New Year's Eve (Ski) Day

Mt. Hood received a ton of snow after Christmas.  On the heels of several storms, sunny weather was forecast for New Year's Eve Day.  My friend Kim and I decided to go up to Mt. Hood Meadows and check it out.  Little did we realize the mob scene that awaited us. 

Apparently half of the Portland Metro area had the same idea.  The congestion started before we even got to the parking lot.  We sat in a long line of cars, winding down Meadows' access road, before Kim finally secured a parking spot in the last row of the main lot.  And this was at 9 am!  But the fun was just beginning....

Beautiful view from the top of Wee Bee Gee Bee Run

Kim got her kids situated, and then we were free to hit the slopes.  A long lift line awaited us at the Mt. Hood Express chair.  But Kim and I inserted ourselves in the fray, and slowly inched towards the loading area.

Woo-hoo!  Kim is ready to ski

The Wee Bee Gee Bee run looked good from the chair.  It appeared to be nicely groomed.  Kim and I decided to try it before the run got all bumped up.

What a glorious view from the top!  The sky was a brilliant blue.  The sun shone, trying to warm up a cold winter sky.  The snow gleamed its brightest white.  The nearby Cascade peaks were clearly visible.  It was a postcard-worthy scene.  We launched ourselves down Wee Bee for a smooth, fast trip to the lift.

Ice-covered trees

And then, we were back in the huge mob.  No, the line hadn't shrunk in the least!  The lift kept stopping, and that didn't help matters.  Once Kim and I were back on the lift, it stopped twice on our way to the top.  Kim and I decided to try another chair, to see if the line, and the lift, was better.

Kim bundled up against the cold

We got in line at the Vista lift.  The line was long, but seemed to move a lot faster than MH Express.  But it was a cold, windy ride - and this lift stopped too!  One we unloaded, Kim and I found Vista's slopes were crowded and super-cold.  After one run at Vista, we decided to go somewhere else.

Kim skiing by pretty snow-covered trees

We tried the old, slow Daisy lift (aka "the Buttwhapper").  There was no line, but this lift was really slow, made even slower by a couple of stoppages.  No wonder it wasn't busy here.  Time to move on!

Kim is happy to be skiing!

Finally late in the morning, Kim and I ended up at Shooting Star.  The snow was nice, the crowds were better, and - yes - the lift made it all the way to the top without stopping!   We decided to stay put for awhile.

Can you tell I'm in my happy place?

After some great runs down Shooting Star's slopes, both Kim and I were getting cold.  Our feet felt like blocks of ice.  We were ready to head in for a warm up and some lunch.

The lodge was an absolute zoo.  Somehow, we found space at a table.  Kim went to order her food, while I held our spots.  It took awhile for Kim to get her grub, but my feet badly needed thawing out.  I was grateful for the extra time to defrost.

Lift line sadness

After lunch, it was back into the crowds.  MH Express wasn't doing any better, and seemed to be stopping even more frequently.  Time to head back to Shooting Star!

Kim and I had some more excellent runs at Shooting Star.  However, I was bombing down Apollo, ready to hit the bumpy steeps, when I suddenly found myself doing the splits and then crashing onto my back.  Somehow, my back made contact with my skis.  Ouch!  That didn't feel good.  I don't know why I wiped out.  All I could tell Kim was "damn snow snake!"

A beautiful mountain on a beautiful day

There wasn't any lift lines at Shooting Star.  So I'm not sure why we headed back to MH Express, where the line had not shrunk in the least.  And the lift was still stopping!  Kim and I said very loudly "there is no line at Shooting Star!" hoping some of the people would head over there.

At 3:00, Kim headed in to pick up her daughter.  I decided to take one last run.  I buddied up with three other guys, and as we were loading onto the chair, I complained about the lift stoppages to one of my companions.  I made a comment that "as much money as we give Meadows, you think they could afford to better maintain their lifts!"  Turned out, one of the other men on the chair used to be the head lift mechanic at Meadows.  He explained that the busier the day, the more people having trouble loading and unloading on the lifts, therefore more stoppages.  Apparently, ski lifts are designed to stop if they sense any little problem.  The philosophy for skier safety is when in doubt, it's better to err on the conservative side and shut down.  After that explanation, I felt a little foolish about my rant.

