18-19 Orygun, The Thread

**dan_pdx** · 01-10-2019, 06:00 PM

I saw a dentist in downtown Portland this morning whose bio said he enjoyed cycling and alpine skiing. Didn't quite have the courage to greet him with "Got change for a nickel?" when he came into the exam room...

**Duffman** · 01-10-2019, 06:27 PM

Thanks for the advice all. Driving to and from mtn isn't a big deal,we do that a bunch since we home base somewhere and hit a bunch of nearby mtns usually. Connecting through SLC and DEN is kind of funny , but I'll be at the Bird w the family in Feb and likely meeting some friends in CO this month, so nothing lost by skipping them this time.

Only thing giving me pause is the Northstar comparison. Been to Tahoe a few times and have avoided that place due to lack of interest in too many groomers and not enough terrain as compared to the other Tahoe mtns. Definitely don't need puckering steeps this trip but some fun interesting terrain would be key

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**jonesy** · 01-10-2019, 06:30 PM

Bachelor is not pee your pants steep, it's a nice over priced family resort. Other options Smith Rock hiking, ect. You'll like it, I guarantee it.

**acinpdx** · 01-10-2019, 06:49 PM

we made it

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It‘s been pretty...cloudy

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TBS, we brought the lucky bastard with us

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No shots of the lady today
The sun is supposed to pop for the next few days...maybe better shots later

Enjoying some of this right now

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**wyeaster** · 01-10-2019, 06:53 PM

looks fantastic, ac!

**flowing alpy** · 01-10-2019, 06:54 PM

didn’t think you’d risk the *home alone* thing

**jonesy** · 01-10-2019, 07:05 PM

Enjoy your family ski trip! You've earned it.

**acinpdx** · 01-10-2019, 07:18 PM

We couldn’t get an intern to do a house sit with him.
So, he’s skipping school & the dogs get a vacation at Gramma Jewel’s (she is Echo’s breeder) out in Molalla.

It’s nice & quiet here post holiday.
The whole hill is below treeline so they’ve got the whole thing open, and we’ve been tracking out the remaining pockets of powder.

**OldMan** · 01-10-2019, 07:59 PM

Originally Posted by OregonDead

Hoodoo and sisters are super close too. Really it all depends on the weather but potential for awesome days at Hoodoo. Thrifty Thursdays go through mid-march and they have night skiing too. Way less $ than bachelor in general and super fun terrain (some might say a better concentration of good terrain than Mt. B) . I like to get the Chocolate malt at the Sno Cap for nostalgia . Bachelor has the goods too. It's a whole volcano and it has a ton of good spots. There is no big flashing arrow or map to the best line but you can find fun stuff that goes off the charts. Weather will determine what is best but I've had fun there in all conditions. Since you said volcano you should do some volcano stuff too like try to go into a lava tube and see some obsidian.There is a caldera lake south of town that is super cool.

Bachelor is my home Mtn. Plenty of good skiing off of the Summit and Northwest lifts. West wall is STEEP but short, upper bowl through the pinnacles is fun as well. When the back side is open, there are tons of options. The whole mtn isn't tough but there are plenty of options that should work nicely for your group. Great tree skiing too.

Plus, Bend is a great town to visit, tons of good food options, and micro-breweries off the chart. Some exceptional rock climbing, fly fishing and mountain biking available too and March can be decent weather wise as well.

Hoodoo is fairly close, has some good terrain but honestly, the runs are very short and I prefer to ski more than I ride the lift.

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**Going Coastal** · 01-10-2019, 08:35 PM

I have been skiing at Bachelor this year for the first time and have found it enjoyable for the most part, especially if you get away from the corduroy crowds, which seemed pretty abundant.

I went a few times between Christmas and New Years and expected a shitshow, but it seemed to thin out once you got away from the lodges and beginner terrain. Some of the lifts didn’t even have a line, which was surprising. And once you got far enough out past the last lift it was mostly untracked and I only saw a few people. Not sure if that is normal, but I suspect it has a lot to do with that lower catch line being a slog back to the lift.

