The Gorge is my Gym

Good morning!

The snow’s falling again on Mt. Hood. This morning Timberline has 7” of new snow, and it’s 23 degrees with a 150” base. That’s nice cold snow, so it should be good powder turns today. My favorite Oregon resort, Mt. Hood Meadows, has 4” of new snow today. They’re supposed to get a few more inches today and a few more tomorrow, so if the temperatures can stay cold, we’ll have good turns this weekend.

If you’d like to play at river level, you’ll have your chance today. An upper trough is moving east and high pressure is slowly building at the coast. Light west gradients this morning build this afternoon, with gusty westerlies building into the 15-19 range from Stevenson down to Hood River and 20-24 further east.

Westerlies pick up tomorrow as coastal high pressure builds. Thursday morning starts off with 16-19 from the Corridor to the Dalles, building to 24-28 from Hood River to Arlington by late afternoon. Wind quality will definitely be better in the afternoon on Thursday, as the building high pressure stabilizes the atmosphere.

Friday looks windy as well, as coastal high pressure combines with an upper trough in the desert for sailable and kiteable westerlies. It’s a long way out still, but the setup does look very good for a steady and strong Corridor day.

If you’re a sailboat racer, tonight is opening night of race season, and if you’re a seasoned sailor and you show up at the Hood River Marina, there’s a good chance you can find your way onto a boat.

Mountain bikers, it’s wet out there, so if you can hold off and not beat down the trails, that’s a good call. Instead, go check out the movie Race Across the Sky at Columbia Center for the Arts this evening. And while I’m talking mountain biking, I’d like to thank Mitchell and Mike at Dirty Fingers Bike Repair for the new wheel for my ghetto commuter bike.

Oh, and gardeners, get on it! The soil temp at my house was 59.5 degrees last time I checked. That’s warm enough for planting nearly everything… I can’t wait for strawberries and snap peas… And the tomatoes look way better in the ground than in my bedroom under a fluorescent light!

Have a great day today!

Temira

Good morning Gorge sports fanatics!

Unsettled spring weather continues in the Gorge and winter weather returns to the mountains this week. Right now at Timberline, it’s 29 degrees and snowing lightly, with 1” of new snow. They had half an inch of moisture overnight, meaning it mostly rained but now it’s snowing. From now on this week, it’s all snow, with 3-7 inches predicted each day.

If you’re headed into the backcountry, please take care, because the avy forecasts are done for the season and you’re just relying on your own judgement. If it gets extreme out there, NWAC will issue a forecast, but otherwise it’s all you for now. See you Thursday in the BC? =)

If you’d like to get on the water, You’ll have a chance this afternoon as an upper trough moves east. Look for gusty 14-17 in the Corridor with 24-27 from Doug’s eastward. Tomorrow looks similar, with a fairly light west start building to 24-27 out east. Without high pressure at the coast, I expect the wind to be a bit gusty, especially at the Maryhill stretch of the river. You’re better off at Rowena, Celilo, Avery and Arlington/Roosevelt with this setup. Stevenson can also be good under southerly flow.

Wednesday night should be a good night for opening day of the spring race series at the Hood River Yacht Club. If you’re an experienced sailor, show up and you’ll probably find room one somebody’s boat!

If you’re a bike rider, you’ll want to catch Race Across the Sky at the Columbia Center for the Arts on Wednesday night. It’s a movie about Lance Armstrong and the Leadville 100, and it’s supposed to be a great film! And then on Thursday, CAMBA holds their spring meeting at Double Mountain at 7pm.

Uh oh. Opening day of sailboat racing or the Race Across the Sky??? This is a difficult call.

There is supposed to be Post and Pint at Dirty Fingers on Thursday, but Post was already a bit slick yesterday before the rain fell, and I’m guessing it’s no-go or close to it at this point. The forecast calls for more rain tonight, so by tomorrow, Post is very likely going to be off the list for a few days.

That’s it for today. For more event information, the event calendar at TheGorgeismyGym.com, and whatever you do today, have an awesome day!

Temira