The lights are on for night skiing

When it was time to leave, the main highway was at a standstill.  All the people from the three Mt. Hood resorts decided to head for home at the same time.  Kim turned around her vehicle, and we took the long way home through Hood River.  After driving slippery roads, and then through the Gorge, poor Kim was beat.

Lesson learned.  If there's a sunny day forecast after many stormy days, and it's the week between Christmas and New Years, stay away from Meadows!  (I should know better than to ski at resorts during the holidays). 

Yet it was a great way to spend New Year's Eve day.  I got home too tired to stay up until midnight, so 2011 came without me.  Oh well, I've rung in enough new years. 

With 2011 comes the promise of more great ski days.   Happy New Year!

:)

Christmas 2010

Before I knew it December 24th was here.  After a busy day filled with Christmas preparations, I looked forward to sitting down with my family and unwrapping our gifts.  Our tradition is to unwrap presents on Christmas Eve, and then go to church ("midnight" mass at 9 pm).

Our poor, unstable Christmas tree

But during the day, we had a small catastrophe.  Our Christmas tree, which always had a lean to it, gave in to gravity and fell over.  I came downstairs to find Roger and Cody desperately trying to right the tree.  The stand had also tipped, spilling water all over the carpet and dousing some of our presents. 

My family imitating our Christmas tree

We tried to get the tree to stand up straight, but it wouldn't cooperate.  In the end, Roger gave up and left it leaning against the wall.  That evening, while shooting family photos, we decided to do a pose that would make the tree feel right at home.

Family photo by our leaning Christmas tree

We also did a more traditional pose.  It took awhile to get this one right.  Bear kept following me into the photo!  We had lots of outtakes with Bear's rear end in the middle of the frame.

I unwrap my "fraglie" present

Then it was time to commence the gift unwrapping! I got a nicely wrapped package marked "fraglie."  Hmmm.....I wonder what's inside?  And what does it mean that it's "fraglie?"  The gift turned out to be wine glasses, and my daughter misspelled "fragile."

Cody digs into his present

The kids had more gifts than Roger and I (as it should be) so I had fun sitting back and watching them enjoy opening their presents.

Denise has a BIG present!

Roger had gotten the kids each jackets from China.  Denise got a Spyder ski jacket, which Roger wrapped in a really big box.

Denise mugs for her mom's camera

The kids were pretty cooperative with the photo-taking.  I guess they knew there was no way they were getting out of it on Christmas Eve.

Cody models his jacket from China

Roger got Cody a nice North Face jacket in China.  Of course, it was black (now Cody's favorite color!)

Denise expresses her surprise in getting the game of "Clue"

Now that my kids are older, and practically on their own, it's hard to buy gifts for them.  While we were shopping the after Thanksgiving sales, Denise gave me lots of hints.  One store had all of their board games buy one get one free.  Denise picked out two games she wanted.  Since I was already there, I went ahead and bought them even though Denise was with me.  I told Denise to act surprised when she opened them on Christmas.  When she opened these gifts, Denise gave a performance worthy of an academy award.

I caught Cody smiling!

Cody also gave a few good performances for my camera.

Merry Fishmas!

There are some things you see in the store that are so perfect for that special someone, you have to buy them!  (Even if they are total junk)  Such is the case with the chocolate fish in the above photo.  Oh - this wasn't the only gift I gave my hubby.  Roger did receive some "good" stuff from me too!

The men of the family working on more gifts

Even if there is a large amount of presents, gift unwrapping seems to go quickly.  Before you know it, all the gifts have been opened, and you're left with a big pile of wrapping paper and bows.  So sad.

My kids, clowning for the camera

It was nice to have everyone together for the Christmas holiday.  My kids seemed to enjoy each other's company (for the most part!).

Roger and I pose in front of the tree

Roger and I smile for a couples photo in front of the tree, although we ended up blocking most of it.

Bear gets his own doggy blanket

Even Bear got a Christmas gift - his very own doggy blanket!  But he was too busy chewing on his toy to fully appreciate it.

Another holiday season has come and gone.  It's been good to have everyone here and celebrate as a family.  Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all!

:)

Trimming the Tree

Now that all my family was home again, it was time to prepare for Christmas.  The first step was to put up the tree.  Since it was the week before Christmas when we were finally all back together, there was slim pickins' at the tree lots.  After tromping through a very muddy lot, we chose a nice noble fir.