Bend itself is nice if you don’t mind a ton of people. We did a cabin rental at the State Park in La Pine and enjoyed that, but that’s probably not for everyone.

**OldMan** · 01-10-2019, 08:53 PM

Originally Posted by Going Coastal

I have been skiing at Bachelor this year for the first time and have found it enjoyable for the most part, especially if you get away from the corduroy crowds, which seemed pretty abundant.

I went a few times between Christmas and New Years and expected a shitshow, but it seemed to thin out once you got away from the lodges and beginner terrain. Some of the lifts didn’t even have a line, which was surprising. And once you got far enough out past the last lift it was mostly untracked and I only saw a few people. Not sure if that is normal, but I suspect it has a lot to do with that lower catch line being a slog back to the lift.

Bend itself is nice if you don’t mind a ton of people. We did a cabin rental at the State Park in La Pine and enjoyed that, but that’s probably not for everyone.

Your experience is the norm - get away from the West Village and Sunrise lodge areas and line are usually very short.

Northwest and Cloud Chaser are rarely busy.

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**Tap** · 01-10-2019, 09:15 PM

Duff...Bend is the Aspen of the PNW and Bach offers lots of groovy cruising and tree skiing. Nothing is steep. So what. No need to whip it out and bang it on the table. Eat a big edible, smile, and let ‘em roll. 🤪 Lots to do around the area, good restaurants, PNWness, and beer and then you can say you’ve been here. $5 says the ladies will love it. Especially if you get a sunny summit pow day.

Or go somewhere else....sallgood brah.

**OldMan** · 01-10-2019, 09:42 PM

A look at some NW and Summit terrain on a pow day.

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**Going Coastal** · 01-10-2019, 10:33 PM

Groovy trees

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**SchralphMacchio** · 01-10-2019, 10:34 PM

Originally Posted by Duffman

Only thing giving me pause is the Northstar comparison.

As a longtime Kirkwood skier/boarder and someone who has done a small amount of asspuckering riding in the eastern Sierra I will say that Northstar is underrated and my apologies for scaring you.

I specifically said “backside” of Northstar which is sustained, fun, deep, and *abandoned* when cold and deep ... and not everyone knows that so my apologies.

Bachelor is just good clean fun. No shit your pants like some of the tower chutes entrances in low tide at the Bird, but when the weather is good it’s just constant sustained fun. For like 2500 to 3000 feet sustained depending on what’s open. But nothing AltaBird or Squawlpine challenging either. And a lot of the key Bachelor lifts can’t run in crap weather due to it being a shield volcano with mostly detachable quads instead of a glaciated wind-protected ridge with fixed grip chairs on the steep stuff. It’s FUN. Type 1 in good weather. When lifts shut down on weekends, avoid like the plague.

$0.02 from someone who doesn’t have a dog in the fight.

**Duffman** · 01-10-2019, 10:34 PM

Originally Posted by Tap

Duff...Bend is the Aspen of the PNW and Bach offers lots of groovy cruising and tree skiing. Nothing is steep. So what. No need to whip it out and bang it on the table. Eat a big edible, smile, and let ‘em roll. �� Lots to do around the area, good restaurants, PNWness, and beer and then you can say you’ve been here. $5 says the ladies will love it. Especially if you get a sunny summit pow day.

Or go somewhere else....sallgood brah.

Great description. Appreciate the info and pics. Sound like it will work fine w this group. Wife loves the idea of skiing moderate angle pow or corn then hitting a bunch of breweries. Works for me. My dick measuring days are way in the past anyway!

**flowing alpy** · 01-10-2019, 10:37 PM

get her stoked on the spectacular grooming

**Duffman** · 01-10-2019, 10:39 PM

Schralp, been to Tahoe a bunch of times and never made it to N*, like most places, I'm sure there is quality stuff, I just dont know shit about that part of it. Thanks again.

Alpy, luckily for me she doesn't really give a damn about that

**The AD** · 01-10-2019, 11:13 PM

Originally Posted by Duffman

Thanks for the advice all. Driving to and from mtn isn't a big deal

The views of the mountain on the drive in ain't bad, either.

