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May 9, 2025 – Hoodoo Dusk Patrol
As hard as it was to believe, May was already here and I was itching to get out and make some turns. After some initial planning, I settled on doing a Friday-Saturday combo to tick of a couple of objectives, including our annual dusk patrol to Hoodoo on Friday afternoon and then heading to Mt Jefferson for some turns on Saturday. Andy was game to head to Hoodoo on Friday, and Joe and his friend Jeremy from Corvallis planned to meet us up there. We left work around noon, and headed up 126, making good time up to the mountain.
We pulled in and waited a bit for Joe, but decided to head out after about 15-20 minutes. Turns out Joe was parked over where we cook burgers and for some reason we didn’t realize it (we were parked in the main lot). Nevertheless, we donned skins and headed up under mostly sunny skies and soft snow.
The snowpack was holding up well for early May, and we made good time up the hill. Once we reached mid-mountain, we could see Joe and Jeremy working up from down lower. We followed our usual route up towards the bowl, then traversed a bit west and followed the ridgeline up to the summit.
At the top, the views were excellent as usual and the pasque flowers were abundant and in full bloom. Andy and I dried skins in the sun and took several pictures while waiting a few minutes for Joe and Jeremy to arrive. In addition to shooting a few pics of the flowers, I grabbed my mid-range telephoto and took a few shots of the nearby volcanoes, including Mt Washington to the south and Three Fingered Jack and Mt Jefferson to the north.
Joe and Jeremy arrived about the time I was putting my camera back in camera bag, and we discussed options for a first run, settling on trying the west face of the mountain thinking it may be decent since it hadn’t had as much sun during the day. I dropped in first, and made a few fun albeit sticky turns, and then setup to shoot the skiers as they came down.
The turns were nice, but a little on the soft side, and we headed down to the catch track below before switching to skins and heading back up for another lap.
The skin back up went quickly, and I couldn’t help but gaze out at the surrounding peaks to the west, south and north and think of past trips in the winter, spring and summer over the years.
A few minutes later when everyone was on top, we chatted about options, and agreed that one more lap would probably do it unless the snow was in prime condition on the east side. I dropped in first as before, and setup to shoot a few pics as the skiers came down. I fired off several shots and a few turned out well. As it turns out, the snow good but not great, so we decided to call it and head to the car to get our grill on.
We enjoyed the soft turns all the way to the parking lot, and did the de-boot and de-beer routine. My beer of choice for the evening was a smooth drinking amber ale from LaQuinta Brewing Co. that I’d picked up a couple of months earlier in Palm Desert while on a work trip/mini-vacation with my wife. I pulled it out of the snow bank I’d stashed it in to snap a quick pic, and then cracked it open while it was ice cold.
Andy and I drove over to the pull-out and parked next to Joe and Brian, and then we all unloaded the food and fixings and fired up the grills. I’d brought some grass-fed beef from home that my parents get from a neighbor, and Joe had some brats, so we prepared to feast.
It didn’t take long and the meats were cooked, and soon after we dove in to enjoy the offerings. The food hit the spot, and though I usually try not to over do it, I had a burger and a brat in anticipation of a big day burning calories on Saturday going up Mt Jefferson.
A bit later, with the food gone and beers drank, it was time to hit the road. I transferred gear from Andy’s Jeep to Joe’s Tacoma, and we headed for Pamelia Lake to spend the night with Mt Jefferson on the agenda for Saturday. All in all, it was another fun afternoon of dusk patrol turns at Hoodoo with a good crew! Here’s a parting shot of the hill…
May 4, 2025 – Closing day at the Pass
After a long (technically the longest) and amazing season, closing day for the 2024-2025 ski year was finally here at the Pass. I left the house early with Shaun, for what would most likely be his last day as a member of the SPY program, and we drove to Dan’s house and headed up to the Pass from there on electric power. We were greeted to a flooded aid room when we walked in, which is somewhat typical during the two to three week period of intense snowmelt at the end of the season.