Cody and Denise start with the lights

When we got the tree home and tried to set it up, we discovered one side of the tree was fuller than the other.  This gave the tree a lopsided appearance.  When placed in the tree stand, the tree didn't look like it was sitting straight up.  Roger fussed around with it for awhile, but we eventually settled on an alignment that looked relatively vertical. 

Finding that one dead bulb!

Then it was up to the attic to get out our many boxes of Christmas decorations.  Over the years, we've amassed quite a collection!  Roger unpacked the lights, and went to work finding the ones that still worked.

Denise shows her disapproval of my photographic documentation

Cody and Denise began winding strings of lights around the tree.  We've got a lot of lights, so they put on as many as the tree could hold.

Cody and Denise checking out another string of lights

It's a slow process to wind lights around a tree.  And you always have to check out the lights before you put them on the tree to be sure all the bulbs work!

The kids admire their lighting work

Finally, the tree was ablaze with lights. It looked really nice.  Next, it was time to add the ornaments.  We opened up our two big boxes full of balls, and other assorted decor.

Bear gets some decoration

It's fun to look through the decoration boxes.  We've got over 20 years of Christmas ornaments collected.  It brings back a lot of memories of Christmas's past.

Denise hangs a Christmas ball on the tree

Putting the various Christmas balls on the tree is always the fun part.  I remember when the kids were little the bottom portion of the tree was crammed with ornaments (up to their arm's reach) while the top was really sparse.

I got Roger to smile!

We can't get the tree decorated without a few mishaps.  This year, it was a couple of broken Christmas balls.  Luckily, it was nothing sentimental, and the vacuum cleaner was already out and ready.

The kids decorated me too

Much to the kid's displeasure, I did more photo-taking than actual ornament placing.

Cody searches for a good spot to place an ornament

I keep telling the kids that someday they'll be happy I took all these photos.  Of course, I'll probably be dead by the time it's finally appreciated!

Putting on the garland

After we'd crammed on as many ornaments as the tree could hold, Cody and Denise applied the finishing touch.  They wound a couple strands of silver garland around the tree.  Perfect!

The finished product

We surveyed our 2010 Christmas tree, and decided it was perfect!  Well.....it did appear lean a little bit, but Roger decided we were done with adjustments and left well alone.

The tree gave our house a nice foresty scent.  I just love the smell of a Christmas tree!  It really felt like Christmas now.  And with all of our decorations up, we finally looked ready.  Time to bring on the presents! 


:)

Two Great Ski Days

Storms hit Mt. Hood Monday through Wednesday and dumped a ton of snow.  Then the forecast called for Thursday and Friday to be clear, sunny days.  Denise was home from school, and Cody was due back on Friday.  New snow, good weather and people to ski with .... it was a sign.   I took both days off and headed for the mountain!

Mt. Hood view from Timberline parking lot

And what a good decision I made!  Thursday, Denise and I headed for Timberline Lodge.  We arrived to beautiful blue skies and a killer view of Mt. Hood from the parking lot.  It looked to be a very nice day.

Mt. Jefferson view from Timberline day lodge

I usually don't ski much at Timberline. It's a smaller ski area than Mt. Hood Meadows and not very challenging for me. When I do go to Timberline, I bring my tele skis.  But Denise likes to snowboard there, and I had a two-for-one lift ticket coupon.  Timberline does have a very nice day lodge (much nicer than Meadows) that serves great burgers.


Timberline Lodge and Mt. Hood

Denise brought one of her friends, so I left them to snowboard together and headed for the slopes.  I planned to meet my friends John and Randy (retired former co-workers) later in the morning.  But for now there were lots of nicely groomed corduroy runs ready for exploration. 

Wonderful white scene from the lift

I headed for the Jeff Flood lift, which is the newest high speed quad at Timberline.  I really hadn't skied much in this area, so decided today would be a good day to check it out.  Riding up the lift, I was treated to a beautiful view of the mountain, snow-flocked trees, and a bright blue sky.  Wow!

Nature's Christmas decoration

Up at the top of the lift, it was cold and a little windy.  But the views were wonderful!  The snow-covered trees looked as good as any flocked tree you could buy from a Christmas tree lot.  The sun lit the snow up and it sparkled.  Mother Nature does a pretty good job of decorating for Christmas.

John makin' a tele-turn

About mid-morning, I met up with John and Randy.  John showed me his new bright-red tele skis.  Randy had a new bright red helmet.  Both guys also had red jackets.  It wasn't going to be hard to find my companions on the slopes!

