Category: Mt Hood

In the game of year-round snowboarding, when you roll the dice, sometimes you get lucky and sometimes you don’t. Such was the case when Joe, Dan and I headed to Mt Hood in search of November pow turns. The weather forecast looked promising, with 10-16 inches of snow on Sunday night and 4-8 more during the day Monday. The snow level had been fluctuating between 5000-6000 feet all week, but was holding steady at 5000 feet according to NOAA based on Sunday’s forecast. Conditions looked promising.

After a leisurely start around 6:00 am, I soon met Joe in Albany and we carpooled up I-5 to meet Dan in Sandy. A wreck on I-205 set us back 30 minutes or so,but it just so happened that my uncle was stuck in the same traffic on his motorcycle heading to a Veteran’s event, so we got to chat with him for a few minutes on the Interstate. Finally in Sandy, we met Dan at Joe’s, scored some donuts and coffee, bought a season snowpark pass, and headed up Highway 26 to Timberline. Halfway to Govy, I got a call from Ron who was planning to meet up with us for a tour and was sitting in the parking lot. “It’s raining and the visibility is about 300 feet.” Great! Driving through Government Camp, it was apparent it was going to be a warm day. We pulled into the Timberline Parking lot to a light drizzle and found Ron waiting in his pickup. He chatted with us for a few before heading home, one of the benefits of living close to the mountain.

Since we’d driven up from the southern valley, Dan, Joe and I knew heading home was out of the question given the time and effort we’d already put nto the day, so we loaded our gear in the rain, donned hard shells, and started skinning from the parking lot. Quite a bit of snow had fallen overnight – somewhere in the vicinity of 12-14 inches. Even in the drizzle, it was nice to feel the soft snow underfoot while skinning along on my Option DIY Joni Makinen split. Looking back at the lodge, conditions looked wintery even if it was raining…

We followed a skin track up along the lower section of the Mile Canyon, having a hard time believing there were other people out in the inclement weather. Though things were starting to fill in, it was obvious much more snow would be needed to hide the rocks and fill in the canyons. Here’s a shot of Dan and Joe skinning between Timberline Lodge and the top of the Mile canyon….

Below the top of the Mile we caught up with the folks responsible for the skin track as they were getting ready to head down. Confirming the obvious, they told us how good the snow was the night before while they had stayed at Timberline. Completely soaked, they decided going up further would be frivolous so we bid them farewell. Skinning higher, I kept thinking the rain would change to snow eventually, especially given the forecast snow level of 5000 feet. Near the top of the mile, a nice rain crust was developing, which made for quick skinning, but would prove to be poor for making nice turns on the way down. At the top of the Mile, I pulled out my camera, which was quickly becoming soaked in it’s bag, and wiped my lens with the last dry cloth I had before snapping a few shots of Silcox Hut. The below photo captures the mood of the day….

Continuing on past the bottom of the Palmer lift, I kept looking for the mid-station through the fog, thinking it would be close. One of the frustrating things about skinning in a fog/whiteout is it makes it very hard to gauge progress. Eventually we reached the mid-station, and after taking a look at the Palmer, decided to call it. The upper Palmer looked as if a bomb had been dropped on it. Mostly chunder and ice chunks, combined with low visibility – no thanks. During the time it took to transition from skins to ride mode at the mid-station, the rain turned to snow. Thoroughly soaked however, we had no intention of sticking around to enjoy it. The first turns off the mid-station ramp were basically blind, and each of us had difficulty navigating the rain crust, wind drifts, and low visibility. A few hundred feet down however the turns actually became decent. At the base of the Palmer, it took a bit of caution to find the entrance to the Mile canyon due to the fresh snow, low visibility and lurking rocks. Deciphering between residual snow and new snow with lots of rocks wasn’t easy, as demonstrated by Dan in the below photo (skiing cautiously due to rock danger)…

Once into the Mile, we actually made turns that resembled skiing and snowboarding. I snapped a few photos, but overall didn’t get too many since I couldn’t keep the rain off my lens nor dry it off since all my gear was soaked. Once at the bottom of the canyon, we exited and skied the road back down to the lodge, which provided some fun turns since the danger of striking a lurking rock was less than that in the canyon.

