Snow Blind at Timberline

I got up somewhere near 615am PT. Noted first was the rain pounding against the condo’s windows. That couldn’t be a good thing. I got out of bed without disturbing Mindy and headed downstairs to start coffee, exercise, and then my run. I tuned the TV to channel 8, Portland’s NBC affiliate. The weather forecast called for rain all day long on the lower mountain but snow above 6000’, about the elevation of the Timberline lodge. The Timberline website confirmed that the heavy rain below was heavy snow there. They were predicting as much as 11” up top. Aside from a challenging drive up, that sounded good to my ears. I finished my exercises and enjoyed coffee. I started my Thursday blog too. I delivered Mindy’s coffee then headed out for a very wet run around 745am. I didn’t mind the rain. I ran a little further than I did on Thursday, although at the outset I found it difficult to catch my breath, no doubt a product of the higher elevation (4000’) and an uphill ascent. The condo was quiet upon my return and stayed that way until 10am or so. I was surprised that Glenn & Mindy slept so late. I felt terrific, by the way, after 10 hours of sleep the night before and very little alcohol consumption on the ski slopes before. Mindy & Glenn both were bummed seeing the heavy rain outside. I reassured them that it was snowing on the slopes. We confirmed our plans to ski Timberline. I offered to make everyone’s breakfast – egg Mcmuffins. It didn’t take long to make them - sausage, egg and cheese on an English muffin. After breakfast everyone showered. There’s no doubt, all three of us were moving at a more leisurely pace than the previous two days. We didn’t head out for the mountain until almost noon. My only concern was whether or not we’d hit inclement weather on the winding 6 mile road up and have to stop and chain up. We stopped in the condo’s office to buy lift tickets -$40. Cool! The first 3 or 4 miles was all rain, but it started snowing from that point forward, although very passable until the last half mile or so. As Glenn likes to point out, it’s important to maintain your momentum. As luck would have it, we were slowed by a sedan moving with overt caution effectively killing any momentum we had. As we crept to the crest, the Timberline parking lot was in total white out. Just in front of the slow moving vehicle immediately in front of us was a tour bus. It had chains on but was moving super slow too. Geesh! I was very nervous. My saving grace was that we were finally there. We found a parking spot unusually close where we geared up in a heavy snow. For Mindy & I, this was our first time skiing Timberline with our own gear. And because we already had our lift tickets, we could go directly from the car to the slopes. Very cool! Finding ourselves in heavy snow atop Hood isn’t a rare event. It’s happened to me more often than not actually, but this afternoon’s conditions might’ve been the most difficult ever. You could see just tens of feet in front of your face and then the vague silhouette of the tall timbers lining the lower mountain trails. Scary! On top of that, the snow was incredibly thick, wet, and untraveled, certainly not the most ideal ski conditions. We skied it anyway. There’s something mystical about Timberline for both Mindy & I. The terrain is beautiful – hard to match anywhere. As we ascended the Pucci lift through the snow covered pines I shared how good it felt to be there. I probably visit the Timberline website 200 days out of the 365 each year. It feels like a second home. We headed up Stormin’ Norman next. The ride up was fast but in total white out conditions. As exited the lift even Glenn was hesitant about skiing the run. I wanted to badly but as I started down it was like skiing in milk. I thought better of it and pegged back up the initial hump. We headed back to Pucci. We took two or three runs down the mountain, and once down Jeff Flood. Like I’ve never experienced before, the snow was ridiculously grabby almost stopping me in my tracks. I’d liken it to mud. Mindy fell a couple of times due to the snow conditions – nothing too hard. We decided to take a break at our favorite ski lodge bar. In the bar we ordered a pitcher of their Hogsback Oatmeal Stout for Glenn & I. Mindy ordered a cabernet. For lunch, I ordered their hot wings while Mindy ordered a salad. Glenn refrained from food. While eating/drinking we met a couple just in town from San Diego, although he grew up in Washington. His wife and 10 month old child had never seen snow before. I was surprised they drove up given the treacherous conditions. They weren’t skiing, just site seeing. The Timberline Lodge is a national historic landmark – a treasure to be sure. Mindy gushed over their young boy, who had just started walking last week. The father shared that he had chains in the car but wasn’t sure if they’d fit since they were hand- me- downs from his boss back in San