Oregon 2021-2022 Snow Flow Thread

[allmountainsnowskating]

We'll be there Saturday

I'll probably be taking the snow skate out, so holla if ya see us.

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[TBS]

Lotsa kooks at Mt Bachelor yesterday and today, or maybe that's normal, not from around here. Did find a decent corn harvest and some solitude on the backside and east off the top. QQ: does norwest corn up in the afternoon on the spring (I'm usually drinking beer by the time that would happen, but I'm curious)?

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You experienced the shitshow that results when multiple states have their Spring Break at the same time, and the chair in the middle of the resort isn’t running

And yes NWX does corn up. Sometimes. The trick is to find the corn at the top and miss the Velcro at the bottom

[PNW-skier78]

Toured up white river this morning and it is in pretty bad shape.


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[::: :::]

Looks like the HRM runout

[ski_adk]

Melting out damn quick w/ lots of brown spots poking through at Meadows. Vibes to the motorcyclist who went down on the curves between mex and hrm. That looked B A D.

[EWG]

Ok mags, need some info. Looks like my daughter will be attending the fine university over in Eugene next year. Which means three things: 1. I lose a great ski partner 2. I'll be using all 7 ikon days at Bachelor next year and 3. I have to figure out how to keep her skiing. She really wanted to go to UO but is very worried she won't be able to ski enough. (which makes me a proud dad!)

Anybody have any info for me? She'll have 7 days cause she'll still have an Ikon for trips and being back home. Does Bachelor have a student pass? I hear that UO has a freeride team that goes there most weekends, and also that they might have student discounts for passes. Is someplace else better? Is this gonna cost me a freakin fortune?

Thanks for any insight - flying blind right now...

[TBS]

She can get a student pass at Mt B if she’s 18 or younger at start of season

Consider a pass at Hoodoo - 90 miles from EUG vs 150 to MtB. Steeper, night skiing and a big college crowd on weekends. It’s also a lot smaller, lower elevation (therefore shorter season) and not open Mon-Tues.

[snojones]

Hoodoo is a great little ski area. Only 1000 feet of vert, but it is a fun place to ski. They have a great vibe and they ACTUALLY care about skiers and skiing! Tell her to check out FACE at Hoodoo. It is a 900ft vert, fantastic angle of repose run that has been putting a smile on my face for decades... and I still love it.

[SchralphMacchio]

Hoodoo is fantastic. 9 am to 9 pm lift operation Weds-Saturday. Great vibe. The night skiing is pretty freaking awesome actually, some decent terrain including tree skiing at night, good steepness. But the extra 15 miles of driving - which on paper looks like not much - is very real once you factor in the ongoing Holiday Farm Fire hazard tree and rock clearing operations on 126, rebuilding construction traffic, and also weekend Dec/Jan/Feb crowd shitshow situation at Hoodoo. If one doesn’t leave early enough it’s about a 2 hour drive and potentially parking out near the highway on Saturdays and holiday Sundays.

Willamette Pass is a terribly run ski resort, totally inconsistent snowpack on the main (front, south) side of the resort, you never know when they will get the backside open after a storm … but even in pretty bad road conditions it’s still only 1.5 hours from Eugene, usually a bit less. The terrain can be pretty good, if she is comfy in tight trees then a lot of the mountain opens up. I have a feeling most university students and clubs ski there because of proximity. My buddy is a professor and he’ll go up to bang out a couple of hours before afternoon class or what not.

If the goal is to ski a lot, regardless of things like amenities probably getting a pass at WP and an early season priced “anycard” at Hoodoo (5 days for roughly the price of 4, no blackouts) is the way to swing it. Then trips with dad to the expensive Mt Flatchelor.

Bachelor is 2:45 in perfect road conditions s with no traffic and a radar detector for “sporty driving above the law” in specific spots … more like 3:30+ in not good weather or typical storm cycle backups on the upper highway where 45 merges with upper Century.