Back at the car cold and wet, it was agreed a warm up in Govy was in order over a nice fire and good beer. With the Ratskellar closed, we pulled into the Mt Hood Brew Pub and found some chairs and a coffee table right next to the fire – perfect! NW Steelhead chowder and Ice Ax IPA’s proved to be the perfect match, as we relived the day’s events and dried wet gear. All things considered, it was a fun day, as it usually is – a bad day riding is better than a good day at work as the saying goes! Yes, the day had four of the perfect ingredients to humble a rider……rain, rocks, breakable crust and low visibility. But, where’s the challenge in riding perfect snow all the time? Days like this are ones that will be remembered as fondly as good powder days, though hopefully repeated much less frequently!

 

Depending on the year, October can be the leanest of months for those looking to make turns all year. Such was the case this year as Dan, Cindy, Joe and I headed to Mt Hood after what may have been the driest fall on record for western Oregon. After a brief stop in Damascus for a quick McDonald’s breakfast, we cruised up Highway 26 towards the mountain, with hopes to hike the Palmer and see if the snow above the White River would go. When the mountain came into view however, it became obvious getting turns above the Palmer wouldn’t be happening this October…..it was really melted out and what snow was left was riddled with hideous suncups. At the parking lot, we packed up, met Ron who’d driven up to make turns with us, and started up the Mile Canyon…

The resort was closed, though the Palmer lift was spinning for a few private hard boot snowboard racers. Other than that, we didn’t see anyone around most of the day. The climb up was pleasant, with a slight breeze that kept it from getting too warm. We found a nice place for lunch a little bit beyond the top of the lift shack, and as usual, the views looking back to the south from 8500 feet were breathtaking. Mt Jefferson and the Three Sisters were visible through the smoke and haze…

I tended to a blister on my heel, the result of not hiking in my snowboard boots in over a month, while Joe and Dan checked out Ron’s ski’s which he handmade himself. Once the basic first aid on my foot was complete, I took the camera out for a few pictures, including the one below of Ron looking out over central Oregon…

After lunch, everyone stepped into their bindings for some well deserved turns. The snow on the Palmer was in really nice shape for early October, and I think we were all thankful the area had done some grooming in the previous few days, given the fact that in the few areas they hadn’t groomed there were some decent sized suncups. Partway down, I pulled out my camera and snapped a few photos of Dan and Ron ripping turns…..

For Dan, October marked 17 years of consecutive turns all year, while for Joe it made 8 years of skiing every month. At the bottom of the run, after some quick discussion, it was an easy decision to head back up for one more lap given how good the snow was. Ron decided to skin while Joe, Dan and I booted.

The lift stopped running just as we reached the top for our second run as the area closed down for the day. Standing atop the Palmer with absolutely nobody around, having a groomed ski area all to yourself at the end of a long summer is a pretty cool feeling! Run two was just as good as run one, as I dropped first making nice quick turns down the soft snow. Joe ripped by me next, while I attempted to snap a few photos….

Ron and Dan followed shortly, and this time we rode down into the canyon a few tours below the mid-station where we found Cindy waiting. After a short break there, we continued down the canyon, the snow continuing to hold up well and provide excellent turns. Dan grabbed the camera from me and snapped a few photos while I rode by…

Riding past Silcox Hut, we continued down into the Mile Canyon, finding soft snow with each turn. Near the bottom, the snow got a bit dirty, and I took my first spill of the summer season, finding a really filthy patch that caused me to go from 15 mph to 0 mph in about two feet. A bruised tailbone and nice raspberry on my forearm left me no worse for wear. Within a few minutes we were back at the parking lot, enjoying the sun and a cold one – there’s nothing quite like cold beer, shorts and flip flops at the end of an excellent ski day. To top it off, the beers were extra cold, since Dan packed some snow down in his jacket to stuff the cooler with!

The drive home down I-5 went quickly, as stories of previous ski trips were relived and new trips were planned. One thing everyone was super stoked on as we parted ways was that with a little luck, if we get out together in November, there’s a good chance there will be some powder to be had!