Diego. Yikes! Glenn ran into an old ski club buddy from 20 years past. They chatted briefly. Mindy found herself still hungry and ordered a hummus plate. Like most of the food on the mountian, it was top notch, certainly better than the lodge food at MRM, although I’m not intending to slam our local ski resort back home. We headed back out for more skiing. If anything, the snow was wetter on our second run, and the skiability of the all the runs only worsened. What was a lot of fun was the slalom course set up on Main Pucci Run. We skied it two or three times. It was snowing so hard that each time we boarded a lift we had to sweep an inch of snow from beneath or asses. An hour into our second run, my gloves were soaked through and through, and my ass was wet too. Surprisingly, though, I wasn’t cold. We skied a few black runs. Mindy fell a lot, not due to the slopes complexity, but rather the thick grabby snow. She’s never skied in conditions like these – ever. I shared that you need to almost hop out of each turn and into the next with total conviction. Easier said than done, however. After another 30 minutes of nearly impossible ski conditions, Mindy declared herself through. At one point along the cruise down we could see the road down the mountain. It was becoming snowed over fast. I was worried about the need to chain up. Glenn and I were satisfied with the skiing we’d done and agreed to call it a day. And honestly, as much as I wanted to keep skiing, there was little point in continuing. The conditions were anything but favorable. To get to the lodge, we had to ride up Molly’s then down again and make our way to the Pucci lift. It was difficult to see the lodge just in front of us. The one benefit of the heavy snow was that we were able to ski all the way to the car – a first for me. I was very nervous about the possibility of having to chain up. The snow in the lot was deep and I’d have to read the instructions then crawl on the ground to put ‘em on. The thought terrified me. I was hopeful we could manage our way down without them, although I wasn’t willing to risk our lives. After 15 minutes of removing our gear and clearing the snow off the Escape, we were ready to descend the mountain. I couldn’t see anything but white in front of me – OK maybe the orange poles sticking up from the walls of snow, but I had no idea how to navigate out of the lot to the road down. I curtly asked Glenn over and over for help. His directions didn’t suit me so I continued to ask. He became incensed/irritated with my repeated request. I was panicked – couldn’t see dick! Finally, we found the path. The temperature was 31 degrees, and the road snow covered. I proceeded slowly, cautiously. I seemed to have the control one would expect. We hadn’t gone a mile before the snow gave way to wet & rainy pavement. Thank God! It seemed the worst was behind us. The further down the mountain we went the better the road became. We arrived back at the condo around 6pm. I threw all of my wet ski gear into the condo’s dryer then turned on the garage heater to warm the car as well as our skis that we hung on the provided racks – again very nice accommodations. If we were correct, our lift tickets would get us on the mountain again Saturday since they were never ‘validated’ by staff. If so, what a savings that would be. And given the crazy conditions, none of us would feel like we were cheating. We hung at the condo only long enough to change into our hot tub attire. We were determined to make it to the pool/hot tub at least once. We walked. It was just across the way. We were the only ones in the tub. I brought a beer in plastic tumbler and a flask of lemon nip (thanks Scott). Mindy loves the lemon nip. We tubbed for about an hour or until we were pruned beyond recognition. J Feeling lively and fun, we agreed to head back to the condo, changed into street clothes, then head out into the village for some night life and food – Charlie’s first. Charlie’s is an oldtime ski pub with a limited barside menu. As one might expect, the décor is mostly old ski gear, complete with old skis, posters, and even some really old lift chairs. I enjoyed the décor as much as the diverse crowd. We sat along a large sofa just off the right of the stage, where a blues musician started playing his steel guitar. With plenty of room still available on our sofa, we made room for three ladies out on the town without their men. Mindy struck up a lengthy conversation with them. I joined in too, Glenn only passively. While enjoying some beer and wings we watched the Olympics in the background. We had a nice time. We headed back to our condo just before 10pm.Boy, aren’t we the party animals! Mindy was quick to head off to bed. Glenn and I stayed up and put in the DVD, Bolt. I poured another beer and popped some popcorn, just like at home. After woofing down the corn, I started to drift. I allowed it. I woke to an empty downstairs at midnight.