[SchralphMacchio]

BTW,

(A) also congrats to your daughter and welcome to town!
(B) when you fly down if it’s not December-February, rent trail bikes from Life Cycle for the weekend and get some of those famous Oakridge shuttles with her. Hardesty portal (Hardesty, Lawler, Eula trails) is only a 30-40 min drive from Eugene and the other Oakridge trails are another 15-20 minutes up the road. You two may come to realize that Eugene/Springfield is the geographic epicenter of Oregon mountain biking, and when skiing isn’t an option, usually the mountain biking is pretty dang good! The UO Mountain Bike club maintains flow jump trails on undeveloped land on the other side of my neighborhood, and we are getting the city’s first officially adopted bike specific trail in city limits later this year. Lots happening on this front in the local area!

[jonesy]

Steep, Deep & Cheap. Hoodoo hot pow can be challenging. The views are bonus.

[jonesy]

On another note. Variable groom conditions at the other hill.

[fatnslow]

Ok mags, need some info. Looks like my daughter will be attending the fine university over in Eugene next year. Which means three things: 1. I lose a great ski partner 2. I'll be using all 7 ikon days at Bachelor next year and 3. I have to figure out how to keep her skiing. She really wanted to go to UO but is very worried she won't be able to ski enough. (which makes me a proud dad!)

Anybody have any info for me? She'll have 7 days cause she'll still have an Ikon for trips and being back home. Does Bachelor have a student pass? I hear that UO has a freeride team that goes there most weekends, and also that they might have student discounts for passes. Is someplace else better? Is this gonna cost me a freakin fortune?

Thanks for any insight - flying blind right now...

Will she have a car ? Closest is Willamette Pass that can be fun day trips with friends midweek. They have cheap student passes and the distance lets you have a full student life on the same day. They offer bas packages through the outdoor program but it's a long day. My oldest just finished last year in Eugene and opted for the WP route.
I think the outdoor program at UO offers day trips to Bachelor but those are super long days, like 8 hours in a bus RT.

[EWG]

Will she have a car ? Closest is Willamette Pass that can be fun day trips with friends midweek. They have cheap student passes and the distance lets you have a full student life on the same day. They offer bas packages through the outdoor program but it's a long day. My oldest just finished last year in Eugene and opted for the WP route.
I think the outdoor program at UO offers day trips to Bachelor but those are super long days, like 8 hours in a bus RT.

She'll have a car second year, but not first year. Sounds like the play is to let her use the 7 Bach days she'll have on her Ikon pass then maybe pony up for a Hoodoo pass too? She's a very good skier, and a small area would be fine if it allows her to ski steeps, jump off stuff and rip around a little. I'd mostly be worried that there isn't enough steep stuff but it sounds like Hoodoo has some good runs?

Her other choice is UofU which makes it tough, as very few areas in the world compare favorably to Alta and the rest of the Ikon access there.

Maybe that gets her through her freshman year and then second year she'll know what she actually wants?

[SchralphMacchio]

Willamette has steeper terrain than Hoodoo but with longer and more boring runouts. More micro cliff shots and sustained steep tree skiing - but of the kind that she should always go in with a partner because the woods are thick and branchy, and tree well / NARSID risks.

If she likes open terrain off piste better then steep parts off Ed and Green chair at Hoodoo will feel like more “usable” and sustained, they are less steep at their steepest but sustained for longer pitches … if she likes to use downed trees, tree branches, and stuck skiers looking for a fallen ski as training gates (and has a healthy sense of exploration), not only is Willamette more suitable but one can typically bang out way more vert per hour there due to the high speed 6 pack on the front side and shorter weekend lift lines. Willamette has like a dozen turns off the top that’s like “oh, that’s sick, it’s steep and fun” and then it kind of concaves out and then it’s a long low angle cruise back to the chair. As I mentioned previously, there are actually a lot of ripping skiers at Willamette.

Both have plenty of fun stuff to rip around and jump off stuff with friends.

