Category: Lift Served

March 8, 2008, Mt Bachelor

Todd, Andy and I had an excellent day of spring riding on Mt Bachelor. We spent most of our time riding the mountain’s south side in fresh snow conditions, which turned to mashed potatoes later in the afternoon. I found numerous cornices to drop off of, including this one on the backside above the glades……

Cornice drop on the backside of Mt Bachelor – March 2008

Unfortunately, I lost my other photos in a computer crash, so this is the only surviving photo from the day. Overall, when you get sunshine and fresh snow at Mt. Bachelor later in the year, it’s a good place to be! Few people, lots of vertical, and good times!

Month 49 – December 30, 2009, Hoodoo

During the month of December in 2009, I didn’t have many chances to get much free riding in due to low snow depths at the local backcountry spots and numerous days at Willamette Pass for ski patrol training. So I headed out to Hoodoo to check out the fresh snow that had fallen and to ride Buell’s K2 Gyrator. The Gyrator features powder rocker, and it rides powder like a dream. I spent most of my time riding the 8-10 inches of fresh snow in the summit bowl and east face. The Gyrator handled the fresh snow superbly, and wasn’t a problem on the soft groomers. I spent most of the day riding solo, and it was good to get some nice turns in to end the year. I snapped a photo of the board at the bottom of the east face with Hayrick Butte in the background…..

Hayrick Butte, December 2009

I made turns until about 2:00, when I decided to call it a day and head for home. It was still snowing when I left, but the mountain was pretty tracked out and I felt good about my day. Overall, it was a great way to end the year.

My Truck & Board

August 2, 2008 – Palmer Glacier, Mt Hood

Mt Hood was calling our names for August turns, so Todd and I headed up and the conditions didn’t disappoint. 2008 has been an epic year- we even got some lift served riding at Willamette Pass in June! The weather was iffy early in the morning, but by the time we loaded the first chairlift, I knew we would have a good day. The clouds burned off and the sun came out to play. We spun several laps on the Palmer chair before taking a break out on the White River snowfield for lunch. By 11:00, most of the people had left the hill with the exception of the campers far below.

Todd enjoying August turns
Todd enjoying August turns

We kept making turns until shortly after the noon hour before heading down to the truck.

Enjoying August turns
Enjoying August turns

The ride down the Mile canyon was superb and fun as always. We were able to ride to within a few hundred yards of the lodge, leaving only a short boot out to the parking lot. Here’s a shot of the mountain in the afternoon sun from the parking lot.

Mt Hood's southside
Mt Hood’s southside

After loading our gear in the truck, we headed down to Govy to enjoy an Ice Axe IPA from Mt Hood Brewing Co. at the Ratskellar along with a tasty burger. August in Oregon really is pretty sweet! Here’s a parting shot of Todd enjoying a break up top from earlier in the day…

Hanging out up top
Hanging out up top

Month 41 – April 2009, Mt Hood Meadows

Dropping in above Memorial Bowl, April 2009……..

Heather Canyon cornice drop

Andy and I made several weekend trips to Mt Hood Meadows during April 2009, and had a variety of conditions and weather. Most of our time was spent in Heather & Clark Canyons, accessed from the Cascade Lift. In April, there are generally less people at Meadows, but the riding is still excellent. Here’s a shot of me ripping through some wind packed powder in the Silver Bowl in upper Heather Canyon….

Wind packed powder – Silver Bowl

Later in the month, conditions were sunny, and a few inches of snow had fallen the night before. Upper Heather Canyon was in good shape, and there were some large cornices which were begging to be dropped. This one in the Diamond Bowl was especially fun…

Diamond Bowl cornice drop

Following each ski day, we either had a beer in Govy, or better yet, listened to the live band on the deck at the Meadows base while enjoying a frosty cold one in the sunshine. For lift served in April, it’s hard to beat Mt Hood Meadows!

Month 40 – March 28, 2009 – Mt Hood Meadows

Andy and I left the southern Willamette Valley early in the morning and headed north to Meadows hopeful to get in some powder riding. The weather was pretty nice when we pulled in the parking lot, and the mountain had received a pretty good dump of snow the night before. As usual, there were hoards of people running around, but we found pretty good solitude off of the Hood River Express Chair on Private Reserve. We made laps in the trees around Elk and Yoda bowls for most of the day, and found plenty of face shots and deep powder. We took some video, and I pulled this still from one of the videos. Gotta love late March in the PNW!

White room shot above Elk Bowl