Some of the best ski days of the season are in the spring. No crowds, sunny weather and the need to ski your brains out because you know the ski season is soon coming to an end. After parking the truck this morning right up near the lodge, I stepped out to a 29 degree, sunny, windless, bluebird day on Mt Hood. I literally felt like I owned the mountain, as it seemed as if I was the only one there. Spring skiing can be hit or miss, but when you start out early, you can get a couple hours of decent skiing in before it gets too warm and the snow starts to turn the consistency of peanut butter. This particular morning, the snow was absolutely perfect! The day started with the snow a little crunchy but not too icy, then turned to an absolutely perfect consistency which lasted for about two hours before it started to soften up.
Skiing down the Magic Mile just off to the side of the main groomed run or in technical terms, slightly off pistè, would on a normal day, be ungroomed, crunchy sastrugi (wind-sculptured, wave like snow with irregular grooves and ridges) and extremely difficult to ski, because it is usually a sheet of ice. Today though, that ungroomed run literally turned to soft fairy dust that felt like skiing through fresh powder. It was amazing! Skiing the Magic Mile, way up on Mt Hood with a view to die for, with music playing in my ears is what I imagine Heaven to be. With the mountain basically to myself, I literally skied my brains out. 26 runs in 4 hours and my legs were burning like crazy.
As most skiers around the country are skiing their last days of the season in late March or early April, those of us who ski at Timberline, on Mount Hood, have a good month and a half left to get our skiing fix in before we dig out the camping, hiking and fishing gear and start our summer time routine. As I was driving up to the mountain today, I was thinking how those of us who ski on Mt Hood kind of take our long season for granted. Timberline’s season pass is valid usually around Thanksgiving through May 31st and occasionally they extend it one extra weekend in June. They boast that they have the longest ski season in North America. I just know it makes my off season feel way shorter. So while Timberline is not Colorado or Utah, it is my mountain and I am so very proud and fortunate to have been able to ski here my entire life. Timberline is a special place and a diamond in the rough. One ride up the Magic Mile lift and then on up the Palmer lift on a Bluebird, windless day will leave you speechless and with misty eyes. Being that high up on a gorgeous mountain, surrounded by a beautiful forest and able to see for hundreds of miles, literally makes me feel like I am touching the hand of God.
If you ever make it over to the West Coast in April or May, do not pass up the opportunity to get some spring skiing in at Timberline Lodge. It is an experience you will never forget.