Scary Ski Descent of Mt. Thielsen

This weekend Emily and I drove up on Saturday night to the Crater Lake area of Oregon where we spent the night on the shore of the still frozen Diamond Lake underneath Mt. Bailey. On the drive up we stopped briefly at Lemolo Lake so I could get some shots of pointy Mt. Thielsen in the distance over the lake with the “super moon” that was out that night. Apparently, the moon was in its closest orbit to earth in over 1,000 years but neither Emily or I could really tell that much of a difference.

Once we got parked and set up our bags in the back of the car I took the camera down to the shore of the lake to set it up for my first night timelapse experiment using the intervelometer built into the camera. This function allows the camera to take a photo at a specified interval for as long at the memory card has room for.  Combining these photos together creates a movie (kind of like a cartoon flip book) of the night sky with the stars rotating overhead with the surroundings stationary. I love these videos and since our camera has that function I thought I would give it a try before heading to bed with Emily who spent the night coughing from either bad allergies or a chest cold.
In the morning we woke to two people walking by who had noticed the camera setup. Thankfully, they saw us and left it alone. When I went to retrieve it I was horrified to see the entire $2000+ system cached with morning frost! Thankfully, the camera is built solidly and after some defrosting in the car it was fine. Unfortunately, the battery only lasted for about 250 shots which is about a 10-12 second movie of the night sky. This was fine as the moon was blowing up the brightness near the end of the battery as it entered the camera frame.
After some consideration Emily decided she wanted to give the climb up Thielsen a try despite her physical weakness from the coughing and we started our trip up from the parking lot just after 9am. It took us quite a bit of time to get up to the ridge of Thielsen because Emily was struggling for energy. We did have a pleasant break in the woods for 15 minutes as we were visited by a group of Grey Jays (Northwest Camp Robbers) who were curious about Emily. I told Emily to stick out her hand, accurately guessing that they were bold enough to land on it looking for scraps. Emily was surprised to have it land right on her hand and then start nibbling at her fingertips which at first scared her that it would hurt. Eventually, I coaxed her into moving into the light shining through the trees and I was able to get some great shots of her and her new friend. After some time the birds figured out they weren’t going to get any more food after a couple bits of granola and took off deeper into the woods.

When we reached a good spot on the ridge Emily decided she would wait for me. A skier passed us and told us that he had just descended this sketchy looking chute down the northwestern face of Thielsen that I had been looking at as a possibility on Google Earth. He said it was super icy but would be much better once I got up there. So, I ended up following his tracks up the ridge quickly while Emily waited on the ridge below with my iphone to video me coming down. It didn’t take me long to reach the top of the chute where the guy had cut a small platform into the hard snow to put on his skis and gear. I did the same and got a couple shots of the area and looking down the chute before thankfully putting it inside my pack instead of on my chest as usual. I also got the helmet cam set up on my head and turned it on.

Small rocks and ice were beginning to rain down on the area from the cliffs above from the hot early afternoon sun so I knew for safety I should probably bail on any thoughts of visiting the summit spire and quickly get myself down the chute before conditions got really bad. On hind sight I probably should have waited patiently 10-15 minutes to regain the strength in my legs because when I dropped into the chute and took my first 3 jump turns I realized my legs were rubber from the fast climb up the ridge… That’s when I flipped. I took a weak jump turn, caught a rock or ice on my ski edge and flipped right through the air head over heels back to my butt. I slid a couple feet but thankfully was able to regain control and arrest my slide with both skis still attached.

After a few moments I collected myself and started down again. I exited the chute and found myself on a fin of snow leading out to a small rock outcrop. This is where any sign of the previous skiers tracks disappeared. I had two choices. Go skiers right down the face over a crown of an old avalanche that had ripped right down to the rocks or go skiers left down a narrower and steeper face. Right looked less steep but I didn’t want to destroy my ski bases on bare rock after the crown so I headed left instead and found myself half sliding, half falling down one of the steepest slopes I’d ever been on. It was super icy and there was so much ice and snow falling with me (my slough) from my jump turns that I couldn’t even see the surface of the snow I was on. It was definitely a no-fall-zone as I could have tomahawked into the side rocks or a small rock boulder at the base of the face I was on. With skis bouncing rapidly on the ice and very jittery with rubbery legs I was praying the whole way down my tiny dynafit touring bindings held onto my boots.Thankfully, I had thought to lock the front toe pieces (usually a bad idea for downhill as it limits ejection) which kept them tightly on my feet.

