They don't call it the "Pacific North Wet" for nothing!
There aren't many days when I get to the mountain, stand at the bottom of my first ride up and think "shit, should'a stayed in bed". But today was one of them.
There was no chance of gearing up by the car. Six inches of freezing slush covered the entire parking lot, and it looked like 30+ mph wind gusts. So I stuffed my gear into the boot bag, dropped a glove liner in the slush such that it would be configured for maximum absorption and left my poles in the car. Then I walked up to the lodge leaning into the wind with my chin at my chest to keep the freezing rain and sleet from cutting my face open (well, not really - but it was windy!)
To make a short story even shorter: I skied for an hour, had a hot chocolate. Then I skied for another hour. And had another hot chocolate. By that time, my ski pants were completely soaked through and my legs were carrying around their own portable slush pits. Between that, and the realization that I was probably putting on more calories in hot chocolate than I was burning, I decided to call it a day. It was a soggy drive home.
Oh, one item from the notebook. As I mentioned, it was wet. So on three different occasions, as a subject of small talk, I said something to the effect of "wet, isn't it?". And on all three occasions, nobody seemed to acknowledge this painfully obvious fact. One older guy pulled up next to me to rest, and I zinged him with my wetness query and he just looks at me blankly and says "no, I just needed a rest"! Resting will not make you dry, sir! At least not out here. After three tries, I decided to alter my strategy a little so on my next ride up, I tried "rough weather, huh?". My compatriot looked around as if trying to find some evidence to support my claim and says "I guess it's a little windy"! Keep in mind, we spent the next five minutes with our heads tilted against the driving rain, holding our storm hoods down lest we lose hat, goggles, and anything else not tied down. I'm not sure if they were in denial - and who wouldn't be after spending $50 on a lift ticket and $20 more for rentals - or if they just hadn't reached their first hot chocolate break yet.
On the plus side, my spiffy new Arc'teryx gore-tex XCR jacket was awesome. My top was completely dry all day. I had not, however, sprung for the matching $375 pants, and so the chink in my armor has revealed itself.
Gotta make a note to check the weather more carefully. The Crystal Mountain lift report in the morning said the upper lifts were open. I wouldn't go so far as to call them lying sacks of shit; maybe just handbags full of poo.
January 10th, days skied: 15
There was no chance of gearing up by the car. Six inches of freezing slush covered the entire parking lot, and it looked like 30+ mph wind gusts. So I stuffed my gear into the boot bag, dropped a glove liner in the slush such that it would be configured for maximum absorption and left my poles in the car. Then I walked up to the lodge leaning into the wind with my chin at my chest to keep the freezing rain and sleet from cutting my face open (well, not really - but it was windy!)
To make a short story even shorter: I skied for an hour, had a hot chocolate. Then I skied for another hour. And had another hot chocolate. By that time, my ski pants were completely soaked through and my legs were carrying around their own portable slush pits. Between that, and the realization that I was probably putting on more calories in hot chocolate than I was burning, I decided to call it a day. It was a soggy drive home.
Oh, one item from the notebook. As I mentioned, it was wet. So on three different occasions, as a subject of small talk, I said something to the effect of "wet, isn't it?". And on all three occasions, nobody seemed to acknowledge this painfully obvious fact. One older guy pulled up next to me to rest, and I zinged him with my wetness query and he just looks at me blankly and says "no, I just needed a rest"! Resting will not make you dry, sir! At least not out here. After three tries, I decided to alter my strategy a little so on my next ride up, I tried "rough weather, huh?". My compatriot looked around as if trying to find some evidence to support my claim and says "I guess it's a little windy"! Keep in mind, we spent the next five minutes with our heads tilted against the driving rain, holding our storm hoods down lest we lose hat, goggles, and anything else not tied down. I'm not sure if they were in denial - and who wouldn't be after spending $50 on a lift ticket and $20 more for rentals - or if they just hadn't reached their first hot chocolate break yet.
On the plus side, my spiffy new Arc'teryx gore-tex XCR jacket was awesome. My top was completely dry all day. I had not, however, sprung for the matching $375 pants, and so the chink in my armor has revealed itself.
Gotta make a note to check the weather more carefully. The Crystal Mountain lift report in the morning said the upper lifts were open. I wouldn't go so far as to call them lying sacks of shit; maybe just handbags full of poo.
January 10th, days skied: 15
posted by Chris at 15:03
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