Mt. Hood

[Mumster]

I'm sending seven images of Mt. Hood to Skicdave to post below. The hubby and I just returned. We left the skidude behind for another week of fun.

The weather was steamy, making for a ski down-tan up trip. Lots of :snowflakes: , :sun: , :beer: . Most importantly, lots of :skiplow:

Sorry for the quality of the images - we haven't decided on a new camera yet - the throw away took abysmal pix.

Enjoy.

[Frankontour]

Welcome Back, Mumster !!

Glad you enjoyed your trip and I can't wait to see the pix !!

[DMC]

Welcome back...
I had some friends who were there the week before you.. They had a blast..

Got busted by ski patrol for skiing the Sudan Collier during a break from bump camp..

[BladeGirl]

While the rest of us TALK about summer skiing, you actually DID something about it. Can't wait to see the pix!

-BG

[Mumster]

Here are the captions and images :skicdave: helped post:
Image 1 . Mt. Hood is an ominous mountain of 11,240 feet, an hour southeast of Portland, OR. Oddly, the portion that is skiable during the summer faces south. The first lift takes you from the lodge (at 6,000 feet - about the tree line) up to 7,000 feet. The second lift (Palmer) goes up another 1,500 feet onto the glacier. From there it's less than 3,000 feet to the summit. We were able to ski down almost to the lodge, since a narrow trail extending downward had residual snow.

http://timefortuckerman.com/members/mumster/mthimage1.jpg
Image 2 . The Palmer lift (right side of photo) goes up to 8,500 feet, so there is less than 3,000 feet to hike above the lift to the summit. At this time of year, the summit is unskiable, but I saw a handful of hikers :happyhiker: climbing up without skis. Most hikers go to the left of the big rock in the midportion, and then climb around to the sandy/rocky looking area to the right of center. We didn't hike at all (see Image 5). When Mt. Hood is skiable from the summit, people ski either the East (right) or West (left) sides. Skiers also sometimes go over the summit and down the north side. In May, you can ski all the way down to Government Camp - 9,000 vertical feet.
http://timefortuckerman.com/members/mumster/image2.jpg
Image 3 . The Palmer lift is covered in snow during the winter, and is unusable. The exit from it is built into the glacier to protect the system. So, you exit from the inside the glacier, and ski out.
http://timefortuckerman.com/members/mumster/image3lift.jpg

Image 4 . For the snowboarders :snowboarding: . There were several terrific terrain parks that ran towards the lodge. The late morning/early afternoon snow was ideal for snowboards. The first image shows the distal half of the half pipe. The second shows various jumps - sorry - cheap :camera: - it looks great in real life.
http://timefortuckerman.com/members/mumster/image4.jpg
Image 5 . It felt great to be skiing for a few turns, until my skis slid out from under me during my warm up run the first morning. It was just after 7AM, and the glacier was bulletproof -> slid about 600 vertical feet (depicted by the red line). I just read the section on "fall arrest techniques" in RR's mountaineering book, so I knew it wasn't optimal to be head first and on my back. Unfortunately, one ski didn't release, I had no ice ax, and couldn't think of a thing to do. It wasn't as steep as TR, but I disliked the feeling of reeling down and down unable do a thing to stop. Luckily, I stopped short of the rocks. If anyone has good ideas on how to stop when you are sliding down a giant ice cube, I'd appreciate the input.
http://timefortuckerman.com/members/mumster/image5.jpg
Image 6 . Limited by the effusion in my left knee (from the fall), my major off slope activity was the ice pack. The hubby's major activity was hunting down more ice. Given my marginal weight bearing ability, we had to "downsize" plans to :happyhiker: to the summit, take advantage of free demo skis, etc. But we took an afternoon to kayak which was relaxing and fun. The area also has great wind surfing, white water rafting and other water sports.
http://timefortuckerman.com/members/mumster/image6.jpg
Overall, I had to ski slow :skifemcool: , but no one noticed, and it was a lot of fun. There was enough beer to keep even elwood happy, and :ma: would have been pleased that a lot of people used :ducttape: . Mostly it was a group of people who couldn't resist the idea of skiing in July. The hubby had fun skiing and vowed to turn into a ski bum next winter……we will see. ;)

We left the Skidude at the kids camp for a second week of fun. Now I have four months for my knee to recover before the Thanksgiving snow hits.

