2019-20 - Oregon - it never snows here and when it does, it sucks

**boar2m** · 02-21-2020, 11:42 AM

I skied this past Sunday and Monday and I thought the skiing conditions in Heather on both days were good, especially on Monday - it was excellent bluebird pow-day! Yes, conditions were highly variable in spots and a strip of blue ice on A-zone entrance required caution on Monday.

I really feel for the victims and their families. I really do …I’ve lost a very close friend at Bachelor on 3/1/2019 and I haven’t gone back since. At the risk of being coming off as an insensitive jerk, I hope these two incidents do not change how patrols assess risk prior to opening up the slopes.

**river59** · 02-21-2020, 12:21 PM

I have spent quite a few days in and around Meadows recently. Mostly in Heather, Clark, and Newton. In the canyons, snow has remained surprisingly soft in shaded areas and at higher elevations, like Dallas. Areas that are lower and receive sun, like the far side of Clark and off Gnarl, have been crusting and were kind of a chore to ski if not timed perfectly. The run along the floor from the bowls to the heather chair is also not all that fun to ski at the moment - bumps and hardpack.

If you are familiar with the canyons you will probably know where to look for ice, otherwise it could easily catch you by surprise. The entrances to the upper gates are all coral reef and bulletproof. As other have pointed out, there are several narrow but very long sheets of ultra smooth ice distributed among the bowls. In good vis you can spot them as "untracked" among a sea of tracked out snow, in bad vis you won't see them until you are on them.

In short, if you are thinking about riding in Heather for the first time, I would wait until after the next storm system rolls through.

**doubleeject** · 02-21-2020, 12:23 PM

Originally Posted by mattig

We took a risk dropping into 4 bowl on the 20ft of ice at the top. Figured there must have been pow in there due to the wind. Sure enough, best snow of the weekend. Icy moguls down low. Never would have guessed

One JONG's account.

On Friday (and subsequent days I would imagine),the flattish area at the bottom of Two Bowl was a sheet of ice. The very top was icy, but that's never surprising given the exposure on the ridge. Two Bowl itself was fantastic and I carried a lot of speed into the flat expecting the snow quality to be similar, I held it together but the pucker factor was high.

The snow in Heather was hero snow, except when it wasn't, and that was probably a big part of the problem in there. I've only recently started skiing in there so I'm cautious about speed and the ice wasn't a problem because I wasn't going at speeds where I couldn't stop when I saw it. If I skied Heather the way I skied Two Bowl it would have been bad.

**jonesy** · 02-21-2020, 05:47 PM

All this ice talk, I need a drink. Hoodoo at its prime right now. Low moisture content and no hard pan. Of course it was dead so you owned the hill

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I drank too much.

**Game Over** · 02-21-2020, 06:04 PM

Originally Posted by jonesy

All this ice talk, I need a drink. Hoodoo at its prime right now. Low moisture content and no hard pan. Of course it was dead so you owned the hill

.
I drank too much.

**JWoody** · 02-21-2020, 09:40 PM

Yes, that rollover kept quite a few folks out of upper Heather on Monday. If you committed and held on across the ice, you were rewarded with really nice pow in Clark's. Best runs of the year for me on Monday.

Originally Posted by ::: :::

Agree on Heather, but Jacks & PR were pretty prime Sun & Mon

Grant said the rollover into Super was blue ice, but that it turned into pow as the bowl got out of the wind

**JWoody** · 02-21-2020, 09:45 PM

I skied it on Monday. Between Clark's and Jack's, I had my best turns of the season. Skied one down Silver, after the masses had. It was still fine, just chopped up more than Clark's. The entry into lower Super Bowl from the A-Zone gate was iced up and sketchy. It was only about 25' across, so we just held on and shot across and then all was smooth and fluffy.

**JWoody** · 02-21-2020, 09:48 PM

Litespeed, hope this helps your question regarding Heather. I will do better!

Originally Posted by Woody

I skied it on Monday. Between Clark's and Jack's, I had my best turns of the season. Skied one down Silver, after the masses had. It was still fine, just chopped up more than Clark's. The entry into lower Super Bowl from the A-Zone gate was iced up and sketchy. It was only about 25' across, so we just held on and shot across and then all was smooth and fluffy.

**thefortrees** · 02-22-2020, 09:02 PM

How was the skiing today? Back in town and trying to make a plan for tomorrow - no idea what the snow has been like, other than hearing stories of blue ice poking out here and there

**mattig** · 02-23-2020, 12:26 AM

Tomorrow gonna be windy AF potentially.

