Weekend in Leavenworth

Saundra, Ann, Jason and I all drove up to Stevens Pass on Monday (Feb. 26) hoping for some more fresh powder. The day ended up being amazing! It snowed about 4-5 inches Sunday night but their was a hard crust under the dry powder. We went straight to the backside and found good snow but it was really hard to control yourself with the random hidden ice chunks under the powder. We ended up going back to the front side and had a great run down Double Diamond where Jason and I found waist deep snow! We did a few runs in the tree's off of Big Chief with excellent snow. Later that day we did a couple great runs off of Seventh Heaven that all though pretty tracked up was great! I decided to head back to the car early because of my injured Collar Bone from last Thursday while everyone else did a few more runs. That night we drove down to Leavenworth where we enjoyed a nice hot tub and Ann's great enchiladas.
We made it back to the pass at about 9 in the morning and were disappointed to not find any new snow. It maybe snowed about an inch overnight. We ended up being pretty satisfied with the conditions as it ended up being a little bit better than yesterday. We were still able to find great snow off the beaten path. I did a great run down Big Chief Bowl and through the tree's into the parking lot. Jason and I rode the Seventh Heaven lift and hiked up to the top of Cowboy Mountain and had a great 15 seconds of untouched deep powder down the north face of the peak. Tuesday was only a half day as some of us had to go to school and work that evening. What a great couple of days! What a great year we are having here in Washington, I have had more good day's than bad!

Monday: 18,610 vertical in 4h. 51min.
Tuesday: 8,870 vertical in 1hr. 47min.

The snow just keeps on coming!

This week in Washington we recieved a ton of snow! For awhile I thought that winter was over and I was starting to prepare for spring climbing. Over Monday and Tuesday (Feb. 19-20) Stevens Pass received 20 inches in a 24 hour period! Unfortunatly I missed all that great snow but was able to ride on Thursday (Feb. 22). They received about 5-6 inches over night and we had some great powder turns all day. It was very crowded due to Mid-Winter break but we were still able to find untracked powder hidden in the trees. our favorite run of the day was a tree run inbetween I-5 and Lower Diamond. The snow was so steep and dry that heel edge turns would sometimes blind you from the spray. Later in the afternoon we started hitting the terrain park which ended up being a mistake as I enjured myself on a rail slide. I face planted into the rail and hurt my Coller Bone pretty bad. I thought I broke it at first but I can still use my arm so it must be OK, right?


Hiking for FRESH!!!

15,960 vertical in 5h 10min.

Riding Oregon

We've been planning this for months and finally it happened. Ann, Saundra, Jason, Kazu, Travis, Jodie, Lee and I all drove to Oregon for our annual ski/snowboard trip. This year we decided to go to Mt. Bachelor in Oregon. We left on Sunday (02-04-07) and rode at Mt. Hood Meadows for the afternoon. We had bluebird skies and soft (sometimes really wet) spring riding. It was our first time to ride at Hood and we all loved it!




We rode about 11,720 feet in 3 hours and 18 mintues. Not bad for a half day of riding. We all piled back into the cars and continued the drive to Redmond.







After a long night and very little sleep we drove to Mt. Bachelor for another day of snow. Mt. Bachelor is an amazing mountain and we had a complete blast. The snow was great considering that we have not had any fresh for 3 weeks in the northwest. The sun was out and the snow was soft! They didn't open the summit chair until in the afternoon and Jason and I were the first to be on it. We made a quick hike up to the summit and dropped down the steep bowl. It was a great ride down awesome spring corn!

At the end of the day we rode 17,860 vertical in 5 hours and 24 minutes. What a great day!

On Tuesday Ann, Travis and Kazu had to leave and get back to real life. They weren't going to leave until about 1 so we thought we would drive to Smith Rocks for some hiking and maybe even some rock climbing. Well, Travis and I were only able to climb Cinnamon Slab before we had to pack up and send them on the way.

While they were driving back to Seattle; Saundra, Jason and I drove back to Mt. Bachelor to meet Jodie and Lee for an afternoon of snowboarding. After about an hour we were strapped into our bindings and riding again. The snow was more like ice though and not very enjoyable. But we continued on until the lift lines closed. We were still able to log 9,680 vertical in 1 hour and 39 minutes.

The next morning we decided not to ride Bachelor because of the icy conditions. We instead decided to drive to Hood Meadows again to see if we could get some runs in. When we arrived it was kind of rainy so we just got back in the car and headed for home. It was a great trip with great friends and we can't wait to go back to such a great mountain!

Love Handles

Well, I came to the conclusion that I need to get off my lazy ass and do something! I went rock climbing at Exit 38 yesterday and today, well, I can hardly move. My legs hurt, my back hurts, I feel like I have Carpal Tunnel! It is ridiculous! I guess the pull-ups that I do ever day aren't enough. So, do I join a climbing gym and pay $35-$40 bucks a month? Should I join a regular gym and pay $20-$30 bucks a month? Obviously the climbing gym makes more since but then I have to worry about driving and parking which is a pain in the ass in the Lower Queen Anne area. I always hated pulling-plastic but I guess maybe it would be worth it. It is so hard for me to find climbing partners that have the same days off that I do for outdoor climbing. If i'm lucky I will probably climb real rock about 2X a month. That really sucks! Cascade Climbers has helped with climbing partners quite a bit but it is hard to climb with someone new all the time. Especially when you suck and they are so much better. All my regular partners are gone.

Reka: full time student and works full time.
Travis: The bastard moved to Hawaii.
Jodie: She's pregnant.

Reka is almost done with school though. Hopefully she will be more willing to climb.
Thanks for listening to my bitching.