The rest of the patrollers on duty showed up a bit later, and soon we had our final morning meeting of the season. James was acting as hill chief, and we debriefed plans to get the gear down off the hill in the most efficient manner possible before heading out at 8:00 am to catch the first chair of closing day. The plan for the operating hours was to be open from 8:00 am to 2:00 pm for the public, so we’d have an abbreviated day to get everything off the hill.
I rode up the chair with Dan and a couple others, and after opening RTS and Amber’s, headed back up to head over to open Peak 2 with Dan. Once Peak 2 was open, Dan and I set about pulling all of the gear out of the lift shack and storing it next to the sleds in preparation for it to go down later in the day. With the exception of the expensive stuff (BLS pack, etc.), everything came out.
A bit later we headed back to the front and I spent a bit of time with Atticus pulling tower pads down off EPA since By George was closed. It was bit tricky getting down (especially with a big EPA pad in tow), but I managed to find a path through without having to take off my board and by only having to ride over a bit of dirt, sticks and rocks.
We spun another lap to the top, and this time I headed down and recruited Rob to help me bring down the fencing around the ski shack. With George closed, it was already taken down and just needed to be skied to the base. The race shack fencing is large and super heavy, and always makes for an awkward ski carry.
By the time we got the fencing put away, it was time for lunch before heading back out for some more work before meeting up to take the tower pads down off of Peak 2. I met up with Shaun and someone (I think James but can’t remember who) snapped a picture of us outside the bump shack. Looking back on this picture I can’t help but think of how much Shaun has matured in his three years on SPY and how proud I am of all he’s accomplished.
A few minutes later, I watched Shaun and Atticus take off to head to Peak 2 and then helped Dan load the sled from the Saddle Tube with unneeded gear to take down to the base. I snapped a few pics as they all took off…
Around 1:00 pm or so, a group of us gathered at the top of Peak 2 and closed off Northern and Down Under so we could head down and remove tower pads from the lift. We headed down and I snapped a few photos, and I smiled as I remembered that nearly 6 months earlier in late November I was putting the same pads up with Brian and Dan.
We hauled the pads down to the base and stacked them outside the lift shack so that the area could snowmobile them around to the front a few days later. Amazingly, it only took one run to get all the pads down and then we all headed back to the top to get ready for sweep.
Before we dropped in to close the runs, we orchestrated a picture of the closing crew for the final Peak 2 sweep of the season. Pictured below from left in the back row is Dan, Emily, Rob, Shaun, Atticus, Scarlett, James and Matt. In the front row is Raina, Toby, Kyron, Mindy and Kerstin.
After taking a few pics of the closing crew, we dropped in to close the backside for the final time of the season. I accompanied Shaun and we closed Down Under. It was a bit bittersweet knowing this was likely his final day as a SPY and final time “officially” closing Peak 2.
We regrouped at the base of the lift and loaded the chair for the final time for the season, and headed back up to the top to gear up for closing the upper mountain.
At the top of EPA, we loaded the rest of the gear into the sleds and assigned runs for sweep. I snapped a few more pics of the action, and then once the call was made that sweep was on, I headed down KP with a loaded Cascade 100.
The tow of the sled down KP to the base was a bit on the sticky and sloggy side, but eventually I rolled in and there was a flurry of activity at the patrol room with folks unloading and organizing gear. Shaun and Atticus were putting the empty sleds away in the patrol room, and I jumped in to help drag some of the tower pads over to the lodge.
We worked for a half hour or so after closing to take care of all the gear, and then it was time to enjoy the final social hour of the season with the crew. I grabbed my beer of choice for the day – a well rounded Hazy Pale Ale from Icicle Brewing Company, and headed out to get a shot of it with the mountain in the background. Looking up at the hill, it was obvious that even though we were hoping to eek out an additional weekend, the mountain made a good call for this day to be closing day.
We hung out for awhile in the parking lot outside the patrol room, and eventually loaded our gear, including the skis and boards which were coming down for the season.
