All Things Snowrider in PDX and OR

We found some great snow in the trees between 4,500 and 6,000 ft. Starting the day in Govy with thumbs out always means a fun bonus descent at the end of a tour. By 2pm the snow lower down manked up some at which point we beat a retreat to Govy for beers and some American football at Snowrider’s Govy branch. Thanks as always Lendog for your hospitality when we sweaty and disheveled dirtbags pound on your door.
The new snow means good things for skiers and boarders but also for local businesses and their hardworking employees. People whose hours have been curtailed due to a lack of snow recently hopefully will have their normal workloads and paychecks back.

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.

Last night’s raffle at the Portland premiere of Powderwhore Productions’ new flick Flakes was a success. The Snowrider Project raised just south of a grand and the 2009 Stellar Dendrite award was given to Portland’s Crag Law Center. The Stellar Dendrite Award is given annually to an individual, group of individuals or organization that demonstrates good stewardship of Mt. Hood and the surrounding region. We will follow up soon with a story about Crag and their Mt. Hood work.
Big thanks go out to the Powderwhores, The Crag Law Center, Black Diamond, Next Adventure, Lanny Shuler, Steven Lenhart Photography, Cobra Dogs, the Kennedy School and every single one of you who purchased a raffle ticket. Merci beaucoup!

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

One of the Portland chapter’s fall initiatives this year was to produce a short Public Service Announcement that focused on keeping garbage off the mountain. We teamed up with U.S. Snowboard Team members, Tommy Czeschin, Hannah Teter and U.S. Snowboard Team Freestyle Coach Mike Jankowski to get the message out. Thanks again to Tommy, Hannah, and Mike for donating their time and thoughts for the project as well as Portland Snowrider Chapter members Ciea Palmer, Eric Jeffcoat, Pat Hanson, Michael Halle and Surfrider Foundation Oregon Field Coordinator Charlie Plybon for making it happen! Please pass the word: