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Thursday, March 26, 2015

A Summit Day on Mt Bachelor

Day two of my Central Oregon weekend, and the weather couldn't have been more different.  Doing a complete 180 from Saturday's cold, windy conditions, Sunday dawned calm and clear.

Yahoo!  Let's go skiing!


South Sister fills the sky

My brother and I grabbed our gear and headed up the road to Mt. Bachelor.


Sunshine on the Rainbow Lift

Blue skies, bright sunshine, and a bit of new snow greeted us.  After a couple laps on the Pine Martin Lift, we decided to check out things on the mountain's far east side.  Although the only lift here, the Rainbow, is an old, slow chair, I love skiing it's terrain.  I'm willing to put up with the long ride.



The Summit is open!

Heading uphill, the lift's slow pace provided lots of time to look around and take photos.  Glancing towards the summit, I noticed the lift to Mt. Bachelor's very top was running!  Since the summit isn't open very often, I convinced my brother to give it a try.


Fantastic scenery on the ride to the summit

The Summit Lift takes skiers to the very top of Mt. Bachelor, elevation 9000 feet.  On a sunny day, the ride alone is a treat.  All the surrounding mountains spread out behind you.  (Too bad the best views are at your back!)






Unloading at the top, skiers slide through the lift house, and emerge to a wonderful panorama of mountains and lakes.  I kept my GoPro camera running the entire ride, and edited the footage a bit to show you the best parts.


Views from the very top


Exiting the lift, we skied over to the roped ledge to have a peek off the backside.


My bro and I on the summit


A very nice mountain host offered to take our picture.  You know me, I never turn down a chance to be in a photo!


Snow-free lowlands

Oh what glorious views!  All the mountains south of Mt. Bachelor spread out before us.  I spotted several lakes along the famous Cascade Lakes Highway.  Due to our unseasonably warm winter, instead of seeing white, the lower reaches were totally snow-free, and the lakes very much unfrozen.  Only the highest mountaintops had any snow.
  

Ice-crusted top of the Summit Lift

The lift house's roof was still wearing an icy crust.  The top of Mt. Bachelor gets some extreme weather - high winds and icy precip.  It's a rare winter day that the summit is actually open, and even rarer to have nice weather.  We lucked out big time!
 

Incredible views from on high!

After several minutes of gawking and photo-taking, my brother and I began our descent down the Summit's steep, icy slopes.


Broken Top and Three Sisters mountains are front and center

Although the lower slopes still had a small layer of new snow, the runs up here were nothing but a sheet of skied-off ice.  Ugh!  I hate skiing on ice!


Halfway rest break

Knowing a fall on these icy slopes would mean a long, fast slide to the bottom, I skied slowly and carefully, taking frequent stops. 






But having breaks wasn't all bad - it meant plenty of photo and video opportunities!  And lots of chances to enjoy this amazing scenery.


Icy trees

I stuck my GoPro pole inside my jacket, and tried to get some point of view footage as I skied downhill.  But I moved so much that the video might make some folks a little seasick.  Still, I edited a short bit to show you what it was like.


Another look down

After filming for a couple of stretches, I shut off the camera (or so I thought), and pointed the lens down.  I then proceeded to ski all the way to the bottom of the Summit Lift.  Imagine my surprise when, about 10 minutes later, I looked down and realized the camera had been rolling the entire time.  When I later reviewed the video, I had about 10 minutes of my feet!  But it was kind of interesting, so I included a quick clip in the video above. 


Three Sisters from the Outback lift

We ended our perfect day on the mountain's west side, first exploring the Outback Lift, and finally ending with a couple runs down Leeway, one of my favorites.  The views from this side of the mountain were fantastic, with peaks lining the sky.






Here's a final video clip showing my glorious trip down Leeway.  You'll notice I stop at the beginning to give everyone a good look at the Three Sisters mountains.  That's our continual view as we skied down this trail. 

(One of my readers commented about how well I hold the camera still.  I have to tell you, it's not me - I wobble all over the place!  The GoPro camera has some amazing built-in image stabilization, and it blows me away how smooth my skiing videos turn out.)



This is one happy skier!

Although our ski down the summit wasn't under the best conditions, my brother and I agreed the spectacular views were totally worth it.  Any day you get to ski from a sunny mountain summit is a good day!


Sharing with:  Scenic Weekends and Skywatch Friday and Weekly Top Shot.

41 comments:

  1. Stunning views. I love those icy trees.

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  2. I thought you were being very clever and artistic showing us that view - I suppose you could call it "footage" - of your feet and shadow; you shouldn't have let on! Any more great videos like these and I'll have to take up skiing, which could be difficult in the flat lands of East Anglia.