Randy flies down the hill

It was good to catch up with the guys.  I don't think I've skied with either John or Randy for at least two years.  We made lots of laps down the runs under the Jeff Flood lift.

Chairlift photo op

John likes to take photos as much as I do.  He had his camera out a lot.  And of course, when his camera came out, so did mine. It was such a beautiful day, we couldn't help it!

The men in red

I was having so much fun, lunchtime came before I knew it.  I told Denise I'd meet her in the lodge for lunch at 11:30.  At 11:15, I decided to do "just one more run."  That run took longer than anticipated, and I was a little late meeting up for lunch.  Ooops.  It is not good to keep a hungry daughter waiting!

Bottom of the Palmer Lift

After lunch, I tried to meet up again with John and Randy.  I couldn't reach either of them on their cell phones and skied a couple of the runs we'd done this morning, but no luck.  The Magic Mile lift was open, so I finally gave up and decided to check out the Mile.  Oh, it was a windy, cold ride to the top!  The views were great as always, but it was too frigid to linger.  I snapped a couple of photos and headed back down.

An ice-coated Palmer lift stretches up the mountain

I spent the rest of the afternoon revisiting my favorite runs.  My legs were getting tired, so the stops became more frequent.  I finally met up with Denise and her friend.  After checking out the gift shop, and finding Denise a new helmet, it was time to head home.  What an incredible day!  Good timing to play hooky from work.  I was already looking forward to tomorrow.

Cody at Mt. Hood Meadows

The next day it was Cody's turn to join me.  We headed for Mt. Hood Meadows.  Again, it was another clear, sunny day.  Mt. Hood looked like a giant mound of whipped cream with all the new snow.  We got more good views of the mountain from Meadows' parking lot.

Another beautiful day at Mt. Hood Meadows

Our companion on the first lift ride was more than happy to give us a snow conditions report.  He said that the Cascade lift and Heather Canyon had just opened today.  Apparently they'd been closed since the last storm.  There was lots of untracked fresh powder ready for the taking.  He recommended Silver Bowl into Heather Canyon as the best place for pow.

Good day sunshine

After a couple of warm-up runs, Cody and I decided to try Silver Bowl.  We rode the Cascade lift to the top of the ski area, and soaked in the views.  Then we traversed towards Heather Canyon.

Looking into Heather Canyon

By the time we arrived at the top of Silver Bowl, it was getting really tracked out.  Fresh pow doesn't last long!  Cody and I saw another slope a little ways away that was not quite as cut up.  We side hilled over to check it out.

Silver Bowl

There was enough untracked places on this slope to make a good run, so Cody and I headed down.  What wonderful snow!  It was knee-deep and fluffy.  The snow flew up above my shoulders as I made my turns.  However, this was my first deep powder skiing of the season, and I found out I'm a little rusty.  I wiped out a couple of times.  Luckily, the soft snow broke my falls, and no damage was done (except to my pride!).

Makin' turns down Apollo Run

After our awesome run down Silver Bowl, Cody and I decided to check out the snow under Shooting Star lift.  It was great!  Apollo Run was our favorite, and we made lots of laps.

Thumbs up for the day!

The weather was even better than the day before.  It was not as cold and windy, but cold enough to keep the snow powdery.  Almost perfect!  (We just needed a foot of fresh powder and then I'd give it a "10").

Still goin' strong on day two!


After tele skiing the day before, I gave my legs a break and used my new alpine skis.  After a day of tele, alpine skiing seemed so easy!  I was having lots of fun flying down the hill, bumping over moguls and carving through hidden powder stashes.

Hunched-over icy trees

Just like at Timberline, there were white snow and ice crusted trees.  Very cool to see.  I tried to capture their beauty as best I could.

Cody takes a breather

Cody and I spent most of the afternoon on Shooting Star's trails.  We liked the snow, and the terrain was the best.  After skiing all day yesterday, I held out better than expected.  My legs lasted until 3:00.  Then I took Cody over to the Stadium race course for one last run to the lodge.

King of the world!

I can't believe I lucked out with two sunny ski days in a row.  I had an absolute blast both days.  A good use of vacation and a great way to spend time with my kids.

When the sun is out, and the snow is fresh, there's no better place to be than Mt. Hood.