Damp weekend – Mission Ridge to the rescue

I’m not sure if the weather we’re getting this winter is typical of a mild El Nino year or not, but it’s sure weird. Huge mid-November snowfalls, a two week Arctic freeze, a bit more snow and then warm, moist systems moving in across the Cascades. Luckily, Mission Ridge, being on the dry, cold side of the Cascades, looked likely to be spared the damp stuff, and maybe even pick up some new snow. So it was off to Wenatchee for the weekend.

Things didn’t quite turn out to plan. Saturday was a really fun day, shredding very fine soft groomers in a mix of swirling cloud, a little dampness and a building ridge top breeze. Only about half the mountain was open, but there were few people around, leaving plenty of room for fast, carved turns.

The promised snow didn’t appear for Sunday morning, and unfortunately there was a vague hint of drizzle and fog to greet us in the parking lot. It got warmer, dryer, colder, snowier, rained, and by about 2pm a vague approximation of a blizzard arrived. Classic Cascades weather I guess. Still, we got much better weather than that reported from friends at various other Washington and Oregon ski hills, so chalk up another one for following the weather and deciding on a destination at the last moment. It works most of the time. Hopefully though winter will return with vengeance and options will be somewhat better!

Saturday 8200m, Sunday 4800m vertical

Season totals:

8 days:50,800m vert

Back to Crystal

One consequence of ‘following the snow’ the snow is that you never really know where you’ll be skiing from week to week. Crystal is probably my favorite Cascades ski hill, but last season, despite good conditions, we failed completely to get here. This season, this is our second visit by early December!

The November snows had abated and cold, Arctic weather had set hold on the whole Pacific Northwest. This meant rock solid conditions off the groomers, apart from a few north-facing slopes which held decent snow. The groomers were however in very good condition indeed, a real testament to the efforts of the grooming crew here.

With non-existent crowds, sunny, bitterly cold weather, we cruised long, rolling trails at high speed. Both the main runs off the Rainier Express were firm, but good skiing, and the terrain off Forest Queen fast and fun.

About 5pm we hit the heated outdoor pool at the very pleasant if rustic Silver Skis condos where we were staying, and it started to snow. And blow. And blow. We woke up Sunday morning to a major blizzard the next morning, with the higher lifts closed due to 60mph winds. A leisurely drive home seemed the best bet ;(

1 day – 7400 vertical metres

Season totals:

6 days:37,800m vert

Thanksgiving 2009 at Whistler

In the 7 ski seasons we’ve had in the Pacific Northwest, 5 have been spent at Whistler. And for good reason. It gets reliable early snow, is not crowded, has epic terrain, and staying and dining/drinking in the village is a highly relaxed experience at this time of year. The metaphorical Thanksgiving calm before the Xmas storm.

This year was rather odd. By two days before Thanksgiving, Whistler had already broken its monthly snowfall record. In November. Over 5m of snow had come down in 2 weeks of virtually continuous storms. This had left a huge base up high, and despite mild temperatures in the village, there was skiable coverage all the way to the base.

We unfortunately missed the huge storms. The benefit though was that Ski Patrol finally had chance to open the alpine lifts and terrain at both Blackcomb and Whistler. The best skiing of the weekend was a crisp, clear day on 7th Heaven, where about 3 inches of windblown made for perfect high speed crud-cruising off the groomed. We also had runs in variable but fun conditions down Diamond Bowl, Cougar Chutes and a couple of the easier drop ins to Harmony Bowl (it was foggy). Add some high speed cruising on empty trails like Rock and Roll and Zig Zag, and pitchers of the respectable Alexander Keith Red Ale in Merlins were well earned by the end of the day (pics here).

It gradually warmed up and by Sunday the snow was quite spring-like and corning up by all accounts (I bailed that day – 3 days was a big enough test of my relatively newly screwed together collar bone). My consolation was wonderful cappuccino and steak and potato pie at Moguls Coffee House in the village. This was almost good enough to make up for missing a ski day!

3 days: 6600, 7700, 7300 vertical metres

5 days – 30,400m vert