October 18, 2008 - Palmer Icefield

Needing to get some October turns, my wife, son and I headed to Gresham to visit with family and get some riding in. Aftet driving through rain lower down, I arrived at the parking lot where the mountian was visible (and fairly devoid of snow as compared to the week before on the webcam).  Instead of climbing, my ski partner Todd and I decided earlier in the week to ride the lifts.  There really wasn't enough snow to warrant climbing elsewhere on the mountain, and it looked like the snow might be pretty hard.  Guess I shouldn't have waited until now to get October turns in :  Don't know of any other place in Oregon that's really "in" right now anyway.



I made a run before Todd got there, and it was nice and icy.  I headed down all the way to the lodge (you can ride to within about 300 yards), met Todd, and went back up.  The snow didn't really soften above 7500 feet all day, but was nice below that.  On the bright side, it did give us a chance to work icy carving skills.  Several people up there had some good wrecks due to the conditions.



At about 1:00, we headed down to the Rat for the obligatory Ice Axe IPA and college football, which hit the spot.  It's supposed to snow 4-5 inches this week, but it'll take quite a bit before anything other than the Palmer is filled in. It was a fun day and I'm ready for some pow! 

Nice! I went lift-skiing up there yesterday (Sunday). Could have sworn it was April once the sun hit the snow on palmer and it became corn-like. I was pleasantly surprised with how fun the skiing was, although my expectations were low to start with.

Lots going on in the parking lot when we left because of the climber that fell off of the hogsback, with search and rescue and the news stations all mulling about. Hopefully he's all right.

That there is a very nice tele-turn sir, although I am no expert but it looks good.

That there is a very nice tele-turn sir, although I am no expert but it looks good.

Gotta agree, the only thing missing is powder.
There you go Scotty, great visual image pre-lesson is identification of what a good turn looks like! Plant that one on your screen saver and memorize.
Awesome tele example on the hard/ice surface skiing (easy to slide out of position).
His hands are in perfect position, Rt shoulder rotated down hill, opposite his extended leg, weight perfect.

Nice photo and turn!

"ride the lifts"

Were the lifts actually running? Would like to know where this is regardless. Thanks!

"ride the lifts"

Were the lifts actually running? Would like to know where this is regardless. Thanks!

Mt Hood Oregon - Timberline Lodge. Yes - lifts run Friday-Sunday, weather permitting. Also a note - the snow on the upper mtn looks rideable, but it's really not right now.........