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  3. I don't ski, but your images make it look easy and fun (which it probably is anyways). Love the sweeping mountain vistas and the intense white snow. A great second part from your Central Oregon weekend.

    Mersad
    Mersad Donko Photography

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  4. Linda, it looks like so much fun!!! Your photos are absolutely gorgeous!

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  5. Spectacular, Linda! I especially love the shot of the icy trees. You make winter look so beautiful!

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  6. My vicarious skiing for the week :) Love the panorama from the summit!!!

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  7. Beautiful skies and pristine snow! Thanks for the tour Linda. :)

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  8. From the eyes of this non-skier.....that looks like a long ways to the bottom!

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  9. Hello Linda, you make skiing look so easy.. I love all the images, beautiful scenic views.. Have a happy weekend!

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  10. Another great day on the slopes. Spending time with your brother must have also been a treat. Great views.

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  11. Love those summit shots, Linda, and I think the accidental video footage of your feet is so cool with your shadow skiing down the hill! :)

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  12. I'm glad you made it back down safely. I remember skiing on icy slopes and hating it. It's been a long time since I've strapped skis on, but you definitely brought back some wonderful memories! Thanks for sharing your great adventure. :-)

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  13. Looks like a wonderful day on the slopes!

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  14. The views from the top are awesome Linda!

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  15. Glad you got to ski! We have all thrown in the towel.

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  16. The white of the snow is dazzling on these sunny mountains. Gorgeous views.

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  17. Stunning scenery in white and blue!

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  18. Nice post! It's been a while since I had a day playing in the snow.

    Your are right - who ever came up with the way GoPros works, earned their money!

    cheers - Stewart M - Melbourne

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  19. Dearest Linda; Oh My!!! How great on the Summit of mountain♡♡♡ How wonderful to be able to ski and the view is awesome!!!

    Sending Lots of Love and Hugs from Japan to my Dear friend in America, xoxo Miyako*

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  20. Enough of this snow stuff. I just woke to a fresh blanket of it. Tom The Backroads Traveller

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  21. love to see all those photos, wonderful skies and happy faces...great experience indeed :)

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  22. What a great post! Been 10 years plus since I've skied, and this brings back many happy memories. I really enjoyed your videos. I've also never skied Mt. Bachelor, so I enjoyed seeing the summit!!

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  23. Great views, Linda, but did you say ICE?

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  24. Gorgeous series of 'Ski and moutons' shot ~ Fun! Spring skiing???

    Happy Weekend to you,
    artmusedog and carol

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  25. I don't ski, but I bet I could find a lot to photograph up there!

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  26. Thanks for the ski trip! I really enjoyed the chair lift too! Thanks! Those views are stunning from the summit.
    What a fun day for you:)

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  27. I'm not sure if ny comment made it cause it suddenly hanged. Anyway I was just saying that I enjoyed the ride. It was as if I was there with you. I like slow rides so I woul enjoy the chairlift for sure sering those magnificent views.

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  28. Such beautiful blue skies set against all that white!

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  29. What a lovely days skiing you had, sadly I have not yet made it to the slopes this season. Probably too late now. ;(

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  30. Your photos are so clean and fresh, I feel like I should be eating a Polo mint as I read your posts on the skiing. You are so lucky to do this x

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  31. Wow, amazingly beautiful views... the Sisters were out in all their glory! Thank you Linda, for coming by sharing your creative photography on the Weekly Top Shot, #171!

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  32. Glad you chose the right day to go skiing! The views are spectacular!

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  33. Terrific views...thanks for sharing♪ http://lauriekazmierczak.com/shadows/

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  34. Beautiful view from the top of the world. Tom The Backroads Traveller

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  35. An absolutely fabulous day on the mountain. Glorious blue skies, pure white sparkling snow, and magnificent views. Oh I so wish I lived closer to the snow.

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  36. I'm not supposed to ski anymore because of my fragile left arm, but a couple of your videos gave me that same rush I got on skis myself. Thanks for sharing!

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  37. You do have an awesome view!! Love how far you can see; your shots of the lowlands and from the top are great! Glad you had an enjoyable time.

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  38. We used to ski Mount Bachelor when we lived in the Tri-Cities, and only got to ski the summit chair once. I'll never forget the experience, the views, and the wide open snowfield to ski down. Thanks for the beautiful images to stir up some great old memories.

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  39. I'd love to learn how to ski. I think I'm too old though.

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  40. That looks like a fantastic day! Curiously un-busy at the top of the mountain, given the gorgeous weather.

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