Recent Posts

After getting skunked out of good turns last year on a Hoodoo Dusk patrol with a good crew due to thunder and lightening, Andy and I were hungry to head back this year on a good day. After having the invite the calendar for more than a month, and having to keep pushing it out due to weather, I was beginning to wonder if we were going to miss our window again this year. After several weeks of rain and inclement weather, it finally looked like Saturday would be a “go.” I met Andy in the work parking lot early, and we headed up highway 126, arriving to plenty of snow in the parking lot.

We sorted our gear quickly, and grabbed the skis and headed out. After a quick walk through the parking area and by the snow cats, the skins hit the snow and we headed up. It was already getting warm as we headed up above Ed’s Chair, and it didn’t take long to reach the summit and enjoy the views.

Although we had made turns last year on our dusk patrol, we didn’t go higher than Ed’s Chair given the weather. This year, I did manage to get to Hoodoo once with both my boys, but we didn’t get higher than Ed’s either because the top was closed due to lack of snow. So it was definitely good to be back on top of the ‘doo after a couple year hiatus. I set about getting my beer on ice, and then snapped a few photos with the telephoto lens. My beer of choice for this day was a tasty Hazy IPA from pFreim Brewing.

A bit more photography ensued while we got ready to drop in for our first run of the day, and I snapped some shots of Mt Jefferson to the north, and then set the tripod up to capture a shot of both Andy and I on top…

With my itch to shoot some photos from the top of the hill satisfied, it was time to drop in. The snow on the east side was looking pretty smooth, so we decided to head down and check it out. I dropped in first, and setup to shoot some shots of Andy as he headed down and harvested the corn.

We worked our way down the face, and the turns were really nice. We worked our way down towards the bottom, stopping where the slope mellowed and snow started giving way to manzanita brush, then donned skins and headed back up. It was a quick skin up to the top of Ed’s and then back to the top, where my cold beer was waiting.

For our second lap, we wasted little time up top, and decided to hit the east face again. This time Andy took the camera, and headed down while I waited up top. Once he gave me the signal, I dropped in and shucked some really nice corn…

At the bottom, it was back to skins and then back up the skin track for a second time. I snapped a few pics of Andy on the track as we headed back up.

By the time we got back to the top, a few more folks had made their way up and were skiing off the summit proper under the chairlift. Wanting to find an area that hadn’t been tracked yet, we decided to go explore the backside and see if any snow remained.

As luck would have it, there was a decent line on the back that hadn’t been hit, so we strapped in and headed down. The turns were nice, but somewhat short since we made a wrong turn and had to do a bit of brush beating to get back to the snow.

Although our line had decent coverage, the snow was pretty sloppy, so we decided to call it after one run and head back to the top to get one more lap in on the front before heading down to cook up some burgers.

Our final lap provided good, but somewhat sticky turns off the top, and we worked down the face and then on to the mellower slopes below. It was a treat to be able to ski right to the parking lot, and them make the short hike back to the car.

Back at the car, it felt nice to change out of the ski boots and get the burgers going on the BBQ. We had all the fixin’s to go along with the burgers, and it didn’t take Andy long to get the grill smoking. It was also time to throw another beer in the snow to get ice cold. This go around, I enjoyed a Lib Tech Skunkape IRA from Boneyard Beer to go with my Lib Tech DIY splitter.

A few minutes later, the burgers were cooked to perfection, and we were enjoying a moment that I look forward to all year — burgers and beer at Hoodoo!

After relaxing for a bit and enjoying our food and drink, it was time to hit the road and call it a day. With any luck, the snow may hold up until the first part of June at Hoodoo. Until then, here’s a parting shot from the day.

For the second Monday in a row in April, I headed out from work around noon and headed to the Pass, looking to score some fresh snow. The wild April weather was continuing, and this time my plan was to meet up with Joe to see what we could come up with. My drive up highway 58 was uneventful, and and I stopped off at the Waldo road to gear up before heading up to the area. Several inches of fresh snow greeted me, and unlike the previous week, the temperatures were quite a bit cooler as well.