**lucknau** · 02-23-2020, 12:28 AM

Originally Posted by thefortrees

How was the skiing today? Back in town and trying to make a plan for tomorrow - no idea what the snow has been like, other than hearing stories of blue ice poking out here and there

People on the lift today were saying the ice has mellowed out a lot in the canyons. We started our day at 1pm, so we missed the morning ice glaze, but I heard it was a thing. I was skiing with my 7 year old, and it was fast, corn skiing bliss from top to bottom of Cascade. Kind of odd surface variability in the trees and off-piste, ranging from semi-crusty chop to grabby collapsed pow to creamy schmoo. Not quite coral reef in the shady spots, but hinted at it.

Edit:
Welcome back!

**k2skier112** · 02-23-2020, 10:03 AM

I'm going to write to the Oregonian..."expert" skiers for fucts sake. Most the skiers here have enough common sense not to jump into Heather with "variable" conditions. Ms. Rather is an "expert" skier and she did a slide for life, "her skis immediately slid out from under her on an area of ice, invisible and frozen solid". IMO an expert skier knows when NOT to ski a run. I was up on the 20th, seeing all the blue ice on Marmot ridge I talked to a patroller at the top of Cascade. And yes, the rollover was iced up. Back in the days of the Texas chair I found my self in a life threatening traverse for life when crossing what was then called "B" zone, now it's Sliver Bowl. 150 yards of Quarter sized frozen marbles all the way to the bottom. That's was the most scared I've ever been on skies.

Wow, I've been Heli skiing, guess I'm an expert now

"Rather is an expert on the mountain. The 56-year-old retired nurse has been on helicopter ski trips and is a regular at Mount Bachelor near her home in Bend"

‘I thought I was going to die’: skier recounts terrifying fall on same slope where snowboarder died at Mt. Hood Meadows

**jonesy** · 02-23-2020, 11:28 AM

Wow, I've been Heli skiing, guess I'm an expert now.

This belongs in the gape thread. Not making light of anyones bad choices or injuries and also agree with k2 on expert status.

**primate** · 02-23-2020, 11:44 AM

Dude, it's in the Oregonian. 'Expert' means 'can ski black diamond runs in good conditions'. Out in the real world people do things besides skiing and creeping on TGR. The recent string of fatalities and injuries is very sad, and I wish Ms. Rather a speedy and complete recovery.

**k2skier112** · 02-23-2020, 01:27 PM

Any intermediate with solid form can ski Heather

**k2skier112** · 02-23-2020, 02:09 PM

...

**Tap** · 02-23-2020, 04:38 PM

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**TBS** · 02-23-2020, 06:33 PM

^^^Oh crap, where are they parking that?
Is that really going to be a jump feature, or just another example of Woodword's hipness?
It could make a good hot box though...

**Toadman** · 02-23-2020, 06:36 PM

Okay, so I get it. No one cares. But I did, in fact, hike The Cone today. And not only no, but HELL NO, you can NOT touch ME!

Twas windy up on Bachelor. I did manage to do a few laps of Outback before it closed due to wind. Was not bad, except for the viz up top and the rime. Apparently people in Bend don't like to ski in the wind, not many people on the hill, which was more than okay with me.

**Tap** · 02-23-2020, 06:40 PM

Originally Posted by TBS

^^^Oh crap, where are they parking that?
Is that really going to be a jump feature, or just another example of Woodword's hipness?
It could make a good hot box though...

It’s a jump feature below the cat track, to the right of the big jump lines in the park. It’s got a funky angle. Needs to be higher up more in the sun.

Today was still fun.

**Grizz** · 02-23-2020, 06:44 PM

It's terrible about the tragic deaths last weekend and I feel for their friends and relatives. It brings me back to reality when a place I've had many happy moments kills someone.

Originally Posted by k2skier112

Any intermediate with solid form conscii Heather

To miss quote Sheed, Ice don't lie.

**TBS** · 02-23-2020, 07:04 PM

Originally Posted by Toadman

Okay, so I get it. No one cares. But I did, in fact, hike The Cone today. And not only no, but HELL NO, you can NOT touch ME!

Twas windy up on Bachelor. I did manage to do a few laps of Outback before it closed due to wind. Was not bad, except for the viz up top and the rime. Apparently people in Bend don't like to ski in the wind, not many people on the hill, which was more than okay with me.

Love it - what chair is that?

When did they close OBX? I'm seeing a gust of 97mph on NWX between 1100 and 1200

Jonesy, GepMeow and I will be there Monday AM. Supposed to see some sun...