Insult to Injury

Just checking the Stowe Mountain report (Vermont) this am (family planning a trip back east in a couple weeks) and saw some interesting stats that I thought us PNW'ers would get a chuckle out of. The temps at 8 am were -10F degrees at the base and at the Octogon -20F degrees - without wind chill. Still only 36" at the stake, but holy cow, cold! It's just another day in northern Vermont. Ever ski when your snot freezes to your face, and you can hardly move due to the eighteen layers of clothing you're wearing?

See what we're missing in the warm and wet PNW climate!?! Kinda makes you long for home, eh, Jerm? (yeah, right)

You know, in a way it does make me long for home. The few somewhat chilly weeks we got here in Seattle really made me homesick. Of course, it was 70F back there at the time

Anyway, it sounds like their snow is still soft, which is more than I could say for Mt Hood this weekend.

Coldest day on skis would be sometime back in the mid 80s; Dad was between jobs at the time and wanted to go on one of his road trips. My brother and I rode in the back of the jimmy pickup, with a canopy out to Jellystone Park. That was a long cold drive. I remember him plugging the truck in at Butte overnight. Once we were in the Park we did some cross country skiing on the roads around. I don't remember the actual temperature but there were exposed skin warnings and Dad gave us short time limits on how long we could be outside. I remember wearing the neoprene face mask, (actually I wonder what happened to those). The best was skiing along the road and having what I thought was a tree or stump shake its head and shoulders and reveal a buffalo! He gave us a pretty strong locals only vibe but otherwise ignored us.

I think my coldest day was one of those mid-winter New England arctic blasts -- I was 17, skiing at Cannon Mountain by myself... literally.  There was no one else there and I had to make a trip back into the lodge after the first run to buy a turtle fur neck gaiter (which my wife has now stolen as her own, 14 years later), just so I could survive riding the chair.  Probably 20 below that day, with a healthy wind to help out.

My coldest day was at Cannon Mtn., too, back around 1977 or '78. 30 below zero with a 60 mph wind...wrapped in down jacket, overalls, mittens, hat and a hood over the hat. Also, I remember there were huge patches of blue water ice that you crossed in places in the middle of the trail. Cannon sure had a way too toughen you up! Most of my Himalayan training took place there. Used to commute up there every weekend by bus from the Boston 'burbs with the Mass. Ski Club...anyone out there been a member?

It was around that time that I began to see pictures of Wayne Wong-type skiers skiing out West in just jeans and cowboy hats. I think it was around then that I knew I had to move to CO at some point....

-Bill

I moved from Seattle to New Hampshire a year ago and I have high hopes to return to the NW soon.

Despite cold temps out East last week, I rode bluebird powder glades at Jay Peak ALL weekend. Not to rub it in, but a little from a jealous Eastcoast transplant waiting to come home!

My coldest day was 26 below with wind at Schwietzer, but any day at Jay Peak or Cannon could rival it.