 A few minutes later, I made my way to the Pass and had to spend about 30 minutes shoveling out a spot to park. Joe’s rig was already there, so I pulled in beside him once I had a space cleared out. With all the shoveling, I was plenty warm by the time I hit the skin track. Looking up at ByGeorge, the mountain was looking really nice, especially given how it looked a few weeks prior during closing.

I worked my way up KP, and then up to Eagle’s. Joe’s track was hard to follow, and whenever I fell off of it I could tell. On the frontside there was probably 18 inches of fresh snow, and I knew it was going to be deep on Peak 2. After topping out on Eagle’s, I worked my way up to the top and then over to Peak 2 where Joe was waiting. The snow stake was at 72 inches — considerably more than the 45 inches on closing weekend. After chatting with Joe for a few minutes, I ripped skins and we dropped in.

Northern to Down Under was our first choice, since Joe had skied Northern proper once before I arrived, and it did not disappoint. The snow was pretty blower, about 24 inches deep, and we ripped it to the intersection of June’s. A few more fun turns were had before we switched back over to skins, and headed up Joe’s previously established track, which was mostly filled in.

At the top of June’s, we decided to peel the skins and ski the run instead of heading all the way back to the top shack. It proved to be a good choice, and was easily my best run on June’s this season. Below are a couple of shots of the action…

Back at the bottom of the run, we transitioned back to skins and headed back to the top, following our established track which was pretty much mostly filled in from the new snow and wind. At the top, we headed over to the shack and it was time to enjoy a well earned beer. My beer of choice for the afternoon was a tasty Pale Ale from Buoy Beer Company.

For our next lap, we decided to ski the trees between Down Under and June’s, and it proved to be an excellent choice. The snow was blower and the fact shots plentiful, and at the bottom, both of us were stoked on some of the best conditions of the year. I snapped several shots of Joe, including the two below…

After exiting the trees, we worked our way down the rest of Down Under, and then partway down June’s, before heading back up to do it again. The skiing in the trees was so fine that we decided it was definitely worth another run, so once up top, we ripped skins and dropped in for one more lap on the backside.

We milked turns down through trees to our skin track below, and a quick check of the watch indicated we should probably head back to the front before it got dark. Joe led the way, and we headed up our filled in track one last time…

Once back at the top of Peak 2, we skinned over to EPA for one last run on the day. The amount of snow up top along the ridge and on Southbound was amazing, and the cornice buildup was impressive. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen quite so much snow up top after the lifts closed down for the season.

Once at the top of EPA, we wasted little time getting ready to drop in, and within a few minutes were making turns down towards RTS to check it out. The wind was really hammering — Joe and I estimated gusts of 45-50mph, and RTS was pretty scoured. Success however was looking pretty filled in, which was awesome since just a few days earlier it was nearly bare. We decided to drop in cautiously, and the turns were really nice. A bit lower down, we were able to open it up, and it turn after turn in the white room.

After skiing Success, we continued on down ByGeorge, and were able to ski right to the parking lot. Both of us were stoked on how good the coverage was, as well as the snow quality. This was easily one of the best dusk patrol ski days post-closing both of us could remember.

Once down to the parking lot, we made the short walk back to the trucks through a bunch of fresh snow, and it was time to enjoy another cold one. This time I had a super tasty and aptly named Big Swell from Maui Brewing. The swell in the Oregon Cascades was definitely rising, and it was awesome to be able to get to surf it.

After changing out of snowboard boots and into snow boots, it was time to enjoy my beer and spend another 20 minutes digging the truck out. Even though it’s a bunch of work, there’s nothing better than digging the truck out at the end of a good day! My only regret is that I couldn’t get out of work the next day and wouldn’t get to join Joe and Dan for some more epic turns the following morning.

After digging and clearing the truck of snow, I bid Joe farewell, and hit the road, fully satisfied with one of my best powder days of the year. “Apruary” as Joe called it, was continuing to deliver, and it was a pleasure to be able to experience it. Here’s a parting shot from the day of Joe ripping at the Pass.

