Spring at Mt Bachelor

We scored a $200-ish Bachelor Spring pass in late March. With a great base, it seemed like a good year to amortize costs and spend my semester break there instead of Whistler. And then return for the madness of the closing weekend.

The first week was total bluebird. With the Northwest Express and Summit open, there was plenty of terrain to explore. True Spring skiing didn’t really arrive until the end of the week though. Cold, strong northwest winds brought temperatures more reminiscent of February than the end of April.

The Summit was deserted as even the single groomer was an ice sheet. Each day we started in the sun on the east side of the mountain, and gradually moved west. By mid-morning the groomers heading down to Northwest were just about skiable. Unfortunately, on Spring schedule, the lift closed at 1pm, so the window for screaming groomers was small.

It was only by Friday that the Summit defrosted and we finally saw some true Spring skiing off the Summit. Friday and Saturday were great. Creamy corn, carvable breakable glass-like ice shards and perfect untracked lines down the gullies off the west side of the Summit. Sunday was actually a tad too warm, and sticky heavy snow finally drove us back to the lower groomers. No complaints though – it was great to see 3 true Spring ski days from 7. And Bend is a mighty fine place to spend a week!

11,100, 9300, 9100, 9600, 9400, 8700, 8000m vert

2.5 weeks later we returned for closing weekend. By this time Spring had departed again. We had a foggy day with rain from 11am, then a sunny but cool day, with some very good corn. Saturday was primo. Blue skies, enough sun to make Cow Face and the gullies perfection on the east side by 10am. Then after a couple of crater lines, we hiked the Summit for 3 great runs off the Northwest side.

Saturday was great. Sunday was slop. About 3 inches of it all over the mountain. Heavy. Sludgy. Groomer covering. Knee twisting. We were saved by Coffee. For some reason the sludge was minimal and it skied fast and smooth. We occasionally ventured into another run, but nearly always regretted it! No one made it past 1pm. Beer and end of season shenanigans were more appealing options.

So a 60 day season ended on a bit of a fizzer. it was an odd one weather wise. Dry before Xmas. Cold and slow in January. Full on Winter in February. And some very good March and April skiing. Overall, a lot of fun!!

8000, 8700, 7000, 5400m vert

11 days, 94,300m vert

Season Totals 60 days, 485,500m vert, 14 powder days

Superb April weekend at Mt Hood Meadows

We don’t get the Meadows enough. When it rocks like it dd this mid-April weekend, and the crowds are light, it’s a magnificent ski area.

The weekend temperatures were cool enough to bring overnight snow below the base. this refreshed groomers and layered the mountain in a few inches of snow each morning. A truly massive avalanche down Heather Canyon made the exit a tad tricky but provided an amazing view of nature’s power.

Saturday the canyon only opened up to halfway, but Sunday the top gates opened and the skiing was great. You could pick your fall line, then traverse across to pick up more steeps. Midway down, by the afternoon, the sun had turned the pow to creamy iced corn in the scraggly trees on the Clark canyon side. Each day we managed 4 laps. 4 great laps of some of the finest terrain in skidom.

8100m, 8500m vert

46 days, 367,000m vert, 14 powder days