Mt. Hood snow and Gorge wind forecast | The Gorge is my Gym

Happy Friday!

Today is the official beginning of winter. Sure, winter isn’t here on the calendar yet, but you can have your pass picture taken at the HR Ski/Gear swap today or tomorrow. As far as I’m concerned, ski season starts once my digital image is contained on a MHM hard drive.

Now for a shameless plug. While you’re up getting your picture taken, pick up a ticket for the Hood River Snow Show on November 21st. IPS, 2nd Wind, MHM, and I have put in a ton of work into putting this party together. We’ll have ski and snowboard movies, music by Area 54, and sick raffle prizes (Line skis, snowboard, season pass). All proceeds go to support local ski and snowboard youth teams. Tickets are $5, and if you don’t buy one and go to the party, you’ll have to deal with my wrath. =)

Speaking of wrath, Mother Nature’s is out of the picture today, as high pressure builds over the northwest. Clouds will burn back towards Portland today, leaving us with upper teen westerlies from the Corridor out to Doug’s this afternoon.

Tomorrow morning brings more rain, but clouds will break up in the afternoon. High pressure fills the coastal airspace by evening, giving us gusty westerlies in the mid-twenties. Sunday brings light wind and clear skies.

Have a great day today!

First off this morning, some sad news. Charlie Laventure passed away after a long battle with leukemia. If you didn’t know Charlie, you missed out. He would have been your hero. Charlie played. He played a lot. He surfed and he rode his bike and his motorcycle, and… you get the picture. On top of that, he was bright and funny and kind, and from what I hear, an awesome dad. Whenever Charlie said “hi” to me, I was honored that he was my friend.

And now this forecast gets more depressing.

Leave some space in your thoughts today for the friends and family of Maggie Guth, former server at Abruzzo, who died yesterday. Maggie was tall and beautiful and had a great smile, and a promising life ahead of her. I didn’t know her well, but I know that she and Silas fed me delicious chicken eggs, and her comments at Abruzzo always made me laugh.

The only thing I can say in response to all this death is that you, yes you, had damned well better get outside and do something fun today. Either that, or you should spend time with a friend you haven’t seen in a while, preferably doing something outside (go show Mother Nature that her gray weather isn’t intimidating you).

If you’d like to show your defiance by kiting or windsurfing today, you might get a chance late today. The wind quality will be quite poor, and probably in the 16-19 range in the Corridor, but better than no wind. Models show wind in the desert tomorrow, but I’m not convinced.

Your best bet for outdoor entertainment today is going to be mountain biking (Syncline or frontside HH), or looking for mushrooms.

The snow has left the Northwest (it’s raining at Meadows), but the Hood River Ski and Gear Swap starts tomorrow afternoon. You can get your pass picture taken and pick up tickets to the Hood River Snow show on November 21st. What’s that? Think major snow show on a Hood River scale. Ski movie, snowboard movie, lots of cool new gear to touch, and family friendly (with beer and wine flowing for the grownups). $5 gets you a ticket. There’s a raffle too, with a pair of Line skis, a snowboard, and a season pass up for grabs. All proceeds to go benefit local youth ski and snowboard teams. See you there!

Have a great day today!