**wyeaster** · 01-10-2019, 11:16 PM

so gorgeous

**lucknau** · 01-10-2019, 11:17 PM

The odd couple

**lucknau** · 01-10-2019, 11:25 PM

Hmm, or actually...

Weird ski totem mashup

**Bobcat Sig** · 01-11-2019, 12:34 AM

AC - I see you're experiencing ye olde Big Fog. Enjoy those snow ghosts. Been a while since I skied there; it was still called Big Mountain back then.

As for Bachelor; love me that mountain. Great memories there and some of my favorite tree skiing off Outback and NWX. +1 on the weather holds and 'storm recovery' lift closures.

Send it, have fun, drink beer and be sure to tell everyone back on the east coast that it sucks here. We're full.

**thefortrees** · 01-11-2019, 07:55 AM

Anybody planning to be up at MHM this afternoon or tomorrow? Finally back in town - probably heading up there to spin some groomer laps and soak in the sun with a beer in hand.

**Undertow** · 01-11-2019, 08:24 AM

Originally Posted by Duffman

Thanks for the advice all. Driving to and from mtn isn't a big deal,we do that a bunch since we home base somewhere and hit a bunch of nearby mtns usually. Connecting through SLC and DEN is kind of funny , but I'll be at the Bird w the family in Feb and likely meeting some friends in CO this month, so nothing lost by skipping them this time.

Only thing giving me pause is the Northstar comparison. Been to Tahoe a few times and have avoided that place due to lack of interest in too many groomers and not enough terrain as compared to the other Tahoe mtns. Definitely don't need puckering steeps this trip but some fun interesting terrain would be key

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Duff, I am going to jump in and share my opinion on Bach as I am a fellow "east/midwest coaster"... I was born and lived in Seattle for several years and than due to my pops job we ended up moving to the East coast and with some luck will be back in the PNW in a couple of years... I use all of my vacation on ski trips and usually end up out west 3 to 4 times a year to different destinations... I am leaving in 3 weeks for Whitefish and than heading to TRide and will end my season in Bachelor as I have done for the past 10 yrs in early April... If I was only able to do one trip a year it would be Mt Bach...

I live in OH and for me I fly United and we fly from Columbus to Denver and than from Denver to Redmond... Each leg is a little over 2 hrs and than from Redmond it is a 25ish minute drive... No, it is not as easy as flying in to SLC, but I have had no issues with travel to Bend and feel the travel is well worth the experience...

Regarding the skiing experience... No, it is not gnar, but like others have said Northwest is an absolute blast and provides great tree skiing and has really good pitch to it... Now, if the Summit is open game on and you will find plenty to ski with all types of terrain and pitch... I will admit I know when Cloudchaser was opened it came with a great deal of fanfare, but that area as a whole is fairly mellow... It does however have a lot of fun features... The rest of the hill from RedChair to Outback has a lot of fun terrain with some fun tree lines...

To me one of the best features the that has not been raised is Bach snowfall... I have traveled to the LCC several times and have been skunked plenty of times when it came to new snow... I cannot say the same with Bach... Like I said this will be my 10th year straight heading to Bach and there has not been one trip where I did not get snow and usually comes with pretty heavy precipitation... Last year we went from 4/10 to 4/18 and skied seven days straight and out of the seven days only one did not get snow... However, the sun came out and I had the absolute best POW day when they opened the Summit... I may be lucky, but for me Bach has always delivered when it comes to snow...

Final comment... Other than TRide there is not a cooler town than Bend that I have visited... There is so much great food, beverages as well as post skiing things to do... The vibe is fantastic along with great and friendly locals... My wife loves the town and has found plenty to do from spa days to yoga classes... We rent a home through VRBO so are within walking distance to most bars and eateries and can honestly say we enjoy our time in Bend as much as we do when we are on the mountain...

As Jonesy said you will not be disappointed and no doubt I feel the travel is well worth it...