Let’s play catch-up:
Unless you have been living under a rock you know that it has been dumping in the Cascades like…like…like a lot. [editor’s note: should have stuck with the monkeys]. Unfortunately for the Snow Curmudgeon I have a job that I need to show up for, and have not been able to partake in the snow as much as I would have liked. But the days I have gotten in, have been amazing.
I had written a lengthy C-span version of my season so far. Day-by-day turn by turn. But even I fell asleep proof reading it. So here goes the CNN version:
12/27: Skipped out of work early to night ski SkiBowl with Margi and Broman, it was awesome. Even got free tickets from a nice couple leaving early!
12/29: Went skiing on a new slope. Amazing. The snow was so deep I had a hard time putting in a skin track. Seriously, I almost got out my shovel to clear the snow from on top of my skis, it was that deep.
12/30: Another night ski at skibowl with Margi and Beth. More amazing.
1/1: New Years Day 8 hour epic with Margi to Bonnie Butte. Only to find the slopes we wanted to ski were wind scoured. Salvaged the day in some great trees on the way back.
1/4: Got to ski with Art on his way back through town. Started with rain at the car but climbed up to some great snow. Came back down with Heather creek between us and the Heather Canyon cat track. Had a snow bridge collapse out from under Art. Ski Patrol showed up, and we were ready to get lectured as Heather Canyon was closed, but he ended up being nice and even found us a better snow bridge. Yea ski patrol.
1/6: Margi and I headed back to the trees we skied in New Years and spent the day doing laps there. May have been some of the best snow I have ever skied. Or maybe the best I ever skied such good snow. Either way it was great.
Margi had gotten a helmet cam for x-mas and I was hoping we could have some great footage for the blog, only we have had some problems setting it up right. It keeps pointing towards the ground in front of her, even after we tried to fix it after New Year’s day. Hopefully I will have some video footage for you fine readers in the near future.
That about brings us to today. Some of you may be wondering what is up with the night skiing? I write some little manifesto about being pure and not buying a pass, and then go and ski the resorts. Well, screw you! No, just kiddin’. I feel the same way. I was desperate to get up there the first time, and because of work it was my only chance. The second time Avy danger was ridiculously high. So I decided to play it safe. Either way there are places for resorts I guess. After all if it wasn’t for them, the BC would b crawling with people, and cut me some slack, even Bettie Ford fell off the wagon once in awhile!
I can say that after the second night I had lost the excitement of the resort. The snow looses some of its magic. It’s hard to get excited about linking two fresh turns at the resort after a day of every turn being a fresh one. I will still ski some at resorts. Ski bowl for weeknights can be a nice treat. And hopefully we’ll take some ski trips to check out some other places. I’m like a social smoker, you know, the people that don’t really smoke,lecture about how bad it is until they get drunk at a bar, and then start bumming smokes off of everyone around them. Yup, I’m one of those jerks!
As for the weather, the amount of snow we have gotten really has been unprecedented. Over 10 feet of base since Christmas. And it all fell at really cold temperatures, nice and light. Nothing like the Cascade Concrete we are used to. I hope you were able to get up there and enjoy it. We seem to be coming to the end of the storm cycle. It has warmed up a bit making the snow pack that much more of a mess. Freezing levels are supposed to hit 5000’ this weekend. It also looks like we may hit a week of drier weather. Hard to say but that is what ‘they’ are calling for. Right now though long range is calling for more precip at low freezing levels after MLK Day. Keep your fingers crossed.
We were planning on heading to Baker for MLK day weekend, but with the current forecast we are in a holding pattern, taking a wait and see approach. I know, life is tough being the Weather’s Whipping Post.
As for the weather, the amount of snow we have gotten really has been unprecedented. Over 10 feet of base since Christmas. And it all fell at really cold temperatures, nice and light. Nothing like the Cascade Concrete we are used to. I hope you were able to get up there and enjoy it. We seem to be coming to the end of the storm cycle. It has warmed up a bit making the snow pack that much more of a mess. Freezing levels are supposed to hit 5000’ this weekend. It also looks like we may hit a week of drier weather. Hard to say but that is what ‘they’ are calling for. Right now though long range is calling for more precip at low freezing levels after MLK Day. Keep your fingers crossed.
We were planning on heading to Baker for MLK day weekend, but with the current forecast we are in a holding pattern, taking a wait and see approach. I know, life is tough being the Weather’s Whipping Post.