Can’t comparing the skiing and access to U of U at all! Better air quality here mid winter, worse during fire season but overall much milder weather than SLC. SLC is a much bigger city than Eugene - more pro sports, bigger downtown and metro area, more restaurants and diversity … things are much more chill and relaxed over here, no real traffic, everything is “easy” compared to more populated areas. I’m sure if she picks either school based on a better fit of university and setting, the skiing will naturally fall into place.

[fatnslow]

She'll have a car second year, but not first year. Sounds like the play is to let her use the 7 Bach days she'll have on her Ikon pass then maybe pony up for a Hoodoo pass too? She's a very good skier, and a small area would be fine if it allows her to ski steeps, jump off stuff and rip around a little. I'd mostly be worried that there isn't enough steep stuff but it sounds like Hoodoo has some good runs?

Her other choice is UofU which makes it tough, as very few areas in the world compare favorably to Alta and the rest of the Ikon access there.

Maybe that gets her through her freshman year and then second year she'll know what she actually wants?

My kids aren't diehard skier's so it was not very high on their priority for college. If skiing is super high on the list and her program is comparable at Utah I would steer her toward SLC.
I would definitely look into the outdoor programs on campus and see what kind of weekend trips are available. I know they offer RT bus programs but that's a loooong day spending 8 hours on a bus.

[allmountainsnowskating]

Ok mags, need some info. Looks like my daughter will be attending the fine university over in Eugene next year. Which means three things: 1. I lose a great ski partner 2. I'll be using all 7 ikon days at Bachelor next year and 3. I have to figure out how to keep her skiing. She really wanted to go to UO but is very worried she won't be able to ski enough. (which makes me a proud dad!)

Anybody have any info for me? She'll have 7 days cause she'll still have an Ikon for trips and being back home. Does Bachelor have a student pass? I hear that UO has a freeride team that goes there most weekends, and also that they might have student discounts for passes. Is someplace else better? Is this gonna cost me a freakin fortune?

Thanks for any insight - flying blind right now...

Aww! Good for her!

They have an outdoor rec center at UO that rents backcountry gear and runs trips.

If she gets a student job with them, she'll get more access to skiing. Possibly leading trips by her sophomore year.

https://outdoorprogram.uoregon.edu/


That and being part of the freeride club, which goes to Bachelor every weekend.

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[EWG]

Willamette has steeper terrain than Hoodoo but with longer and more boring runouts. More micro cliff shots and sustained steep tree skiing - but of the kind that she should always go in with a partner because the woods are thick and branchy, and tree well / NARSID risks.

If she likes open terrain off piste better then steep parts off Ed and Green chair at Hoodoo will feel like more “usable” and sustained, they are less steep at their steepest but sustained for longer pitches … if she likes to use downed trees, tree branches, and stuck skiers looking for a fallen ski as training gates (and has a healthy sense of exploration), not only is Willamette more suitable but one can typically bang out way more vert per hour there due to the high speed 6 pack on the front side and shorter weekend lift lines. Willamette has like a dozen turns off the top that’s like “oh, that’s sick, it’s steep and fun” and then it kind of concaves out and then it’s a long low angle cruise back to the chair.

I thought Williamette had a super short season and sometimes barely opens. Not true?

[EWG]

My kids aren't diehard skier's so it was not very high on their priority for college. If skiing is super high on the list and her program is comparable at Utah I would steer her toward SLC.

The back and forth on this has dominated the last few weeks. She likes Eugene better, and she’s pretty sure she can still get 25-30 days of skiing in if she goes there (she’ll ski almost every day of winter and spring breaks) but she’s trying to decide if she wants to go to college primarily to ski or if it’s more about the school. She loves mtn biking so that helps Eugene out in her mind.

Utah is a lot cheaper and much closer to home. So it’ll suck for me a little when she settles on Oregon. I think she’s 90% set on UO, but I have to admit I think it’s the right place for her.

[oldnew_guy]

It’s 3 hours one way to Mt Bachelor from Eugene and about half that or less to either of the other options.

Bachelor is maybe a more enjoyable, bigger mountain, but that is a lot of driving to be skiing two weekend days per week. I personally wouldn’t drive 6 hours round trip to ski at Bachelor.

