Author: Matt

The weather window for the end of October appeared to be shaping up really nicely to get some turns in on Mt Hood, and with my usual partners tied up with other obligations, I decided to head up solo to check out the conditions. My alarm went off early, and I almost hit the snooze button so I could sleep in, but I ended up dragging myself out of bed to hit the road early. Turns out I was glad I did. I made good time heading up the freeway, and pulled into Timberline a bit before daylight.

There was about two and a half feet of snow on the mountain, and the climber’s lot wasn’t plowed yet so I ended up pulling into the main lot and parked without issue. A few minutes later, I had my gear out, skins on, and was ready to head out. It felt good to skin right from the parking lot, and soon I was well on my way, skinning up the road I’d hiked up just a few weeks earlier.

There were one or two other folks around, but give the early hour I had the mountain mostly to myself. I worked my way up towards Silcox and a couple of snowcats joined me as I arrived. They headed on up towards the Palmer, working their way a bit to the east, and I headed on up as well.

As usual, I did stop at Silcox to snap a couple of pictures of the iconic structure. One of these days I suppose I’ll have to figure out a way to rent it for an evening….

I continued skinning up the Palmer, and was pretty happy when I made it to the top with a total time of 1 hour and 38 minutes from the parking lot. I met up with a fellow splitboarder there and we chatted for a few minutes about heading on up. Ultimately he decided to head down from the Palmer, while I decided to continue on up.

 I followed my nose up above the Palmer, working with the terrain to find the best spot for skinning. After a bit of traveling, I came to (what we’ve come to call) the Vietnam Couloir. The snow here was looking prime, and I was really looking forward to shredding it on the way down. I took 10-15 minutes at the couloir and pulled out my tripod to snap a few selfies….

Once I had a few pictures on the camera, I put the tripod away and continued on up. The skinning was a bit tedious at times, but I worked my way up to a great vantage point overlooking Illumination Rock and Saddle, and then on up towards the Devil’s Kitchen.

The traverse across the snow above the White River Headwall went smoothly, and I was able to skin all the way to the Hogsback, where I was greeted with some excellent views as well as cold and windy conditions.

My total time to the Hogsback was just over 4 hours, which wasn’t bad considering my brief stop to shoot a few pictures with the tripod. It’s amazing how fast the travel is on wind buffed snow and when you can keep skins on for the entire climb. I put my beer on ice, even though it was already cold, and enjoyed the views from one of my favorite vantage points in the Oregon cascades. A few moments later, it was time to enjoy a tasty Big Black Jack Imperial Chocolate Pumpkin Porter from Oakshire Brewing. Sitting there at 10,500 feet with absolutely nobody around, it occurred to me that I may have been the first person to ski from the Hogsback this season, which was pretty special. Regardless, it was definitely special to have the place to myself.

The beer hit the spot, and once it was finished it was time to do what I’d come to the mountain for. Stepping into my bindings with the wind in my face, I shoved off and headed down from the ridge, enjoying smooth wind buffed turns down towards the White River. The ride was super enjoyable, and soon I made my way to the perfectly smooth snow in the Vietnam Couloir. I ripped the couloir from top to bottom, and stopped near the bottom to snap a few shots of my tracks before heading down onto the Zigzag to make some more turns on the smooth snowfield.

For a moment I debated stopping part way down the Zigzag, but the snow was too smooth and the lure of continuing down got the better of me. Ultimately, I made my way all the way down to approximately 7,200 feet, where the snow and terrain indicated it would be a good place to stop. I also ran into a couple of other skiers there that had made their way over from the top of the Palmer. We visited briefly while donning our skins, and then headed back up. Halfway up I needed a break to refuel and regain some energy, and they continued on up so I bid them farewell…

Back on the skin track after a nice break, I decided to head up to around 9,400 feet to circumvent the usual traverse back to the top of the Palmer, which was pretty rimed up and didn’t look inviting at all for crossing. This meant an additional 1,000 feet of climbing however, and I was pretty spent by the time I made it to the point where I stepped back into my bindings for the ride down.