Sorry for the poor quality images - throw away camera - I promise I'll get a real :camera: for the next trip.

THANKS TO SKICDAVE :skicdave: FOR POSTING THE PIX!

[skicdave]

Mumsters photos from Mt Hood!

http://timefortuckerman.com/members/mumster/mthimage1.jpg

http://timefortuckerman.com/members/mumster/image2.jpg

http://timefortuckerman.com/members/mumster/image3lift.jpg

http://timefortuckerman.com/members/mumster/image4.jpg

http://timefortuckerman.com/members/mumster/image5.jpg

http://timefortuckerman.com/members/mumster/image6.jpg

[snowmonger]

Excellent report, Mum. It's good to see someone follow through with plans for summer skiing. I have a friend who was at Mount Hood earlier this year. He skied from the summit to Government camp. He also said it was awesome.

Good luck healing your knee.

[RR]

Whoa, sorry about the knee. You'll be back there I hope. Heck I want to get out there...thanks for the inspiration!

[M@]

Nice report. I had no idea this place existed. 100pts for Turns in July.

M@ :ducttape:

[Frankontour]

Thanks a lot for the report and the pics. This is a place on my wish list in the next 2-3 years. I'll try to ski july / august or august / sept, in a try to ski each months of the year :)

I hope your knee will be OK soon !!!!!!

[Bannick]

Nice pics!
Sorry to hear about the knee. Hardpack is for real! Where did you stay? I spent 4 days at hood in february. This winter it is mt hood meadows all the way. We arrived at timberline lodge in a blizzard and were socked in for a few days. So it was way easier to ride timberline. It is a little flat when the Palmer isn't spinning but we had fun none the less. I took a cartwheel trough the hidden rocks under the magic mile onto my back nothing the massage therapy girlfriend couldn't fix. :D

good on ya for the summer turns mums!
In montreal right now and it is hot!!!

B :snowboarding:

[Mumster]

We stayed at the Mt. Hood Inn - it was clean, had a :hottub: , the price was fine and it was near the demo places, :beer: , etc. Timberline is more elegant, but there isn't as much to do when the lifts close.

BY THE WAY GUYS, FREE DEMO SKIS AND SNOWBOARDS FOR ALL (SORRY BG, NO BLADE DEMOS). Some people don't even bring skis with them.

[kmrnskier]

Sorry to hear about your knee Mumster. Great pictures though!! It's great just to even SEE snow in August. Gotta love it! :skiplow:

[M@]

Mum:
Lift tix price?
M@ :ducttape:

[Frankontour]

M@ : 39$ for all ages for summer lift tickets.

I hope they'll be able to open all year long this year. They succeeded it in 2000 and 2002, but not in 2001 when they closed on the 1st week of sept to only reopen on early november. (nov 3, if I don't mistake). I don't know for the previous years as I didn't have internet at home :(

You can see : http://www.timberlinelodge.com/conditions/conditions.asp for the conditions. There is a webcam, but it rarely works correctly in summer, unfortunately.

Bannick : where are you exactly in Montreal ? I'm just north of it ( ½ mile from Montreal, but with the "prairies" river between Laval and the big city).

[Mumster]

Franko is correct, it's $39 for lift tickets, unless you find a deal - I think we paid $31.

They almost always close for a week or two after Labor day, but usually reopen in late September. I think the break is for lift maintainance, etc. Some people make arrangements to ski during those times anyway - snowcats still go up. So, it's basically open year-round.

The snow quality was good - glacier snow. You need to stay covered on the way down because the racing runs are salted and leave nasty rope burns if you fall. We wore swimsuits/tanks underneath so we could tan :sun: on the ride up. No need for jackets.

[Frankontour]

Yep, the 2 weeks closure is effectively for lift maintenance (and the vacations of some of their staff ;) ).

In 2000, they closed on sept 4 and reopened on sept 16.

In 2001, I don't have the exact closing date (work day surely), but they reopened on november 3 at the first significant snowfall of the fall.

In 2002, they closed on ± sept 3 and reopened on sept 14.