The low elevation resorts, Hoodoo and Willamette pass, have had some hard years in recent memory, but there is a lot of other stuff to be doing in college than driving 12 hours per weekend or sleeping in your car on a Saturday night.

Willamette and Hoodoo are also close enough that you could attend a morning class and get a decent ski day in.

I’m not a fan of Eugene, but UO and it’s surrounds is sort of it’s own universe there.

A good compromise might be a 4-pack at Bachelor and a pass to Hoodoo. Season pass is like $450 at Hoodoo.

[SchralphMacchio]

I thought Williamette had a super short season and sometimes barely opens. Not true?

Barely opens happens during bad drought years. 17-18 was a dry season where they opened for MLK weekend then had to immediately close back down, then opened for another weekend in February and that was it because they didn’t have staffing once there was enough snow. Hoodoo was able to open but only like 60% of their terrain, I trimmed a lot of manzanita with my skis that year. This last season there was plenty of snow but WP had a similar situation to Stevens, no staff to open backside until like 5 weeks after they opened despite really deep coverage.

It’s true that WP’s season, staffing, etc, is always a bigger question mark than Hoodoo. As I said it’s a terribly run resort. But I just didn’t want you to dismiss it offhand as a podunk ski hill with no terrain that she would hate, as the rippers who ski there a lot absolutely love the terrain there, for good reasons.

[Supermoon]

Her other choice is UofU which makes it tough, as very few areas in the world compare favorably to Alta and the rest of the Ikon access there.

I went to the U for school. Spring semester I could usually get all my classes into Tues/Thurs and I went skiing the other five days. Worked at Alta in the ski school the last two years, too.

Utah is really good for anyone looking to go into healthcare, and they have a great politics/international relations school also, which is what I studied.

[fatnslow]

The back and forth on this has dominated the last few weeks. She likes Eugene better, and she’s pretty sure she can still get 25-30 days of skiing in if she goes there (she’ll ski almost every day of winter and spring breaks) but she’s trying to decide if she wants to go to college primarily to ski or if it’s more about the school. She loves mtn biking so that helps Eugene out in her mind.

Utah is a lot cheaper and much closer to home. So it’ll suck for me a little when she settles on Oregon. I think she’s 90% set on UO, but I have to admit I think it’s the right place for her.

What is she interested in studying ? Is Utah in state for you ? IDK if UO is worth out of state tuition for most majors compared to UU and any local skiing including Bachelor will be a pretty big step down compared to SLC.

[EWG]

What is she interested in studying ? Is Utah in state for you ? IDK if UO is worth out of state tuition for most majors compared to UU and any local skiing including Bachelor will be a pretty big step down compared to SLC.

She’s a good student. Both are out of state but she got scholies both places. She got into Utah honors college but still waiting to hear from oregons.

All that said, she got more money at UU and it started cheaper so there’s a big delta. She will be in sciences, likely Environmental Science.

Any more words of wisdom are quite appreciated. This has been super helpful thus far.

[fatnslow]

She’s a good student. Both are out of state but she got scholies both places. She got into Utah honors college but still waiting to hear from oregons.

All that said, she got more money at UU and it started cheaper so there’s a big delta. She will be in sciences, likely Environmental Science.

Any more words of wisdom are quite appreciated. This has been super helpful thus far.

If your daughter really values skiing and outdoor life sound like UU is the better choice. UO not really very high on the science front, not very high on the list of much. Basically second tier state U where UU has been pumping money into their school to become a regional respected college for the last decade.
I'm not really the one to tell someone to think logic here, my second kid was an overachiever and incredibly bright and I lost the tuition battle with her, she gave me a very compelling response to justify the price delta ending up at a private school.
FUUUUK me, my daughter just finishing senior year in Econ major/env sciences minor and more interested in the latter at a small liberal arts college that was spendy after turning down a free tuition offer in state. She tells me she's applying for jobs that sounds like it's close to being a landscaper.

Last kid starting next year at UO, in state tuition with a small scholarship doing his old man a solid.