The ride down to the Palmer was nice, and I was able find smooth snow by working the areas in between the rimed up rocks. The turns from the Palmer down were fun as well, and my legs grew tired from the seemingly endless turns. I had to stop once or twice, but eventually made my way back to the parking lot, and was pretty happy two have scored around 6,700 feet of skiing on the day.

Happy to be back down at the base, I threw my gear in the truck and drove over to the now plowed climber’s lot to enjoy some chips and salsa as well as a cold Pilsner Lager from Good Life Brewing Co. Although it would have been nice to have enjoyed the beer along with brats and my regular ski partners, it was pretty nice to just sit in the sun and bask in the glow of having enjoyed one of my best days on Mt Hood in recent memory.

A short time later, I headed out, thoroughly satisfied with the day. I stopped briefly on the way down to shoot a few pictures of Mt Hood from the highway vantage point, before ultimately heading down highway 26 and Interstate 5 to get home. All in all it was another excellent day of October turns on Mt Hood, and one I won’t soon forget. Below is a shot of the Mountain from the drive home, as well as a parting shot from the day…

 

Even though I almost couldn’t believe it, October was already here, and with it was the warm weather of an Indian summer that showed no signs of letting up. Regardless, Joe, Dan and I made plans to head to Mt Hood to get some October turns in, with hopes of finding some remaining snow on the south side of the mountain. We met early at the cop shop in Albany, piled gear into my Suby, and headed up the freeway. We made good time getting to the mountain, and soon were greeted with the familiar view from the Climber’s lot.

We were happy to see some remaining snow on the Palmer, but it was looking pretty bumpy and dirty in the morning lot. Nevertheless, we organized our gear, donned hiking shoes, shouldered our packs and headed up the road towards the Silcox.

The hike up the road went quickly, and we were happy to see a decent amount of snow still remaining in the Palmer Canyon. In fact, it looked like it had been cat tracked recently, which smoothed it out, so we put on the skins and started up. Near the mid-station, there were a couple of spots that were about 200 feet long where the snow had melted out completely, but overall we were pretty happy with the coverage and condition of the snow in the canyon.

When we reached the mid-station, we were surprised to see they had done a little grooming the day prior. None of us were sure what was going on, but it sure didn’t hurt our feelings at all. We worked our way from the mid-station out onto the Palmer snowfield proper, and skinned the remaining way up to the top. The snow on the snowfield itself was definitely on the bumpy side, but it was plenty fine for early October turns.

Once at the top of the Palmer, we felt like it was worth heading over to check out the Zigzag snowfield, which had looked good from the road below on the drive up. The skiers changed back into hiking shoes, and we worked our way over to the snowfield, which indeed was looking smoother than the Palmer. We began skinning up, with the goal of heading up a finger of snow on climber’s left to get to our high point. On the skin up, we heard a big rumble, and a major chunk of the Steel Cliff fell to the ground. Although we’ve see this happen several times, this was probably the biggest rockfall we’ve ever witnessed on the mountain, as evidenced by the dust cloud in the below photo.

A little more skinning brought us up to our high point around 9400 feet, where we settled in for a nice view, a snack, and a refreshing beverage. My beverage of choice for the moment was a tasty Knuckle Dragger IPA from Rogue Nation.

Both the views and the beers were pretty great, and while we enjoyed them both Dan grabbed the camera and took a few shots of me with what has become my standard “sponsor” shot as Joe calls it, with my board over my head.

A bit later, it was time to drop in and sample the snow. Our plan was to ski the first narrow section, then make a short hike over to the smoothest looking snow on the west side of the snowfield, and that’s exactly what we did. I snapped some shots of the skiers as they came down on the upper section of the snowfield, and the turns were really fine.

The upper section was good, but the main snowfield held really nice corn. It’s definitely hard to beat good corn in October, and we harvested a lot of it on this day!

We snapped quite a few photos as we worked our way down, and the good snow continued as we descended. As usual, the Zigzag didn’t disappoint…

At the halfway point, I stopped and fired off several more shots of Joe and Dan as they came down, and from there on down we didn’t stop. The snow was too good, and we harvested the corn for all it was worth, down to the very bottom.