Considering the very late beginning of winter and the only significant snowfalls on march/april, I think it will be quite hard to be open all year long. There was very very more snow last year at this moment and it have been very hard to make all year long (even some walk on-off the upper Palmer lift). I just hope now that their summer will be less warm than last year, with some early snowfalls (september/october)

[Bannick]

Frank: Was down at Rene Leveque(sp) and Berri. Just got back to Toronto. Man I love Montreal. If I spoke french better I could probably convince the Girl to move there instead of out west.

When I was up at Hood in Feb the snow depth was down about 5 feet from normal so the staff was telling us. They did apparently push alot of snow around during the end of the winter season to fill in tubes an gullies to ensure deeper coverage and it looks like from the photos it is working.

Mums: was the skiout in that long snake like canyon that runs from the hut down to the parking lot? Yea the lodge is boring after the lifts close but there is something to be said for having a five star meal while a blizzard is raging outside making the building shake and groan. I can't wait till next year.

[Mumster]

Bannick:
Mums: was the skiout in that long snake like canyon that runs from the hut down to the parking lot? Yup. There were snowboard jumps along it, but you could :skicool: on the side. It left just a short (< 5 min) :happyhiker: hike to the lodge. The hubby found it too sloppy to enjoy - he took the lift down. I preferred :skifemcool: .

Bannick:
How $$$$ is the Timberline Lodge?

[Frankontour]

Bannick : if you learn french, just move in the French Alps ! :D :D :D (I remember there was still over 3000' high skiable on the Tignes glacier, in the mid-late july. And of course, there is many other summer ski places like that....)

About Montreal, it looks like almost everyone from USA or the other provinces of Canada like this city. I still try to understand why....... I must admit to hate the cities and prefer a lot more the little villages or even suburbs.

[elwood]

Frank:

Wicked Wanda's. 'Nuff said about Montreal... :D

[Frankontour]

Elwood : question : what means "wanda's" and "'nuff"

I guess the 2nd is "enough", but for the 1st, I swim in the mystery.

[DMC]

'nuff is American for enough

Wandas has got to be a bar....

But what do I know... Only been to BC and Albeta...

[Frankontour]

Thanks for the precision, DMC ! I should take the course "slang english 101" it would help me a lot ;)

Hmm, completing what I said this morning : today, I'm happy to live in a suburb, cause in the country, they got big water floods in the last days and actually, the sky is almost black, over me... so I'm quite happy to be at 1/3 mile from the river.

[Bannick]

unfortunately being an architect type it is easier to find work in the cities. So I am forced to live in Toronto but I am trying hard to relocate somewhere snowy. I much prefer the small towns and villages especially out the Gaspsie way. So as far as cities go Montreal is fantastic. Fou Founes Electrique is one of my favourites. My girlfriend had never been east of Montana until I moved her out here. So montreal is as close to Europe as she has been. She was amazed.

I took french for 13 years result...I can understand it pretty well but I have a hard time speaking it. I do seem to get by.

Mums I can't remember for sure but we stayed in the dorm style rooms (with shared bathrooms) on the ground floor, two bunks per room. It wasn't to bad there were three of us and I think I paid 200 us for me and my girlfriend for two nights and three days of riding. I beleive we weasled some sort of lift ticket deal too. But it is boring at night.

[Frankontour]

Effectively, Montreal is quite better located than Toronto for skiing !! North, we have the boring Laurentians (except Mt Alta) and the killer Lanaudiere. South/East , we have the Townships + new england not so far. Montreal also have quite more snow than Toronto, with an average of about 80 inches by year and during 4+ months non stop on the ground.

Nevertheless, I would prefer to live near the mountains !

Bon, maintenant une petite pratique de français pour Bannick !! Les mots les plus importants du dictionnaire : poudreuse, ski, neige, couloir, rocher, falaise, extrême, bosses, sous-bois, étroit, etc. Ça va faire pour aujourd'hui !

[Bannick]

You left out key words about les biere. Moi, je prefer le cinqaunte ou quel ques chose a interbru.

Les maudite, fin du monde et pour la "dessert", la blanche de chamblis. C'est bon pour un jour tres chaud. Je pense que elwood a pense le mem chose n'est pas?

