Andy Zig

In an effort to return this post to its intended topic, I have summarized the four pieces or relevant advice below. With the exception of # 4, all appear genuine. Can anyone confirm this? The advice about Sno-Park permit is extremely helpful and appreciated. Permit systems are not common around here so this is the type of help I was looking for. 1) Buy a Sno-Park Permit for $20 (or $5/day) and park at any of them up on Mt. Hood or nearby Mt. St. Helens. There's a reason they're there, and you can follow tracks up/down and all around. Get on Google Earth and check out some of the pull outs. The winter climbing route on Mt. St. Helens is also a good bet; park at Marble Mountain Sno-Park . There's plenty of low angled, tight trees for a couple of miles off the well-worn trail to the summit that will make you feel right at home. And, you'll typically have plenty of company in baller conditions- 2) Drive to Timberline Lodge (on Mt. Hood) any day of the ski season - the climbers route is skier's left, low angled, open slopes up past the ski area to the summit crater. You can skin up anytime and sleep in your car in the lot. 3)Ski up and down Palmer snowfield from Timberline, as far as base of Crater Rock, on the South Side of Hood, as often as you like. 4) Mt. Hood Northface

Wow, thanks for some of that. I think I can manage to extract a few helpful pieces of advice from all that. Unfortunately the thread seems a little off topic at this point. I was not looking for judgment on this, I AM an expert skier. I don’t need affirmation on this. Ones skills on a pair and skis and ones formal training on avalanche safety are not necessarily related. I think most people on the east coast would find your conclusions rather short sighted. I can ski anything, any pitch and on any snow condition. We have rough conditions out here. I judge an expert on how they ski on bullet-proof boiler plate days, or how they ski a wind crust, or ice-crust, not how good they look on a blue-bird powder day. I ski all conditions well and therefore define myself as expert. But I know that I lack EXPERIENCE in avalanche conditions. I am well aware of and well read regarding avalanche safety and snow stability, but wise enough to know that skiing Mt. Hood area is something that I am not familiar with and should seek advice first. It is difficult to find experience on the east coast in avalanche conditions, such conditions rarely exist. We do not see avalanche warnings issued often, and some years not issued at all. If I wanted avalanche conditions, I could seek them out, but I tend to avoid them if possible. I have 10 years and over 100 days in the backcountry, never once going in in avalanche conditions. If you are of the opinion that someone without a beacon should NEVER leave the boundaries at all, just say so. Most of the so-called “dick-waggers” probably wouldn’t start by asking for advice and admitting inexperience. I don’t care what you think of my skiing ability. I was just trying to give the facts about my ability so the advice I was soliciting would be more relevant. DPS, if you’re ever in Vermont, be sure to contact me first. Your Mad River Glen ticket is on me. It would be money well spent. I’d love to watch you try to follow. Note: Also never said I would be skiing alone. I’m familiar with wilderness conditions, GPS, navigation, using a map and compass. My inexperience is regarding hands-on avalanche conditions only. We have forums out here too. I typically spend very little time on them. I find that most people who are busy questioning others abilities through forum rants are usually compensating for their lack of ability.

Dear Cascade Climbers, I will be spending a week in the Portland OR area this February and i don't want to buy a lift ticket every single day. I'm an expert skier with years of experience skiing remote backcountry routes on the east coast, but i prefer to avoid avalanche prone areas due to my limited experience with such conditions. I'm looking for some nice routes at lower elevation that i can tour with my Alpine Touring setup and skins that will most likely not require probe/beacon/shovel. (i will still have a probe and shovel). Tight trees are not a problem, infact preferred. You haven't seen tight trees until you've skied the east. Is anyone willing to devulge some secrets or at least point me in the rigt direction? I'm hoping to find something safe, maybe 1000+ ft. vert in the Mount Hood and Mount Adams areas. Any advice would be appreciated. I don't want to step out into something unsafe. I also don't want to ride lifts all week, no fun. Andyzig