At the base of the huge northwestern face the snow immediately got softer and I arced a couple big turns down the bowl and up onto the ridge to meet Emily… with legs still shaking from the descent. That’s when I realized that my helmet cam had completely failed from the very start and the film Emily had gotten of me showed me as simply a tiny spec heading down the face. Another climber had gotten video of me from the ridge so hopefully I’ll be able to get it emailed to me. I was super happy to be down in one piece and so was Emily. I definitely got my adrenaline rush of the season on that descent.

From there it was an easy ski descent back through the woods to the trailhead which I missed by a quarter of a mile unfortunately because I was having too much fun skiing to keep checking my gps track. We pulled a couple beers out of the snow and relaxed for a bit in the warm sun before piling all the gear into the car again and heading home via the much faster 97 route through Oakridge back to I-5 at Eugene. Another great day skiing. We missed Chris who was rafting the John Day but will probably end up heading to Mt. Shasta with him next weekend.

Silverton Brewfest and Blitzen Trapper

This weekend the weather looked pretty crappy so Emily and I decided to join Erin, Scott, Mischa, Tim, Lindsay, Loomis and Amy Jo at the Silverton Brewfest on Saturday evening and we even talked Chris into coming along later in the evening as well to see the showcase band of the night, Blitzen Trapper.  

The Brewfest was located at the Oregon Gardens in Silverton, OR which Em and I haven’t been to yet.  The area was super beautiful and although it is still early in the spring there were flowers and buds blooming everywhere there.  We drove Amy Jo and Loomis to the festival as well and when we arrived we paid $5 for parking and quickly found a place nearby, only to find out that we were still very far away.  Thankfully, a really nice old lady in a shuttle bus pulled over and told us to hop on just as we began to walk.  

When we got to the festival I was a little nervous about the size of it as we paid $15 for a cup and 5 drink tickets and walked into a small tent.  Fortunately, there was a much bigger building beyond the tent that housed most of the vendors and the main stage for performances although smaller bands were also rocking out the tent we entered.  There were just under 50 breweries represented and tons of beers available.   I of course immediately went for the stout beers as I don’t like hoppy beers.  I then progressed to trying various hard ciders which seem to have become really popular in the last few years.  My favorite was the red cider from Woodchuck out of Vermont.  

The bands were all fantastic but we were all blown away when Blitzen Trapper took the stage just after 9pm.  They are natives of Oregon and gave several shout outs to nearby areas as they started their amazing set.  Scooter took off immediately toward the stage so I gave him our camera to snap some pictures as he is well over 6 feet.  Blitzen Trapper were fantastic as they rocked the place out.  The guitarist in front was pounding beer out of a pitcher the entire set and they finished an encore with a great Zeppelin cover.  

From there it was a 20 minute drive to Silver Falls where we spent the night in a big old barn that  Erin Riley rented for everyone and sleeps 75 people!  There were only about 15 of us on Saturday night and I felt bad that Erin probably took a dig with the rental cost as she only asked for $10 from each of us.  The barn had a gigantic fire pit in the middle, full kitchen, huge fridge,  and we thought it would be a great place to rent again.... until we went to sleep... and could hear every sound, even farts across the entire barn!  Someone was definitely snoring next to us and Emily kept poking me thinking it was me snoring!  

Sunday morning was definitely rough for both Emily and I as we drove up the Gorge to visit Gorge Crest Vineyards and the Gorge hotel again.  We decided that we wanted our wedding at the vineyard and our rehearsal dinner, if possible, at the Gorge Hotel and then after the wedding we can all head downtown to a bar after the reception ends at 10.  We stopped for lunch at the Full Sail Brewery in Hood River which could be an after party option.  Definitely excited we found a place and that there are available spots in July.

Eagle Creek 2012

This weekend Emily and I found ourselves in the Portland area.  Cassie and John had come down to Portland for some pregnancy photos with a photographer they like there so we met up with them at Kell’s for dinner on Saturday night.  It was good to catch up with them as we haven’t seen them for a very long time.  

After dinner Em and I drove into the Columbia Gorge to try to check out the Columbia Gorge Hotel in Hood River and a Bed & Breakfast up the road near Cooper Spur on Mt. Hood.  The hotel was amazing but it was a little too dark to get a full grasp on what the B&B had to offer and frankly it was a bit of a drive for people flying into Portland.  We tried to find a safe place to park the car for the night around Hood River and even checked out a campsite along the river but to save some cash as we’d be sleeping in the car anyway we simply drove to the Eagle Creek trailhead and set up the bags in the back of the Prius as usual.

