons and headed up.

Around 9,400 feet, I decided to call it as it became clear it wasn’t going to soften and the conditions were getting worse. Rich decided he wanted to go up a bit further, so we made loose plans to possibly meet up later in the day for some turns lower down.

Heading up towards Crater Rock on an icy December day

Before I headed down, I determined it was a good time to snap a few photos as well as enjoy the beer I’d been hauling around in my pack. My beer of choice for the day was a smooth drinking “Da Hawaii Life” lite lager from Maui Brewing Company that I’d brought back the previous month from Maui while vacationing with the family. It didn’t disappoint, and before long it was gone and it was time to make some more turns.

Selfie sponsor shot from the top of the Palmer

Cell phone pic from 9,400 feet on Mt Hood

Once the beer can and tripod were safely stowed back in my pack, I stepped carefully (due to the icy conditions) into my bindings, and started down. The turns were firm and crusty wind sastrugi, but turned to corn once I was a few hundred feet above the top of the Palmer. I stopped at the top of the Palmer briefly, and then shredded the snowfield below in perfect corn conditions, working all the way down to my previous low point before stopping.

Again, the turns were some oft the best corn I’d had in years, so it was an easy decision to head back up for a third lap. A few minutes later, the skins were back on the boards, and I made quick work back to the top of the Palmer. While putting my split together and eating a snack, Rich came down from above and we regrouped to enjoy the ski out to the car together. Turns out he went up another 400-500 feet higher than me and conditions continued to get worse. At any rate, we skied the Palmer together in perfect corn and it didn’t disappoint.

Skiing the Palmer in low snow conditions

I fired off some pictures with my R5 as we headed down, and eventually I led us over to skier’s left to where the best corn was from earlier in the day and it was still awesome. From there, remembering how bad the Mile canyon looked, I suggested we head down the small snow finger that led nearly back to the Climber’s lot, but provided a much better (in my opinion) ski down.

Our choice to descend skier’s left proved to be a good one, and we were able to slide to within a few hundred feet of the parking lot with only one short carry.

Skiing the “finger” back down towards the parking lot

It was a short hike back to the car, and soon we were changing out of ski boots and into — I know this sounds ridiculous — shorts and t-shirts. It was around 55 degrees at the car, and about 60 in the direct sun. Pretty nuts for mid-December. Rich invited me to split an Alesong beer with him, and it was definitely refreshing after a great day. I’d never had a beer from Alesong Brewing out of Eugene before, but after tasting that one I made a note to get out there this year and check them out!

Enjoying a tasty Alesong in the Climber’s lot

Around 4:00 pm, it was time to pack up and head for home, since the daylight was burning quickly on what was close to the shortest day of the year. I bid Rich farewell and headed out, stopping below Govy to shoot a picture of the mountain in the afternoon light, before making the drive down to Sandy and home via I-5. All things considered, and although it wasn’t a traditional December day on the mountain, it was one I won’t soon forget and one of my more memorable outings on Mt Hood.

Looking back at the mountain from Highway 35

November 21, 2025 – Mt Hood, White River Snowfield

After thoroughly enjoying a two week vacation with the family in the Hawaiian islands, I was eager to get November turns in the books, which would mark a milestone Turns-All-Year month for me at 240. Joe was game to ski as well, so we made plans to head to Mt Hood to get get what little snow there was on the mountain. We met early at the cop shop and made the drive up I5, arriving at the climber’s lot to find the mountain pretty bare but plenty skiable.

We started off in trail shoes given the lack of snow down low, and before we departed the climbers lot I snapped a photo of my truck beer for later in the day – a smooth tasting Xplorado IPA from Xicha Brewing. A few minutes later, we shouldered packs and headed up the road towards Silcox.

A few minutes and a thousand feet later, we were up at Silcox and enjoying a quick break along with the view before we continued up towards the Palmer. The firm snow made for easy traveling, and our hopes were that it would turn to corn a few hours later.

Our skis enjoying a quick break at Silcox

The coverage became a bit better as we worked our way up to the top of the Palmer, and from there we made the decision to head up to the White River to check out the snowfield, which held the smoothest looking snow that we could see on the mountain.

Looking back down our skin track from above the Palmer

As we worked our way up towards Beer Rock, something didn’t look quite right with the snowfield. The snowfield looked more like a valley rather than the traditional level field of snow we were accustomed to, and it was then we realized just how much residual snow had melted over the previous summer.

At any rate, we skinned almost to Beer Rock, and then switched to booting for the final section where we decided we’d climbed high enough for the day and would call it. The snow higher up looked more wind effected and firm, so we enjoyed the views and a beverage while removing skins and getting ready to ride. My beer of choice for the ski was a easy drinking Living Daylights IPA from Scuttlebutt Brewing that I’d picked up back in late summer while in Everett, WA to attend the pacific northwest ski patrol convention. It hit the spot and after finishing our beers we were ready to ride.

A tasty Scuttlebutt Living Daylights IPA

As we readied to drop in, Joe offered to take the camera and shoot some pictures of me as we descended, which was awesome, so I handed it over and once he was a few hundred yards down slope I started down while he fired off some shots, including the three pictures below…

Dropping in for some smooth November corn

Enjoying the turns and the views above the Palmer

I skied down to him, enjoying some really excellent November snow, and headed further down slope before stopping. The turns were great, and by the time Joe made it down to me we were both pretty stoked on the conditions. From there, we continued on down the snowfield, enjoying the nearly perfect snow and taking some more pictures along the way.

Enjoying a quick break on the White River snowfield

We enjoyed every skiable foot of the White River snowfield before traversing over and liking up with the Palmer for some more skiing. The upper Palmer was holding in quite nicely, and although not as smooth as the White River, still afforded some quality turns.

Carving a toeside turn on the Palmer snowfield

We worked our way down into the Palmer Canyon, and continued enjoying the smooth turns until we ended up back at Silcox. From there, we elected to ski the Mile Canyon. Conditions in the Mile weren’t the best, but it beat walking and we were able to slide to within a few hundred vertical feet of the lodge before running out of snow.

Once the snow ran out, it was time to throw the skis on the packs and head for the truck. While packing up, we met Lucas and Mallory who had also been up skiing. Turns out Lucas knew a few friends of mine from Bend, and we enjoyed some chitchat on the hike back to the parking lot together. A few minutes later, we were back at the truck, and it felt good to get out of ski and snowboard boots, and into some more comfortable clothes. Neither Joe nor I were in the mood for brats (even though we packed ’em), so decided to get a jump start on the drive home and hit the road. All things considered, it was a pretty great day on the mountain, and I was more than happy to have my November turns and my 240th month in the books. Below are a couple of parting shots from the day.

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Author: Matt

December 31, 2025 – Keeping the Streak Alive!

December 28, 2025 – Mt Hood, Southside

December 13, 2026 – Mt Hood, Southside Corn

November 21, 2025 – Mt Hood, White River Snowfield

Protected: October 26, 2025 – Early Season Pow Turns