First Powder Day At Mt Hood Meadows

It happened, the dry spell broke in the Northwest. It feels like “someone turned the hose on” as Ben Ipsen messaged me the other day after Bachelor received over 60″ in one week. We’re back in the weather, both rain and snow, good and bad but definitely wet, which is a welcome change.

 

 

On Friday February 7 and into Saturday the 8th, Hood got hit with a cold snow storm that produced dry, light snow, filling in the grassy holes left on the ground from the sunny January thaw. Nikki and I skipped work Friday to ride 8″ of amazing snow on top of icy moguls underneath. We linked up with Rager first run and hit the bowls for the first time of the season. The riding was tricky, allowing you to lay into a turn, only to be bucked by a hidden obstacle just below the thin coating.

 

On Saturday, Kelso, Nikki, Tara and I left Portland at the ass-crack-of-dawn to beat the increasingly bad traffic that’s been crowding the road to Hood each weekend. We scored with a 1 and 1/2ft deep pow day where constant winds and snow filled in the mountain more as we rode. The crowds jockeying for drops into the bowl and blowing snow kept my camera in the coat pocket once again, so shoots are pretty limited. The good news is that we had a great day powering around the mountain through soft snow. This refreshing day means that I no longer need to complain about icy, spring riding conditions. My fingers are crossed that the 2014 winter has some legs and comes in late and heavy for us in the Northwest.