Sorry, I Hope I didn't make you cringe to much. My french is painful I know.

My girlfriend was pretty amazed that I would respond to people speaking french to me in english without missing a beat. We will probably end up in washington state, colorado or BC. If I can find some work it will be sooner than later.

[Bannick]

hey wait a minute what about "le snowboard".

[Frankontour]

Sorry Bannick, effectively, I forgot the snowboard. (it's normal for a skier like me :D )

Don't you worry, I understood easily all what you meant (even the interbru which is Unibroue in fact ;) )

The french is quite harder to learn than english anyway. and there is no real ski boards in french in North America, unfortunately, so you can't practice the same way I do for english !

[Bannick]

I am really trying to perfect the franglaise. I predict it will be the new official language of Canada soon enough.

Oh hey...congrats on making the club.

[RR]

As a sometime visitor to La Belle Province, I would rather domicile in Quebec than any city in eastern Canada. Le Parc de les Grandes Jardains offers all the skiing and climbing I could want in the winter and one could drive to Les Chic Chocs or to Jay Peak at the flip of a coin...not to metion Le Massif!

Plus, I know the people there are really nice, they put up with my struggles with the "beautiful language", laughing only gently even though I can tell they'd rather bust out with it.

[Bannick]

I would agree. I did a thanksgiving road trip a few years back from toronto along the south shore of the St. Lawrence around the gaspe into PEI then played the Cletic colours Music festival with my friend, then halifax and back. I was warned by most that once you get out of montreal the tolerance for English falls off immensely. I met some of the best people I have ever come across in the gaspe. They put up with my broken english and were more than hospitable and were very accomodating. The gaspe is incredible. Can't wait to get back there.

[RR]

Oh, I forgot: "Blues en Sherbrooke". Usually in late August or early September, local bands and international headliners.

In Quebec (the city) the local bands play a cool mix of Creole, Rock, Blues and several fusions.

[DRPHIDDLEPHOS]

hey :mumster: i just got back today from mount rainer!!! i could see mount hood and mount adams from my vantage point of 7500 it was a great time for all!! i didn't get to :snowboarding: but i was a :happyhiker: and did partake in some local :beermug: :beermug: :beermug: ! glad to hear you had a good trip!
DR. P

[Bannick]

Photos of said trip good DR.?

[Frankontour]

Hmmm, I admit we were already at 3000 miles from Mt Hood ;) Mt Rainier is quite closer than Quebec city !... but this last is truly a great city, I admit. And you're close to some very incredible ski terrain. I don't really know about le Parc des Grands Jardins, as I just visited the place in early july (and there was no snow visible), but there is some great peaks of slightly more than 3000' and verticals of about 2000. Nothing developped, simply wild, it should be a great place to ski.

And for the english/french, it's true that when you're out of Montreal, there is many places where the people seem to be less patient with english persons. I must admit I understand them, as they just don't understand the english... but in the touristic places, even though the people don't necessary understand very well the english, they're quite more gentle with them as it's something frequent for them and the english persons are also good for them of course ;)

Back on the west, yes, DR, if you have any pics, it would be cool to see them ! I wonder how high the mountain was still skiable ?

[RR]

No physician phool DrP. Several doses of :beermug: make an excellent Rx for no :happydog:

[DRPHIDDLEPHOS]

THE PIC'S ARE ALL ON DISPOSABLE CAMERAS AND AS SOON AS I GET THEM DEVELOPED I WILL SCAN THEM IN AND POST THEM. THERE WAS SOME RIDING GOING ON AT HIGHER ELEVATION WHICH I TOOK PIC'S OF BUT I AM NOT SURE HOW WELL THEY WILL COME OUT, NO ZOOM AND THEY WERE AT THE BOTTOM OF ONE OF THE GLACIERS PRETTY FAR UP BUT I WILL POST THEM ASAP. :D :camera: I NEED TO PICK UP A DIGI!!! YOU COULD SEE ABOUT SIX TEAMS SUMMITING :skiergroup: THE EASTERN SLOPE, AND SNOW FIELDS TO THE RIGHT OF THAT LINE IS WHERE THE RIDING WAS TAKING PLACE. MY FAMILY IS STILL OUT THERE I HAD TO RETURN EARLY DUE TO WORK CONSTRAINTS SO I WILL GET RIGHT ON IT WHEN THEY RETURN!