On Sunday Em and I had a beautiful hike up Eagle Creek in the Gorge.  It had been over 5 years since we had done it during Emily’s first visits to Oregon when she still lived in Saratoga and we weren’t even sure if we were going to continue dating.  Now that we are engaged and it has been so long I thought it would be a great hike to take the new camera on as well.

We got started around 8:30 am after some quick snacks for breakfast and immediately I was blown away all over again at the beauty of the area.  I’m not going to go into details about the hike but will say that it remains one of my top 5 in Oregon.  We saw tons of wildflowers, spiders, bugs, slugs, and I even grabbed a small snake.   Emily was very patient with me every time we stopped at the various waterfalls along the route for me to practice some photography.   The waterfalls were especially large after the warm spell we have had and the rain earlier in the week.  They seemed a lot bigger than the last time we visited the area, and even then it was raining. 

We took our time throughout the day and ended up making it back to the trailhead around 4:30 in the afternoon which gave us plenty of time to make it home before dark.  We decided we were too tired to visit the Columbia Gorge Crest Vineyards and would come back another weekend to check them out.  It was a great day in the Gorge and both of us are really leaning towards the Hood River area as the place for us to get married.

Easter Brunch 2012

Once again this year Kevin and Alexa hosted the annual Easter Day brunch for all of our friends, or as it was called “Zombie Jesus Day”.  There was great food and we were fortunate enough to have fantastic weather.  Washers were out and we basically just sat around and on the patio outside our apartments and chatted all afternoon.  Great relaxing day with great food!

Acoustic Showdown 2012

Just a quick post to say that Emily and I had a terrific time tonight with Sarah, Dave, Christina and a few other of Chris Holm's friends watching him win 2nd place which is exactly what he wanted as he didn't need recording time which was the grand prize.  Instead, he won a gift certificate that he said he would use to take all of us, his groupies, out to dinner with.  It was Emily's first time at open mic night and the patio was a very cool location.  I used to not like Fireworks because of my bad, brief experience working there for Ocean, but I have to say the place has improved a lot.  Way to go Holm!

Day on the coast, Seafood Feast and then debauchery

This weekend the mountains were getting mostly rain except for Bend which we found out later had some of the best skiing of the year.  Emily and I didn’t want to drive to Bend so instead we picked up Scott and Danielle and headed to the coast for some whale watching during “whale week” in Oregon.  This week is the peak migration time for Grey Whales up the coast on their way to feeding grounds in Alaska for the spring.  At noon we drove to Cape Perpetua and hiked down the Whispering Spruce Trail high above the coast to look for whales but after some time searching didn’t see any.

We then decided to stop at the Hatfield Marine Science Center in Newport where Danielle used to work.  I hadn’t been there since COAS initiation week in 2006 so it was cool to see all the updates and new exhibits.  We got to read a bit about the Oregon Sea Otters which is what our friend Eleanor Hodak had studied and saw a pretty cool lobster in a tank as well.  

We then headed into the waterfront district of Newport to buy some crabs and steamers which we found to be at a good price.  We also had a bowl of the ciaopino from the shop which was the best I had ever eaten.  From there it was off to the Chowder Bowl for the usual bowl of Slumgulion Chowder (Clam chowder with pacific shrimp on top) and a chunk of garlic bread.  Yummy!

We then returned back to Corvallis and Emily and I started heating up the pre-steamed clams with old bay and borrowed a pot from Kevin and Alexa.  Scott and Danielle showed up an hour later with garlic pasta and we had a feast of crab, pasta and steamers.  After our feast Colin and Amanda showed up as well as Mike and Jess whom we hadn’t seen in months.  Everyone brought games to play for game night.  We started playing a game called Origin’s but it wasn’t fun so switched to start another game but with past photos playing as a slide show on the PS3 in the background everyone was a bit distracted.

To get everyone back into party mode I started to deal out a game of Kings.  This of course forced everyone to drink a bit more and by 1am we were all sloshed.  It was then decided that it would be fantastic to prank my old roomate Jason and his girlfriend Jen.  We carried the Urban Iditarod cart over and placed it on the roof of her car.  The ladies then went to work attempting to put celophane over the door but to no avail.  Instead we simply blocked the door with sawhorses we found nearby while I snapped photos of the shinanigans.  In the morning we got a very funny text from them both asking us to let them out so Mckenzie could pee.  ha!  They hadn’t even noticed it until 11am.  When we had finished messing with our neighbors we then came back to the house and used Emily’s Macbook to prank call Brendan with a robotic computer voice speaking out a hilarious paragraph we had typed out for the computer to read.  I was in tears laughing at it all.  A great night! 

