Happy Monday skiers and Boarders! i though the best way to review my weekend was to share with you all my thank you letter to the fine folks at Meadows:

Dear Meadows Incorporated:


I wanted to take a moment to thank you for letting me utilize your wonderful facilities this weekend. I was a guest at your resort on both Saturday January 8, and Sunday January 9, 2005. It was a joy to be invited to park in your Hood River Meadows overflow parking lot at 8:30 in the morning. It was too bad the lift was not running to take people the 700’ to the main area, yet I appreciate the complimentary shuttle buses provided by your resort. And to think we only had to wait in line for three buses to fill up to get taken up to the lodge so we could wait in traffic while other cars were allowed to park walking distance to the lodge. I also want to congratulate you on getting the annex lot plowed by 10am that morning, what a feat! Getting three inches of fresh snow plowed before noon at a ski resort, an accomplishment only rivaled by the chores of Hercules, you must be proud. I also wanted to take a moment to congratulate you on the placement of your new high-speed quad, Vista Express. It unloads skiers and boarders at an extremely well placed area, every time I was able to ride that lift there was the nicest breeze of 20-25 mph with only the occasional gust every second or so of 45mph, what a delight to not just be able to ski the finest 15 degree slopes on the mountain with a couple thousand boarders, but to enjoy fresh mountain air and to see clouds from the inside! A truly magical experience.

However my most memorable experience of the weekend was being able to witness ski racing at Shooting star. I commend you on your willingness to dedicate half the skiable terrain on shooting star to such young and polite skiers. Allowing them to develop their ability to bomb down a mountain at breakneck speeds with no concern for other’s safety is truly a community service, yet you went even further by turning your head and allowing them to cut in lift lines so that they could best utilize the day. Bravo! A deed to make any Little Lebowski Urban Achiever proud.

I look forward to visiting your resort and skiing your ample snow again.

Yours truly,


Snow Curmudgeon.


And of Course the forcast: (in a word, crap, move to Tahoe! 19', yes feet, in two weeks)

.TODAY...PARTLY SUNNY. FREE AIR FREEZING LEVEL 3000 FEET. PASS
WINDS SOUTHEAST 10 TO 15 MPH.
.TONIGHT...PARTLY CLOUDY. FREE AIR FREEZING LEVEL 2500 FEET IN THE
NORTH... FREE AIR FREEZING LEVEL 4000 FEET IN THE SOUTH. PASS WINDS
EAST 10 MPH.
.TUESDAY...PARTLY SUNNY. WINDY. FREE AIR FREEZING LEVEL 4000 FEET.
PASS WINDS NORTHWEST 10 TO 15 MPH BECOMING WEST 15 TO 25 MPH IN THE
AFTERNOON.
.TUESDAY NIGHT...SNOW LIKELY EARLY...THEN SNOW AFTER MIDNIGHT.
WINDY. SNOW LEVEL 2500 FEET. PASS WINDS WEST 20 TO 30 MPH GUSTS TO 55
MPH OVER THE RIDGES.
.WEDNESDAY...SNOW IN THE MORNING...THEN OCCASIONAL SNOW IN THE
AFTERNOON. WINDY. SNOW LEVEL 2000 FEET. PASS WINDS NORTHWEST 20 TO 30
MPH GUSTS TO 55 MPH OVER THE RIDGES.
.WEDNESDAY NIGHT...MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF SNOW SHOWERS. SNOW
LEVEL 2000 FEET IN THE EVENING.
.THURSDAY...PARTLY SUNNY. FREE AIR FREEZING LEVEL 2500 FEET.
.THURSDAY NIGHT...MOSTLY CLEAR. FREE AIR FREEZING LEVEL 3000 FEET.
.FRIDAY...MOSTLY SUNNY. FREE AIR FREEZING LEVEL 3000 FEET.
.FRIDAY NIGHT...MOSTLY CLEAR. FREE AIR FREEZING LEVEL 3500 FEET.
.SATURDAY...MOSTLY SUNNY. WARMER. FREE AIR FREEZING LEVEL 5500 FEET.
.SATURDAY NIGHT...MOSTLY CLEAR. FREE AIR FREEZING LEVEL 6500 FEET.
.SUNDAY...MOSTLY SUNNY. FREE AIR FREEZING LEVEL 6500 FEET.

&&
TEMPERATURE / PRECIPITATION
GOVERNMENT CAMP 30 19 29 25 30 / 10 10 10 90 90
WILLAMETTE PASS 27 18 27 23 29 / 10 10 10 60 80