[DRPHIDDLEPHOS]

BANNICK,
DID I SEE THAT YOU ARE FROM THE SEATTLE AREA?? THAT IS WHERE I WAS, STAYED IN SEATAC @ THE RADISSON. HAD A GREAT TIME!!! MET SOME COOL PEEPS! I NEVER WOULD HAVE PICKED SEATTLE BUT I AM GLAD THAT I DID! WHAT A GREAT CITY!! THE FOOD WAS OFF THE HOOK!! LITERALLY! SOME OF THE BEST SEAFOOD I HAVE EVER HAD! WENT TO THE CRAB POT, ON PIER 60, SPACE NEEDLE, AND WOLFGANG PUCK REST. SOME OF THE BEST MEALS I HAVE EVER HAD!! GREAT FOOD, GREAT WINE, GREAT PEOPLE!! VIA SEATTLE!! :beermug:

[Bannick]

I am a Seattlite kinda by default. The girl is from Seattle (Normandy Park not far from Sea-tac)but is living me with in Toronto at the moment. I have been back and forth so many times now that I consider myself somewhat of a local, tho I have used it more of a home base of sorts to get out to the mountains. She isn't a keen seattle fan but then it is her home town and all.

I think seattle is incredible ocean, mountains, greenery and not too much in the way of heat and there is something pretty cool about going down to the fishing boats and getting some fresh seafood for cheap right off the boat. Or better yet getting it your self with your own crab pots. I always have a good time in seattle and it is not too far from Mt. Baker and Hood. Baker is like a mecca for me and it has consistantly produced epic powder days.

So now we are looking for our new pdigs. I am trying for Colorado or montana. I want to stay in Canada but she cannot use her massage training up here with out another couple of years of school so US bound we be.

[DRPHIDDLEPHOS]

:eek: massage therapy??? :eek: you are a lucky man B!!! i've been known to rock a sensual massage, maybe i just like to get oiled up! everyone loves :envy: the greasy doctor!! :envy: :cry: i want a girlfriend that practices massage therepy!!!

[Mumster]

Bannick:
I am a Seattlite kinda by default. I think seattle is incredible ocean, mountains, greenery and not too much in the way of heat and there is something pretty cool about going down to the fishing boats and getting some fresh seafood for cheap right off the boat. It is not too far from Mt. Baker and Hood. Bannick:
Seattle is a terrific city. In addition to being fun in itself, I met a bunch of people who live there and go to Mt Hood every few weekends - so they really get to ski year round.

Dr Piddle: I wish I had a girlfriend who was a massage therapist too.......maybe a book on the subject for the hubby.....

[DRPHIDDLEPHOS]

skimumster rules!!!!!!!!!!! :mumster: whats your take on oily hubbies?? maybe that is just what the doctor ordered! oil up take two of these :beer: :beer: and call me in the morning! :D

[Bannick]

Ya life is pretty sweet. She called to schedule a treatment for tomorrow as my back has been acting up. I have never had a massage until I met her. She is a wee little thing with a grip of steel. Nothing sensual here...it hurts like hell till she gets all the knots out. It is amazing how much better I feel when the treatment is over. When I cartwheeled through the rocks on Hood she had me back on the snow in about an hour. I am totally hooked.

Hey DR. What is the employment situation like in Burlington. We were also toying with Vermont as a relocation possibility but I am unsure of the oppertunities for architect types like myself.

[BladeGirl]

Great pix, Skimum, hope your leg is better! You said you had to ski slow after but no one noticed. You must ski pretty fast the rest of the time for your slow skiing to be normal to everyone else! ;)
-BG

[Mumster]

BladeGirl:
You must ski pretty fast the rest of the time for your slow skiing to be normal to everyone else! ;) BG It's because I'm normally so slow that the added slowness of broken bones made no measurable difference. (actually, it was because everyone was having so much fun skiing :skiplow: in July that someone lagging behind didn't make it onto their radar screens - It could have been the annual ski-a-holics convention - [see the "kevin thread, below]).