Skiing Cone Peak Again with Emily

Our first weekend back to Corvallis after Hawaii we of course wanted to get back on our skis.  After debating the conditions at Hood and Willamette Valley we conceded to head to Santiam Pass again with Holm as Emily hadn’t skied Cone Peak yet and this would allow us to sleep in a little bit after a long week or settling back to work life.  

After parking at tombstone pass we were headed down the road at 9:30am.  The pass had received a ton of snow over the week but the last couples days had been warm and dry so we were able to take the Prius without a problem.  Unfortunately, this also meant that the fresh powder had been heating up and getting heavy which posed an avalanche danger problem and also produced a “mashed potatoes” skiing experience for us.  

We were obviously the first people to enter the trail as there were no other tracks along the side of the road.  This meant that we would have to break trail the entire way up to the top through a couple feet of thick, wet snow. I took the lead as we ascended over a few open fields of snow, making sure to skirt the field so that we and others would have fresh “powder” to ski through on the way down.  Having 122mm waist skis compared to Chris and Emily’s ~95mm waists they were enjoying the highway I was stomping up through the snow.  When we got into the crustier, harder snow of the woods I let Chris lead the way as he could stomp down the crust either with his skis of less surface area.  

We quickly made it up to the open meadow below the summit where we took about 20-30 minutes to dig an avalanche pit to test the snow conditions.  I had done this before with CMRU but it had been a long time and Chris had just taken a certified Avalanche Course last year so he took the lead digging and showing us how to do the proper testing.  I had seen it all before but had forgotten some, so it was a great refresher for me and a good learning experience for Emily.  The hole Chris dug was deep and so was the layer of snow the area received that week but it took a lot of pounding to make anything break and when it did it was uneven and and random in the new snowpack.  This meant that the snow had adhered well to the layers below and we would be pretty safe our descent it seemed.  

I encouraged Emily to break trail for a ways to gain the experience of leading the way through thick snow.  She made her way across an easier flat area until we reached the base of the summit cone where I again took over and pounded a highway up to the summit.  At the top we had tremendous views north to Hood and South all the way to Diamond Peak just as Chris and I had the week before our Hawaii vacation.  I didn’t bother to bring the DSLR on this hike as we had just been there in similar weather.  The big difference between the two backcountry descents of Cone Peak were the enormous cornices hanging over the northeast face.  They were easily 6-8 feet bigger than 4 weeks ago and we dared not venture to their edge for fear for breaking them off and setting off a deep wet slide below with us in it!  Chris tried in vain to cut one off with an avy probe and a saw to no avail. 

We began to take off our skins and switch over from AT mode to Alpine mode for our descent when Chris suddenly lunged forward and then seemingly waved at the horizon.  Having no idea what happened he told me his ski had just rocketed down the mountain before he could put the brakes down on it for alpine mode.... uh oh... This was not good and the ski was brand new this season....  Once I was ready to ski down I took a few turns down the face following the track of the ski and came to a small hole in a wind lip with no other tracks beyond... After a second or two of poking around I miraculously found his ski, just 150 feet below the summit.  Lucky is an understatement as it was the last wind lip it could have gotten stuck in before the trees below would swallow it forever.  I was super happy to find it but even happier to get to witness Holm trying to ski down to me in super deep sticky snow with just one ski, falling hilariously several times.

When we got down to the flat meadow we happily returned for another quick run from the summit as we quickly made our way back up the skin track I had initially laid down.  We got some great video and photos of each other ripping down the open face.  Once we got into the woods it was a different affair with Emily having a lot of trouble making it through the heavy snow.  I think it’s great that she is so cautious as it means I don’t ever have to worry too much but in the case of skiing heavy snow a skier needs to push it a little and go faster as it will allow them to turn easier, a skill that is counter-intuitive yet works wonders in the backcountry.  

On the way down Chris as well had a few issues in the deep snow which made for some funny photos.  When we got back down to the lower meadows I heard Chris talking to some people and after skiing up to them was surprised to see Logan who introduced me to his new fiance Kate.  I also told him that I was recently engaged in Hawaii and it was great to catch up with Logan who didn’t even realize I was still in the area!  It took Emily a bit to make it down to us as she had gotten stuck in a deep hole.  I didn’t want to keep Logan too long as storm clouds seemed to be moving in and it was late in the afternoon already for them to make it to the top so we bid them happy skiing and continued down.  Later I would get a note from Logan that the skies cleared up and they really appreciated the skin tracks we had laid down for them to the summit.  Another great day skiing Cone Peak in Santiam Pass.