July 11, 2010, Superbowl (Mt. Hood)

I was up for training at Timberline on Saturday, so figured it was an opportune time to try to ski the Wyeast Face.  After finishing and sharing a couple beers with our crew at the Mt. Hood Inn, I drove over and backpacked up into the Meadows ski area.  I wasn't all that enthused about camping within the ski area, but ended up finding a sweet spot in the trees near the top of the Shooting Star lift to roll out my sleeping bag.  It turned out to be pretty nice, kicking back and watching the stars come out. 

Sunday morning, I woke up early and headed up towards the ridge.  The weather already felt hot by 7am, which didn't bode well.  I made it to the base of the face at 9am, and was already sinking in a few inches with each step, and in some places above my boot-top.  Given that, it didn't seem like the smartest idea to keep on going solo up to the top, so I took a break and then skied down into super bowl.  The snow was pretty fun and slushy.  I set of a few small hissers but they were very slow and didn't go anywhere.  The run down into Heather Canyon was close to 4,000 feet - smooth turns on top, a bit of rock dodging in the middle, and then over too quickly in the canyon, where small suncups have formed but the snow is still holding up well.  I booted it back up out of the canyon to pick up my camping gear and to consume my just reward (a snow-cooled Guinness).  Much silliness ensued in me trying to link the dwindling snow patches through Meadows back to the parking lot (with little success!)