December 17, 2014, Hood Meadows - Vista Ridge

In search of some birthday turns somewhere not too far from Portland, we considered our limited options and needs based on weather and conditions today. We ultimately settled on a little tour skirting the western border of Mt. Hood Meadows on Vista Ridge, after checking in at the day lodge to see what the current rules were for uphill travel around the ski area. Of course, they weren't doing any control work today, and the lifts were not spinning, but I was informed that the "winter" uphill travel police is in effect. This is limited to either Vista Ridge or up Newton Canyon.

The coverage we found near the western side of the resort was better than expected, varying anywhere from 4 - 12 inches on most slopes. The steeper, rockier, and more wind blasted slopes still looked pretty bony though. It was snowing off and on most of the day and visibility was good from around the base area (5,300') up to somewhere around 7000' There was a nice 3" top layer of settled soft snow on a firmer base. The upper layer didn't ski as well as I had initially hoped, as it tended to act more like a breakable crust than powder. We didn't go above 7000' due to poor visibility, but chose to make a few laps where the coverage and visibility were more favorable down a bit lower. All in all, it was a beautiful day with better than expected conditions. Hopefully the snow will keep falling as predicted through the weekend!