gorge - 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!

It’s a Wednesday break in the weather, and if you can skin up a glacier and ski down, you’re making the right choice today! Other fun suggestions include road biking, mountain biking at the Syncline, or just staring at snow-covered Hood and Adams.

Light winds grace the Gorge today, and that’s a good thing, as it’s only going to be 50 degrees.

Models suggest the wind will pick up again tomorrow as a warm front swings into the Gorge. I don’t agree with the 30ish suggested by those models. I think we’ll see gusty, inconsistent mid-twenties – and that’s the strongest-case scenario – starting late afternoon.

On Friday, the cold front swings through, with wind strength similar to Thursday.

If you enjoyed the snow on Hood and Adams, wave goodbye to it today. The snow level rises to 8-10,000 feet tomorrow afternoon, washing all the snow into the rivers. That’s a good thing if you’re a high-water boater. Throw your kayak on your roof rack and get ready!

Other than that, there’s a screening of the movie Food, Inc., tonight at Columbia Center for the Arts at 7pm. Come watch it, be scared, and join a community discussion forum (is that redundant?) afterward.

Have a great day today!