Willamette Pass

Today I finally returned to the ski area that started this whole grand adventure two years, two months and five days ago. In that time I have gone from a novice toying with the idea of snowboarding to a dedicated powder hunter capable of riding most trails. On this absolutely beautiful spring-like day, I made the rounds at Willamette Pass, exploring all the trails that were beyond my ability on my previous visit (aside from RTS, which remained shaded, and was simply too icy to be worthwhile).

Although the trails were quite icy before ten, once the sun had a chance to get above the ridge, the groomed runs grew smooth and fast. I took it easy to start, re-familiarizing myself with the layout of the blue trails, and waiting for the sun to warm the steeps before hitting the harder and steeper trails. My patience was rewarded, as the snow began to improve, and I found myself enjoying a little spring snow in February.

It was a great pleasure to come back to Willamette, where I first really caught the snowboarding bug. I revisited some of the tree runs I knew from my previous visit, and found many new ones farther up the slope as well. Willamette is quite close to Portland and to Bend, but not competing directly with Mount Hood and Mount Bachelor. Eugene is really the major market for Willamette, and it shows in the relative lack of a crowd. Even with races on the hill, I found the lift line moved so fast that folks rarely filled the six pack. On the back side, there simply was no line.

After trying all the other trails on the hill, I finally decided to celebrate my good fortune in completing a tour of all three states this season by tackling the lift line at Willamette Pass. This run was so daunting when I first saw it in 2005, that I could hardly imagine why I would even want to try it.

My perspective has changed, and today I decided to enjoy the softening snow through the mogul field and along the edge of the trail, and rode all the way down the lift line. I thought it quite fitting that the final trail in my tour was "Success".

Warner Canyon

It was a beautiful day to be at Warner Canyon. Although the drive from Ashland via Klamath Falls to Lakeview was somewhat harrowing due to blizzard conditions, there was very little traffic, and I made it in good time to get a room for the night. I even had the good fortune to find a parking spot that was covered.

When I rose in the morning, the town was coated in a half foot more snow, but my car was barely dusted. I tossed my bags in the back and made a beeline for Warner, just fifteen minutes away. I arrived to find the lot characteristically empty, and counted no more than 25 cars in the lot all day (including snow plows).

With the slopes essentially empty, and almost a foot of fresh snow on top, I enjoyed the powder hound's dream of a deserted mountain of virgin white slopes under bluebird skies (with light snow flurries!). There were only about a dozen riders making the trek to the ungroomed runs, which left fresh tracks enough to last all day long. Every run was in fantastic shape, and I rode every trail, from one boundary to the other.

Although boasting less than 800 vertical feet, Warner benefits from a complete lack of crowds, and a fairly wide footprint that spreads riders laterally across the hill. The long drive from any significant population centers keeps Warner a private playground for locals most of the season. You could bring a group here (or come by yourself), and it would basically be like having a private mountain.





My "Warner Smile"...

Mt. Ashland

I had a great day at Mount Ashland today, although Ariel was shut down for the day due to high winds. This was my second ever visit to Mount Ashland, and on my first it was a bluebird, groomer day. Today's conditions were the polar opposite of my last visit, with extremely high winds and deep snow blanketing the hill. The main chair in service today was the Windsor chair, which provided access to the entire lower mountain, including many runs through extremely well spaced trees which were not in my repertoire when I first came here two years ago.

Although the winds were very strong in the parking lot, the ski runs on the lower part of Mount Ashland are very well shielded from the winds by stands of trees between the trails - and of course the runs in the trees are even more well protected from wind. The powder was deep today, and fluffy enough for rooster tails down the lift line. I had a great time testing conditions all over the available terrain, traversing to the Ariel chair line and the trees beyond, and down each trail across the face to the boundary on the parking lot side above the lodge.

After checking out the hill, I found the powder to be in good shape all over, so I kept going straight through lunch time, enjoying a complete lack of any lines while the majority went in to warm up. I finally decided to take a break at two o'clock, and as the weather began to deteriorate decided to hit the road for the long drive to Lakeview.