Finally, it was time to hit the road and sign-off on a great 2024-2025 season. Here’s a parting shot of Shaun working the mop in the patrol room on closing morning 🙂
Protected: April 22, 2025 – Mt Thielsen, South and East Aspects
April 20, 2025 – A beautiful Easter at the Pass
After celebrating Easter with the family a day early, I headed up to the Pass for a day with Patrol 2 on Easter Sunday. The weather was looking to be quite nice, with clear skies and warm temps forecast for the day. We’d planned an Easter brunch as well, and I was looking forward to some good potluck style food. After our morning meeting, we headed out to open the hill. At the top of EPA, I snapped a bunch of pics of patrollers getting ready for the day, including the two pics below.
Ian grabbed a few pictures as well, and even got me in one of them. He was nice enough to send it my way….
After spinning a lap on the front and getting the mountain open, I headed to the back and put in a bit of work there. At the top, I grabbed a few pictures of Emily and Andy before setting off for opening another run.
After getting the back open, I headed back down to the patrol room to tidy up the avalanche gear for the season and take care of a few other tasks. By the time I was done with that, it was getting close to lunch time, so I headed out to the car for a quick minute and snapped a couple of pics before coming back to enjoy the potluck.
On my way back to the patrol room I found Zach tending to some food on the grill, and when I entered the patrol room, the potluck was in full swing! I loaded my plate with some Easter ham, some salad, and a few other items, and wolfed it down before heading back out on the hill.
I rode up to the top of EPA to sit bump for an hour, and brought my telephoto lens along with me to shoot a few pictures of the peaks to the south of the Pass, including Diamond, Redtop and Lakeview.
I also snapped a few photos of my beer I was hoping to enjoy later in the evening – a tasty PFriem lager from PFriem Beer. After situating the can in some grass down below the top terminal, I found a composition that showcased the golden can.
A bit later, I heard some traffic on the radio and it sounded like Ian and Mark were going to be giving our dispatcher Kris a sled ride so she could experience the “ride down” that a patient experiences while in a sled. 10 minutes later or so, Ian and Kris arrived at the top of EPA and Ian began rigging the sled to take here down.
It was about time for my bump to be over, and before I headed down to shoot a few pics of Ian, Kris and Mark, James offered to take a quick shot of me and Diamond Peak. I returned the favor and snapped a picture of him and Emily, before getting a shot of all of us reflecting in the EPA camera.
A few more pics of the Easter crew followed — like I mentioned, it was beautiful weather and a beautiful day for taking pictures.
Eventually, I strapped into my bindings and slid down the toothpaste tube and caught up with Ian and Mark running Kris down in the sled. I snapped several photos as they headed down KP, including the three below.
Down at the base, we put the sled contents back in the sled, and returned the sled back to the top of EPA. I took a stroll through the patrol room to see if any patrollers were in need of assistance with their patients, and surprisingly the aid room was empty, so I headed up to the deck to get a view of the mountain. The below shot, while not seeming to be anything special, is pretty cool, since this spring marked the first time the outdoor deck had been open in many, many years (I can’t remember it being open in the last 15-20 years)!
The rest of my afternoon was spent spinning a few laps on EPA and riding RTS, which had corned nicely in the afternoon sun, as well as shooting some photos of a bald eagle at the top of EPA. There was actually a pair of eagles hanging out up top, but by the time I got up there only one remained for the photo op.
After walking down the toothpaste tube a short ways to get the optimal angle to shoot pics of the eagle, I headed back up and grabbed a picture of Michael, Craig and Ken hanging out up top, before heading down for a final lap on RTS before Peak 2 sweep.
I made to the top of Peak 2 in time for our afternoon sweep, and just before we began sweep we orchestrated a quick group shot of our Easter crew.
Sweep went quickly, and we actually had time to get one last lap in before upper mountain sweep began. James, Emily and I headed down across the James Bond trail and skied down Eagle’s, which was pretty soft in the afternoon sun, but still quite fun.
We made it back to to the top with ample time to spare, and a few minutes later the call came across the radio and upper mountain sweep was on. We had extra bodies at the top, so I doubled up with Zach and we swept Success, which is my second favorite run to sweep next to RTS.
Both upper and lower mountain sweep went smoothly, and soon the crew was down in the patrol room, happy to have another good day on the mountain come to a close. A few beverages and snacks after the evening meeting capped off the day, and eventually we threw the gear in the car and headed down the highway with another fun day of patrolling at the Pass in the books!