Eight days after the Pass had closed for the season, it looked like a storm would be rolling through that had a chance to produce a few fun turns. I made plans to head up with Dan in the afternoon to see if we could get lucky, and left work around noon and headed to his place. After loading gear in his Tesla, we headed up the highway. As we pulled off on the Waldo Road to gear up, we were greeted by a few inches of wet, heavy snow with the temperature hovering around 34 degrees.

We made the short drive to the Pass, and found a parking spot, only having to do a minimal amount of shoveling. The Pass was looking a whole lot better than closing day just over a week earlier as we grabbed our gear and headed out.

We started skinning up ByGeorge, and the run, which was completely bare a few days earlier, had about 6 inches of new snow on it. We continued on up the hill, and soon made our way to the top of KP where we enjoyed a quick stop in the patrol shack before heading on over towards Peak 2 to check out the conditions.

At the top of Peak 2, there was about 10-12 inches of new snow, and we wasted little time before dropping into Northern to sample the goods. The snow didn’t disappoint, and it really felt nice to rip a few powder turns after such an abnormally dry winter.

At the bottom, we were both pretty stoked on the conditions, and quickly changed over to skins and set a track back up. A short time later, we arrived back at Peak 2, and enjoyed a quick break and a cold beverage before readying for another lap. My beer of choice for the day was an excellent Nebula Stout from Block 15 Brewing Co.

As we were preparing to drop in for our second run, Dan offered to grab the camera and I was happy to give it to him so he could get a few shots of me enjoying the snow. We elected to ski right near the trees at the top of Down Under, and then headed over skiers left to sample the snow there.

The snow here was awesome, and after Dan handed me the camera back, we worked our way down Down Under and then onto lower Junes. Below are a few shots of Dan enjoying the skiing.

We worked over towards the lift line, and then I spooned Dan’s tracks down over the roll over under the chair. From there it was a short ski back through the trees, and then we set a skin track back to our existing track and worked our way back to the top.

Back at the top, I enjoyed a few more swigs of my cold beer, and after a quick break, we headed over to June’s to sample the snow there. By now the depth was pushing closer to 14 inches of new snow, and the turns just kept getting better and better. Below are a couple of shots from our third run of the afternoon…

We worked our way back over to our skin track at the bottom, and put the skins back on as it continued to puke snow. On the track back up, the wind started howling, snow was blowing everywhere, and both of us agreed it felt awesome to experience winter again!

On the way up, we ditched our packs at the top of Escalator for one more run because the snow was just too good to pass up. We dropped in around 6:20 pm, and it was definitely a good call. I snapped several pics of Dan on the way down, and enjoyed my share of face shots as well on what was probably one of my best powder runs of the season.

The final skin up went quickly, and we punched in a new track back to the front, and spent a few minutes in the patrol shack before dropping in to check out RTS. The top of RTS was a bit scratchy, but once we were in the turns were excellent. The snow was baby butt smooth and we ripped the run top to bottom.

At the bottom of the run, I snapped a picture looking back up the run, and it looked better than it had since early January.

From the bottom of RTS, we skied Lois Lane out, and then cruised over to Swoosh for the final turns of the day. Swoosh skied awesome, with about 12 inches of new on the run, and we worked our way down skiers left. At the bottom, what was bare dirt only a day or two earlier skied really nicely, and we hit the haul road over to George and made turns right to the parking lot. Neither of us could believe how good the turns were, especially given the fact that everything was bare only a couple days earlier!

The walk to the car was a short one, and we loaded our gear while it continued to snow. Unfortunately the Tesla’s fronk (front trunk) was frozen shut and we couldn’t get it open, and that’s where the grill was so there would be no brats on this day. Even so, we celebrated with another beer before we hit the road. My second offering for the day was a tasty Hazy Falls Pale Ale from Three Creeks Brewing.

The drive back down to the valley went smoothly, and although we got home late and both had to work the next morning, it was definitely worth it for the excellent turns and the satisfaction of getting to experience winter again. Hopefully the cold, wet spring weather continues. Until then, here’s a couple of parting shots from the day.