A little breezy on the east side....

I knew the wind wrecked havoc at the Ridge (huge wind drifts, downed trees) but had no idea the extent of the damage. This is from the Wenatchee World today:


[WENATCHEE — The Liberator chairlift may reopen today. Mission Ridge ski area crews worked day and night over the weekend to repair the ski lift’s heavy storm damage.

Winds up to 135 miles an hour broke the windows in the lift’s drive terminal Thursday night, said general manager Mark Milliette.

Snow blew in from the broken windows and piled up on the control panels and electrical wiring.
Mission Ridge crews boarded up the windows and dried the electrical components over the weekend.
“Right now we’re starting to zero in on last of the trouble-shooting,” said general manager Mark Milliette.

The goal is to reopen the lift today, Milliette said in a phone interview this morning. Milliette said he will know by this afternoon whether the repairs could be finished today.

PUD crews restored power to Mission Ridge at 11:30 a.m. Friday, Milliette said.

I believe the 135mph gust was not only the strongest Mission has recorded, but likely the highest winds (below Muir) ever recorded on NWAC telemetry. There are no "official records" that have been kept, although the back data is saved - at least for a number of years.

Wandering around in the Mission BC on Tuesday I was amazed how the trees, 3 feet off the ground, had produced up to 12-16 inch diameter wells around them from swaying so hard. It cracked the windpacked snow into star shapes aroung the trees, pretty cool.

Is Mission Ridge one of the windiest spots in the state? Last night there were four gusts over 100mph, the highest being 126mph! Sustained winds of 60-70 mph most of the night. White pass came close last night with one gust of 123 mph, but this seems pretty common here at Mission. Doesn't make me feel too bad about having to sit out for a week to let my knee settle down. The quad at Mission has been down since Monday due to wind damage, this is the second time this season. I don't think they have a chance of getting it running after last night.

Aaron. There was some activity on the quad this afternoon. I don't know what it means but there was a snowcat near where we load and people climbing up into the cable area. I hope this means that they might have the chair running tomorrow. I'm tired of having to hike for extensive untracked powder runs on lip-lip, bomber bowl, and hidden valley. Maybe Dan will bring you by that dvd. If you only had VHS I could run you over "Hot Dog the Movie" or "Aspen Exteme". Hang in there buddy.

this is my current desktop photo and I just felt like sharing it.