At the bottom, the snow was pretty dirty and we skied over a few thin spots with running water below, but I’d say we definitely milked it for all it was worth. After our joyful ski, the looming climb back out became a reality, but it went quickly with the skins, and soon we were nearing our traverse point to head back over to the Palmer.

Back at our traverse point, the skiers changed back into hiking shoes, and we took a well earned rest for a few minutes, which afforded an opportunity to capture a few more photos. I snapped a pic of Dan and Joe, and then turned my attention to some interesting slurpee formations on the snowfield.

A few minutes later, we were all ready to head back to the Palmer, and after a short hike over scree and sand, we were back at our familiar summer hangout. After all this work, it was definitely time for another cold beer, so I pulled out my second offering of the day, a west coast pale ale from Claim 52 Brewing and put it on ice. A few minutes later, it was time to enjoy it!

We sat at the top of the Palmer for awhile, enjoying the views and beverages, before stepping into our bindings and shoving off for some more October turns. I dropped in first, and setup to shoot a few pictures of Dan and Joe as they came down. The snow was bumpy but decent, and we all agreed it was nowhere near as nice as the Zigzag, but still fun for October.

We worked our way down the snowfield, and as we neared the mid-station we hit the groomer from earlier in the morning. To our surprise and amazement, the cat had come up in the afternoon and pushed snow across the two areas that were bare rock earlier in the morning and had groomed the whole Palmer Canyon nicely. It made absolutely no sense, but we were so stoked to be able to ski the whole run without taking our skis off. Plus, the snow quality was absolutely perfect!

We worked our way into the Palmer Canyon from the mid-station above, and were absolutely stoked beyond belief with our luck. I’m 100% certain that we were the only people in the United States, and most likely North America, that skied a groomer on this day. It was pure bliss!

I snapped dozens of shots as we worked our way down, and the snow quality remained superb. I don’t know if we’ve ever experienced anything quite like this before, or if it will ever happen again!

Near the bottom of the canyon, Dan grabbed the camera and fired off several shots of me enjoying the fresh corduroy, including the two shots below…

We skied right down to Silcox, and waiting there for us was the cat that made it all possible, still dripping with snow. We figured they must have laid the corduroy down only an hour or so at most before we headed down…

From the road at Silcox, we made the short hike to “ski” the snow in the Mile Canyon. The snow in the Mile Canyon was short, and for that we were happy. The snow in the Mile Canyon was the complete opposite of the snow in the Palmer Canyon. It was survival skiing at best — filled with sand and bumps. We slid down to the takeout near the road, and were pretty happy to be done with the turns when we made it!

Once we made it out to the road, it was an easy hike back to the parking lot, where it felt really good to change into shorts and flip flops and enjoy some garden fresh chips and salsa. In what has become a post-ski tradition, we also got the brats going on the grill, and enjoyed them with all the fixings shortly thereafter.

When it was all said and done and time to go home, we loaded our gear in the car and hit the road. As we pulled out of the climber’s lot, we all agreed that this October would definitely be one we’d remember for a long, long time! Here’s a couple parting shots from the day…

As it somehow always does, summer was passing by rather quickly and it was hard to believe it was already September. Wanting to get out early in the month, Dan, Joe and I made plans to head to Mt Hood over Labor Day weekend to get our turns in. As usual, we met at early at the cop shop in Albany, piled our gear into Dan’s Tesla, and headed up the freeway. After a quick stop to charge in Sandy, we may our way up highway 26 to Govy, and pulled into the climber’s lot a few minutes after 8:00 am.

It didn’t take long to get our gear in order, and soon we were hiking up the road towards Silcox. Two-thirds of the way up or so we peered into the Mile Canyon to check out the conditions, and to our surprise there was a lot of snow still remaining – much more so than most of the previous September’s in recent memory. Happy to see the snow, we headed down and donned skins to make the climb up quite a bit easier.