“Are you still interested in heading out for some August turns?” That was the question I asked Ron a few days prior to heading up to Mt Hood for a mid-summer tour. Normally I wouldn’t think twice about asking once someone commits to a tour, but it takes a different mindset to go skiing in the middle of the summer when the temps are hovering a few degrees below 100.

My alarm clock went off at 4am and 20 minutes later I was rolling north on Interstate 5, coffee in hand. After a quick stop at Ron’s to pick him up, and we made the short drive up Highway 26, pulling into the Timberline parking lot around 7:30. The sun was out and it was already t-shirt weather as we shouldered our packs and started up the paved path that leads to the Pacific Crest Trail. Snow coverage looked good for this time of year, and there was a definite haze in the air due to a few of the wildfires burning to the south….

Heading west up and out of the ski area, we soon found ourselves in the Little Zigzag canyon, which held good snow down to an elevation of 6700 feet. Once on the snow, we switched from hiking to skinning, making good time to our high point at Illumination Saddle, arriving shortly before 11 am. As usual, the snow below the saddle was littered with rockfall, and one really large rock that would ruin your day had just recently fallen, being covered with fresh snow after clearing a large path in it’s wake. Snow conditions were such that we were able to skin right to the saddle….

As usual, the views looking out over the Reid Glacier were outstanding. The character of the mountain changes drastically once you head west of Illumination Rock, the gentle slopes of the south side giving way to the steeper terrain of the west side, which includes the gnarly Yocum Ridge….

We spent a half hour or so soaking in the views and refueling with a quick lunch, enjoying the complete sense of calm at the saddle. Looking to the south, just the top thousand feet of Mt Jefferson was visible above the smokey haze, though to the north we could see the entirety of Mt St Helens, which had shed much of it’s winter coat….

The maze of crevasses on the Reid are always something that capture my attention, and I find myself captivated by their beauty. The photo below shows some of the larger openings on the upper Reid and is a perfect example of why I feel the way I do….

Once the sightseeing and refueling were over with, it was time to get down to business and enjoy some August turns. Ron clicked into the skis he built by hand, while I strapped on the bindings of my Burton Custom DIY split and we set off. Initial turns off the saddle were nothing to write home about, but still fun. A few hundred feet below however, conditions got really good…

After dropping a few hundred feet on the Zigzag Glacier, I stopped to setup for a picture sequence of Ron and noticed a helmet laying on the snow, so I rode down to it and attached it to my pack. Looking back up at Ron, I wondered what he was doing – it looked like he was attaching his ski to his pack, which made little sense. I thought maybe he’d broken a binding or something. Then, he took off skiing towards me, so I picked up the camera and fired several shots in sequence. When he got down to me I showed him the helmet I’d found, not even noticing the extra ski on his back, which he’d found a few hundred feet above me. Comparing our findings it appeared obvious that somewhere along the line earlier in the season someone had a pretty bad day. The ski appeared to have been out in the elements for at least several months. With our extra gear securely attached to our packs, we headed down the Zigzag for more turns….

We made smooth turns down the entire length of the glacier, stopping at the end of the snow just prior to the head of the Mississippi Head Cliffs. Walking out onto the viewpoint overlooking the landscape below the Mississippi Head was quite scenic, and a good spot to sit and enjoy a snack while soaking in the views….

The view of the upper mountain from the top of the Mississippi Head isn’t too shabby either. Looking back, the entire length of our ski descent was visible from Illumination Saddle….

After enjoying the views and rest, we headed back up the hill to get on course with the Little Zizgag Canyon. 30 minutes later with over a thousand more feet of smooth summer snow waiting below us, we strapped the boards on our feet for more turns. I always enjoy the fast smooth turns of the Little Zigzag. At the bottom of the snow, we exited the canyon and headed west towards Timberline, hoping to find yet more turns before the day was done in Sand Canyon.

Sand Canyon proved to be worthy of quite a few more good turns, even if the snow was covered with a healthy dose of grit! By linking a few snow fingers, we were able to descend to an elevation equal that of Timberline Lodge before stepping out of the bindings. A short hike back to the ski area, and our summer ski day was in the books – nearly 4000 feet of vertical on the downhill….not too shabby for mid-August! Here’s a parting shot of Ron near the bottom of Sand Canyon….