Chasing Weekday Powder on Hood

January has brought a continuation of the Northwest El Nino roller coaster weather. Waves of heavy moisture just keep coming but with them comes abnormally fluctuating temperatures. Our base depth on Mt.Hood is over 100 inches now at the base lodge. The mountains are filled in and waiting for cold snaps to align with the incoming weather systems.

MLK weekend was a stormy one, starting as rain and ending as deep, heavy snow. Kelso and I got up on Mt.Adams for a sled day. Morning rains at the trailhead slowed our progress. Once up high, the thick snow was challenging to push through and then access for stability, making for an unproductive day of boarding. The day was so exhausting that I decide to work on the Monday holiday so I could rest. I saved my day off for the middle of the week where cold temps were forecasted to linger and the big system finally push out.

I rode Mt.Hood Meadows with Rager and his buddy Brant on this particular Wednesday. We lapped the ridge run to three and four bowl until the fresh turns were exhausted. Moving into the Waterfall zone next and then on to Hollywood. We bumped into Chip riding solo. He joined us for some Hollywood airs before we heading higher to Cascade.

The real gem of the day was a late opening of Heather Canyon at 1:30pm. My GoPro video may be a little long and lacking alternate vantage points but it’s a nice reminder for me of some great runs I got on a perfect mid week riding day.