We worked our way up to the bottom of the Palmer lift, and then on up towards the mid-station, where a couple of cat drivers were farming snow to keep an access lane open for later in the month for maintenance purposes.

Once to the top of the Palmer, we took a quick break, then headed off to the west to check out conditions on the Zigzag. The hike over across the rock and scree went quickly. Looking off towards Mt Jefferson to the south, there was a thick layer of smoke that kept the mountain hidden for most of the morning, but as reached the Zigzag, we finally got a view of the peak above the smoke.

On the Zigzag, we switched back to skis and started the skin up. As we climbed higher, the haze lessened and the views improved. The snow surface was looking pretty smooth, and it seemed we were going to be in for some fun a little later on when it was time for the turns.

We climbed up to about 9300 feet or so, and elected to call it and not work our way up the snow finger above us which was looking pretty rough. The first order of business was to get a beer on ice, and then enjoy lunch and the views. My beer for the turns on the Zigzag was a very refreshing Easy Day Hazy POG IPA from Worth Brewing Company.

The relative solitude of the Zigzag is one of the main things I enjoy about the summer turns on Mt Hood. Sitting high on the mountain, enjoying a cold beer and getting ready to drop in — there isn’t a whole lot that can compare.

I dropped in first and snapped a few shots of the skiers as they came down, and then I handed the camera off to Dan and he skied down to take some photos of me. The snow surface was really smooth, and we were pretty stoked on the skiing.

We worked our way down the snowfield, stopping every so often to catch our breath and discuss options. Mostly, we hugged skiers right, which proved to have the smoothest snow. A few more shots are below…

As we continued descending the corn continued to not disappoint. I fired off several pics of Dan and Joe as they headed down, and then put the camera away to rip the lower half of the snowfield myself…

As we usually do, we skied down to the end of the snow, enjoying our turns right to the very bottom. We were able to ski down to about 7200 feet before the snow gave way to the canyon — not too shabby for September.

We donned skins at the bottom of the snowfield and began the long, steady climb back out of the Zigzag under the heat of the sun. The skin out is always a warm one in the summer, but soon we reached the elevation to begin traversing back over to the Palmer. Dan decided it was time to have another beer, while I saved mine for later before the Palmer descent. His beer, a hazy IPA from Kulshan Brewing Co. was in a beautiful can, so I snapped a picture of it.

After the Dan and Joe changed back into hiking shoes, we made the trudge back across the rocks to the top of the Palmer. I snapped a few shots of my beer, a tasty Another IPA from Buoy Beer Co., before burying it in the snow to get cold. A bit later, it was ready to drink and was quite refreshing as we readied to drop in for some more turns. I drank about half of it, and left it up top since we were planning on coming back for another lap…

Just before we dropped in, I switched over to my telephoto lens, and managed to capture several shots of Joe and Dan as they came down the Palmer. The snow was excellent, and I could tell they were enjoying the turns as they came down towards me…

We continued working our way down the Palmer, and stopped a few feet above the mid-station to regroup, drop packs, and head back up for another lap.

Our second lap was equally as good as our first, and this time I headed down with beer in hand. The upper portion of the Palmer held good corn, and then we dropped into the canyon, which had been tracked up a bit by the cats, but still held enjoyable snow.

We worked our way down through the Palmer Canyon and towards past Silcox and the Mile Canyon. We were all stoked on how great the snow was in the Palmer Canyon as well as how deep and wide it was. Expectations were high for skiable snow in October given the good coverage.

Once down to Silcox, we worked into the Mile Canyon, which also held great snow with excellent coverage. All told, we were able to ski to within a few hundred vertical of the car, which made for a short hike back to the parking lot. Needless to say, everyone was pretty happy with the riding…

It felt good to get back to the car, change out of our boots, and get some well deserved dinner. Dan started the grill, Joe pulled out the brats, and I got out the fixings, as well as some garden fresh chips and salsa.

As usual, the food hit the spot, and we enjoyed it with a great view from 6,000 feet. All in all, it was a pretty special day, and I’m definitely looking forward to what October has in store. Here’s a parting shot of Joe from the day skiing high on the Palmer…