All Things Snowrider in PDX and OR

Coming up next Tuesday Night (January 10th) at Ski Bowl is our first of two Tele Tuesday events (the second event is Feb 21st). Tele Tuesday is a fundraiser for The Friends of the NW Weather and Avalanche Center.
The Mountain Shop will be set up from 5 PM to 9 PM demoing the latest Telemark and Alpine Touring equipment. At 7 pm we will also have Telemark lessons available for beginning and intermediate level skiers provided by WyEast Nordic. Also at 7PM we will have a uphill/downhill race. The uphill/downhill event (known in some circles as a rando race) is open to all disciplines, Telemark, Nordic (if you are brave enough to ski off the top of the upper bowl on skinny skis), Alpine Tourers and Splitboarders.

New for this year at Tele Tuesday’s is a Avalanche transceiver demo from 5-7pm. Avalanche instructors from Timberline Mountain Guides and Mountain Savvy will be on hand to help participants check out the latest avalanche transceivers. We also will have Terminal Gravity beer on tap in the A-frame (Outback Lodge) for $3 a pint with the proceeds going to the Snowrider Project. We will move up to the Bierstube at 10 pm for a raffle and prizes for the race.

All event participants must purchase a lift ticket from Ski Bowl or have an active pass. Registration for the race, demo, and lessons goes from 5 pm to 6:30 pm. Event fees are as follows.

$10 for ski and avalanche transceiver demo
$15 for uphill/downhill race
$25 for Telemark lessons

See you up on the mountain!

*Thank you to Pail Design, Jim Richardson Photography, Walt Murphy, Smokey The Bear and Isa G for their work on the poster!*

How ’bout you?

Jeremy at the Mountain Shop informed us recently of the 2010 Tele Tuesday dates at Mt. Hood Ski Bowl:

Jan. 12th, Feb 9th for Tele Tuesday. We will do the uphill/downill on Jan 12th
and the classic race (gates) on Feb 9th.

The first event is open for tele and AT, The second is a tele race.

Set up 4:00-5:00
Telemark & AT Ski Equipment Demos 5:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Telemark Skiing Instructional Clinics 7:00PM – 8:30PM
Telemark Races 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM

Tele Tuesdays are a lot of fun and coincide with Ski Bowl’s Lady’s Night were dames ski for cheap. $14 we think but don’t quote us. The Snowrider Project will be there with bells on, tabling and carrying on. Who knows, we might even ride a few runs. See you there! Let us know if you have any questions.

Coming soon to a Mt. Hood Ski Bowl lift tower near you…

Winter has come to an end for Mt Hood ski areas and we can be thankful for a yet another great snow year and a relatively calm and safe season for Oregon’s skiers. This was the first season for Mt Hood Meadows Ski Area to use Howitzer artillery shells in avalanche control, yet its sensibility has already been called into question by snow safety practitioners.

Artillery control has been used by larger, steeper resorts like Alta and Jackson Hole for nearly 60 years by shooting and detonating a 105mm artillery shell to induce avalanches. While this type of avalanche control has allowed ski patrollers to remotely trigger high-risk avalanche targets in steeper, harder-to-access terrain, it is being reconsidered by snow safety officials at these areas because of the unintended danger the process poses to other mountain users.

It seems archaic and untimely that Oregon’s Mt. Hood Meadows would now begin this form of avalanche control when industry-leading snow safety specialists are reconsidering or abandoning it due to public safety concerns. This, coupled with Mt Hood Meadows’ prohibition of backcountry access through ski area boundaries, leads us to question the integrity and consideration of safety in Mt. Hood Meadows’ snow control policy.

Increasingly, ski areas throughout the nation are being forced to share their terrain with a rapidly growing population of backcountry skiers. According to industry trends research, backcountry ski equipment sales have increased an average of 129% annually since 2001 with a 53% increase in sales of accessories. Most ski areas are accommodating this trend, taking a holistic approach and allowing ski area users to access backcountry terrain through resort boundaries in exchange for signing a liability waiver. Whitewater Ski Area in Nelson, British Columbia operates on this system while many other ski areas also allow access after a quick check-in with ski patrol prior to exiting ski area boundaries to verify an awareness of current avalanche conditions.

Snowrider PDX is encouraging Mt Hood Meadows to think proactively about future development and land usage and seek new methods of avalanche control and backcountry access that do not endanger backcountry skiers and adventurers. Additionally, we are urging Mt Hood Meadows, the U.S. Forest Service, and Hood River County to spend the 2009 summer and fall devising new, safe methods for avalanche control that ensure the safety of all mountain recreationalists. As the lessons of Alta and Jackson Hole have shown, while snow sports grow in popularity, a new, holistic approach to ski area operations is absolutely necessary to ensure the safety of all.

-Michael Harrison
herzogsiesta [at] yahoo [dot] com

The Snowrider Project gives a tip ‘o the hat to Portland Monthly Magazine for getting it right. Well, at least for getting it right once a Snowrider Project volunteer corrected them. PMM published a puff piece on Mt. Hood Meadows’ weapon in their December issue and a Snowrider volunteer noticed the weak story during a visit to the dentist. Here’s Eric’s letter to the editor as PMM published it:

Mt Hood Howitzers

ERIC JEFFCOAT
The Snowrider Project
Northeast Portland

Thank you for getting it right Portland Monthly and for publishing our letter.