The Gorge is my Gym

Good morning!

If you have been riding Syncline, STOP IT. The trail is trashed, and your fat tires are making it worse. Be a responsible rider, and leave the trail alone until it dries out. Yes, I know you want to stay in biking shape (I’m just as much of a compulsive exerciser as you are, I promise), but your fitness is less important than the fitness of the trail. If you must ride, ride on a road, or go on a biking vacation somewhere else. Otherwise, go for a run. It’s not going to kill you to switch activities for a few weeks. Have a little respect for your trails, and they’ll respect you. Stop destroying our recreation resources.

Now, on to skiing.

NOAA’s overzealous mountain forecasts are making me crazy. They’re driving half of Portland nuts too, judging by comments on the MHM Facebook page. I’m giving up on NOAA.

Up on the mountain today, there’s about half an inch of new in the parking lot, but ski patrol is reporting 4-6” of new up top, so the skiing should be pretty good today. There’s not much additional precipitation coming down now, and honestly, I don’t expect that much until later today. Most likely, snow will start around noon or 1pm, as an upper level low slides across the gorge. This setup usually brings moderate to strong wind to the slopes as well. I think the best skiing today will actually be night skiing tonight. I’m thinking 6” of new this afternoon into this evening.

Snow levels rise tomorrow, for a not-so-great day. They’ll fall again on Friday, brining a few more inches of wet snow to the slopes.

If any of you can do anything about El Nino, that would be great. I’d like to see snow levels fall back to 2000 feet or so.

Finally, if you are desperate for windsurfing or kiting, watch the desert this afternoon…

Have a great day!

Temira

Good morning!

The rain and gloomy weather over the last several days just wasn’t conducive to me writing a forecast!

Now that the white stuff has returned to the slopes, I’m ready to talk to you guys again. It is snowing at the Vista Superpipe at Meadows right now, around 6000 feet or so, and it’s a mix of snow and rain at the base. Looking at the radar picture, I see the cold side of this wet front hitting the mountain before 10am. At that point, temps will drop and snow will fall.

NOAA says 3-7” today. I think we’ll see closer to 7” than 3”. I think we’ll see another 6-8” tomorrow, with colder temperatures and better snow. If I had to pick, I’d pick tomorrow, but I think this afternoon will be good as well. The snow level will be high enough for accumulation at Timberline, but poor Skibowl is going to get walloped with rain, yet again.

I need all of you to do a snow dance for Skibowl, please. I miss skiing West Wall!

I do see one small issue tomorrow. The upper level low associated with this storm is forecast to pass just north of Mt. Hood tomorrow, midmorning. That puts us (skiers) on the southerly, high wind, side of the low. At this point, I’m not saying nuclear force winds, but I think it’s going to be strong enough to shut down higher-elevation lifts and slow down the high speed quads. I also think it’s going to be windy enough for an extra layer of clothes and for windblown snow to fill in our tracks.

The track of that low pressure system will also be conducive to desert winds, if you’re hankering for a windsurfing session. Arlington is your call tomorrow, late in the day. Upper twenties to low thirties seem likely.

That’s about it for now. Have a great day today!