Oct. 2,4,5,6 & 10 Central Oregon Ski Conditions

[schubwa]

I called Robert and he wanted to join me for more classic in the Flats. The snow was perfect as it had set up and an addition inch fell on top really drying things out. I had a fresh coat of purple glide wax so I was flying in the track.



Summit Chair and the Cirque Bowls with a bomber coat of white. Lower down I suspect things will melt out over the next few weeks but who knows.



You can see the Cone and it was being tracked this morning as we skied. It was probably pretty good with the concrete-like base with last night's cold fluff on top. I used to hike early like this but don't want to risk life and limb at this early point in the season!



Good buddy Robert smiling at his good fortune, so is Shasha.



I can't say enough about the consistancy and snow preservation we have at this place.

 

[Tony Crocker]

I can't say enough about the consistency and snow preservation we have at this place.

In the vast majority of location early October snow is nearly irrelevant because almost all of it will melt out before the first "permanent storm" arrives. This was the case for the October 5 snow at Mammoth 2 years ago that kept my mini-streak going. In spring/fall Bachelor has a cloudier climate than Mammoth to go along with its weaker sun angle for better snow preservation, so it will be interesting to see how much of this snow stays here. In winter I think Mammoth's snow preservation is better because Mammoth's prevailing winds come from the back of the mountain and deposit snow on more ski terrain than it strips from the backside. Bachelor's prevailing wind is a crosswind to the north facing Summit terrain which results in more exposed hard/icy spots as well as a high closure rate for the Summit chair.

 

[schubwa]

In winter I think Mammoth's snow preservation is better because Mammoth's prevailing winds come from the back of the mountain and deposit snow on more ski terrain than it strips from the backside In winter.

As a long time Mammoth resident (1972-1987), I have to agree. The wind direction does help Ol' Wholly but I think it's high elevation seems to more than make up for it's lower latitude during the middle of winter. Mt Bachelor is more likely to have rain/icing events that can impact surface conditions for a while. Having lived on both volcanoes for about the same amount of time, I will say the number of powder days at Bachelor far exceeds those at Mammoth (like today for example). It seems the Sierra gets most of it's snow in larger, but windier doses than the Cascades.

because almost all of it will melt out before the first "permanent storm" arrives.

Locally this is true most of the time, however the upper mountain will keep some of this infant snowpack for this season. I'll keep the photos coming so we can all see what happens. Tonight we are expecting another 1-3", so my mini-streak will continue...

 

[Tony Crocker]

Yes I should have mentioned the rain factor. My understanding (from a study presented at ISSW in 2010) Bachelor gets rain to the top of the mountain 2-3 times per season, similar to the top of Whistler. By daily patrol records Mammoth's patrol site at 9,000 feet has had 14 days of rain (Nov-Apr) in 31 years. Only over 2 days at New Year's 1997 was there sustained rain at the 11,000 foot summit.

I would certainly agree that Bachelor would have more powder days than Mammoth (more frequent, less extreme storms). I would find it hard to believe that the storms are any less windy. These are both chronically windy mountains, and Bachelor's lift closure rate is considerably worse than Mammoth's, though the orientation of the lifts to prevailing winds is a big factor in that.

 

[schubwa]

High pressure is in control and today I expected it to be pretty hard after yesterday's warm up. On the snow around 11 and we found a firm carpet with a little surface hoar on top. Wished I'd brought my skate skis instead of my classics. It was ideal for "crust cruising".


You can see the snowpack at the flat is hanging in there! Notice the combination of skate and classic tracks to the right.


There are all sorts of tracks on the mountain (not visible from this pic) but I haven't caved into the temptation yet...
Looks like we can milk this baby snowpack for a few more days.

 

[schubwa]

Ah, glorious Indian Summer has arrived with temps in town into the 70's. Last night I checked out all the new Audi's, BMW's and Porsches at Carrera Motors Oktoberfest bash. So I had to shake off a little groggyness this morning but I was able to get my skis on the snow by 10. The crust cruising on skate skis was outstanding after a hard freeze and a shallow snow pack which provided a nice carpet of hoar crystals this morning. I saw some usual suspects like Bob & Maria Madden, avid Nordic skiers and surfers as well as super-skier Dakota Blackhorse Von Jess. The cover in the pumice flat is thinning but no bare patches yet. I'm thinking tomorrow will be my last ski day until the next storm cycle.


The standard Three Sisters and Broken Top view with the Cascade Lakes Hwy open to fall traffic into the lakes basin.


After more than an hour of skating I was dying for some tacos and a Jarritos (Mexican soda). There's a new "food court" right in my neighborhood that has a cluster of food wagons circled around a covered common with the obligatory tap bar with local brews (22 breweries in Bend and counting...)


Right next door to the food court is my fav local bakery with this cool little greenhouse plant shop that Jamie Vikos just opened. Bend has this entrepenurial spirit that is sometimes amazing.

 

[Marc_C]

Love the pics! Where's the like button on this site, anyway? Oh, schubwa, time to change your avatar photo. The reddish-colored beam behind your head makes you look like you have this stylish flip hairdo of red hair - kinda like the Wendy's Burger's logo and the woman on their TV ads!

 

[schubwa]

Hey Marc_C,

Thanks for the heads up on the avatar, never noticed the red look. Actually those are BD Ascention skins drying after another day of work in the Selkirks.

Didn't mean to hijack the site with boring Nordic ski reports but it has been rewarding...

And I haven't hit one rock.

8)

 

[schubwa]

Well the tide is going out here with a hefty high pressure in complete control. We decided to go one more time until the next storm cycle.


Donovan Ackerman is our new friend from Canada we met yesterday. He's on the left with David Blair. David met this nice couple in the park and invited them for a beer at 10 Barrel. We got to talking and found out he used to compete in Biathlon in Saskatchewan so we rounded up some extra gear and he joined us for a ski this morning!


Here's the west end of Dutchman and as you can see the sun is winning. One could ski for another couple of days at the higher east end but I'm good for now.


Me and David finishing up after another fine pre-season ski day. We're talking about heading out on the road bikes this afternoon so we can drink beer again later.

 

[Tony Crocker]

Porsches at Carrera Motors

They inspected my car after the crash I had outside Eureka on the first day of my 5-week road trip in Jan/Feb 2012.

I used lots of duct tape from my friend Kirk Reynolds in Bend before continuing on. Later in the trip any passengers like Liz had to enter the driver's side and climb over the center console to use the passenger seat.

It will be interested to see what happens to that snow the rest of the month. Presumably that cross country area will melt out completely but some will remain on the mountain. I'm guessing this storm was not well received by Oregon's wine industry. Last year, despite summer not really starting until after my June/July trip with Patrick, evidently was a very good one with nice weather through the harvest season.

 

[schubwa]

We had a small weather system roll through, keeping the temps down and adding 2" at the 6300' level. Pancho and I went up and skied for about an hour on classic skis.


I thought it would have been burned off by now, but lucky us we're still sliding.


I skied across the road, up the Common Corridor, to take this parking lot-eye view of Pine Martin Chair from just below the Nordic Lodge. The alpine side got more hiker traffic yesterday with the new coat of snow.


The easy to hike to Cinder Cone always delivers early in the ski year. The late-opening downhill bike park was still born this fall after only one weekend of operation. They've closed it until next season due to the persistant snow cover. I heard that Mt Bachelor GM Dave Rathbun is pressuring Powdr Corp HQ to seriously consider installing the new Eastside Lift next summer due to strong early pass sales this fall!