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[TR] Mt Hood - Newton Creek Drainage 2/23/2007


RogerJ

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Trip: Mt Hood - Newton Creek Drainage

 

Date: 2/23/2007

 

Trip Report:

Face Shots all day long.

 

Frank (fheimerd) and I had an absolutely spectacular day sking the Newton Creek Drainage today (2-23). The short story was face shots all day.

 

We left Portland around 6:15AM and were skinning by 8. The "easy" route up Heather Canyon had a foreboding sign warning of large fines and revokation of cc.com logins if we made uphill travel on the cat track, so we worked up through the trees to Pea Gravel Ridge. We took one quick run off the low part of the ridge, which only got us hungry for more.

 

We worked up the ridge to more commonly skied area, and did some snow stability tests. The first run was amazing. I also managed a sweet face plant and decided to lock my boots in the less forward position the rest of the day :) We were rewarded run after run with some of the best snow I've seen on Mt Hood. The powder was about 2+ feet on average.

 

Breaking trail was obviously a chore, but a labor of love.

 

All in all we worked up and down the ridge making numerous runs. Came down through Jill's Woods to the cat track. The windward side of the ridge was pretty windloaded. We were back to the car around 4PM with a full day of skiing under our belts.

 

The unfortunate news is that it was windy and the wind shifted directions, creating more wind loading of the snow, so we saw less desirable avy conditions as the day progressed (word of caution to anyone heading up there this weekend).

 

I am beat tonight, and Frank is driving to the Wallowas.

 

Today was definatly a stellar ski day!

 

My camera got little use today. There was too much powder and fun! Sorry.

 

-r

 

Gear Notes:

Skis, poles, skins, shovel, probe, beacon... the usual shit.

 

Approach Notes:

Note the MHM signage.

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Good times out there on Friday. Thanks again for coming along. Definately the best snow conditions I've ever experienced on hood. If your curious the wallowas were equally excellent. Light, dry, and deep. Three days of skiing excellent powder makes me a happy camper. Averaged 5500 feet of vertical per day over the long weekend :). Now I need to rest.

 

Frank

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YES! TD&H mtn was also incredible. You could throw yourself off just about anything.

 

So there's a sign specifically telling you _not_ to skin up the heather getback? It's not like people are hauling through that section. Almost destroyed a ski on gods wall yesterday, fun times.

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I got stopped a couple of weeks ago by some ski patrol folks. We came from the top of yellow and skied down to the base of pea gravel. The ski patrol mentioned they could give us a ticket but instead the gave us a good solid talking to. Apparently the issue is that they don't want to release any avilanches on skiers when they are blasting. The cat track from hrm is open when they aren't blasting.

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Kind words for the backcountry bretheren from Dave Riley's blog:

 

But with all this DEEP POW, I'm asking that you abide by our Pro Patrol closures. Opening times for the Private Reserve, Jack's Woods, and the Lower Canyon have experienced delays most days but the areas have been opened up and it has been awesome! Meadows 'trollers have been busting butt to give you the goods and everyone owes them a huge THANK YOU! Just give them a chance to get their work done. We experienced an extended delay one morning last week because some fool skied under the rope and we had to clear him out before we could continue using explosives --can you believe that?

 

 

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