The Gorge is my Gym

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Good morning!

The Pineapple Express has left the station and returned to Maui (I think Jane Parker rode it straight to Kanaha), leaving behind a trail of high-water rivers and powder on the slopes.

As of last night, the White Salmon was at 6 feet, the Hood was at 7.0, and the Klickitat was at 4270cfs.

And as of this morning, there was 11” of new snow at Meadows. Even little Skibowl had half a foot of fresh. Reports from last night suggest Skibowl needs a little more snow to cover the Pineapple Crust, but that Meadows is in good shape, with only scattered areas of PC.

Conditions at Meadows and T-Line today will be excellent, with winds in the 15-20 range and light snow showers during the day, for an additional 4-5 inches of snow. If you’re going to MHM, don’t expect Cascade or Upper Heather first thing, as there’s a lot of digging and other work to be done before Cascade opens up. However, there’s plenty of other excellent skiing up there right now.

Tomorrow look like another nice day on the slopes. Early morning snow showers bring 3-5” of snow and then give way to a cloudy/partly cloudy day, with 10-15mph wind, followed by more snow after 4pm.

Sometime tomorrow, an upper level low sets up off the coast, inducing strong east winds through the Gorge. That brings a chance for two things: first, you can go windsurfing or kiting, and second, you might see snow or sleet in the Gorge Friday night.

Tomorrow night brings another round of heavy snow to the mountains. 6-9” seems likely by Saturday morning. Snow showers continue through the day, and then another round of heavy snow hits early Sunday morning, for another 6-9” during the day Sunday. Winds will be in the 15-25mph range both Saturday and Sunday on the slopes.

Have an awesome day today!

Temira

p.s. If you find this report useful, entertaining, or just want to recognize all the hard work that goes into it, please take the time to make a donation by clicking on the button at the bottom of the page. For a suggested donation of $10, I’ll add you to the email version of this list ‘til November 2011, putting you in the running for cool prizes donated by the weekly sponsors.

The Clymb: free membership.
Access to super cheap gear including Trew, Zeal, Sierra Designs, and many more.

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Good morning!

My night snow reporter put this on the Meadows website last night: “Come take a ride on the Pineapple Express.” If you want to ride that train (and god knows why you might want to), you can head to Meadows, T-Line or Skibowl. A much better way to ride the Pineapple Express would be to go boating today. The Hood’s at 9.7 feet, the White Salmon’s right around 4 feet, the Klickitat’s at 3160 cfs, and the Wind River is at (are you nuts?) 11.5 feet. Now, that’s what I call taking a ride on the Pineapple Express.

If you’d prefer to ride the La Nina Express, she’ll be pulling into the station overnight tonight. Rain will change to snow from 4500’ up sometime between midnight and 4am. By tomorrow afternoon, we’ll have 6-8” of new on the slopes with snow levels dropping to 3000’ and temperatures in the mid to upper twenties at 5000’. The bulk of the snow will fall between 2am and 2pm. Along with this storm, we’ll see wind. Averages at MHM will be near 20mph with gusts near 40mph. Expect early morning conditions of dust-on-crust on the slopes, improving to deeper powder over crust by afternoon. Skibowl night skiing will likely be very good tomorrow night, as will the afternoon session at Meadows.

By Wednesday morning, we’ll have a total of 13-16” of new snow from this storm with snow levels at 2500’ or so. Another 4-6” of snow will fall during the day Wednesday, with winds in the 10-15mph range. Wednesday should be near-epic.

Thursday and Friday look dry, with possible sunshine on the slopes and a chance of (finally) seeing some upper lifts and terrain open.

By Saturday, we’ll be back to stormy weather. With cold continental air trapped in the desert and east winds blasting through the Gorge at the end of the week, there’s a good chance we’ll see another round of wintry weather in the Gorge. This is getting a little ridiculous, isn’t it?

Have an awesome day today!

Temira

p.s. If you find this report useful, entertaining, or just want to recognize all the hard work that goes into it, please take the time to make a donation by clicking on the button at the bottom of the page. For a suggested donation of $10, I’ll add you to the email version of this list ‘til November 2011, putting you in the running for cool prizes donated by the weekly sponsors.