News

Contributed by trip leader Dennis Krakow

The Swampy figure 8 became more of a barbell shape. With just 4 of us, we passed on breaking trail up Butte Trail and Flagline Tie.  We did bust trail up Ridge Loop, where we saw how well last summer's limb trimming worked to prevent or reduce tree wells.  Very good, indeed.  A good day, but 4 hours due to so much trail breaking.
33 degrees at the start and 30 at the end.  We could literally feel the snow thickening as the tour went on and were happy that our hard work was early in the trip.

David Gast led five CONC members on route through Swampy that included the Ridge Loop and Crosscut trails, skiing clockwise.  They enjoyed bright blue skis and fresh snow... and chilly temperatures.  

They had our lunch at the "restaurant with the worlds finest view" on the open flat overlooking the Swamp of swampy snow park beneath the gaze of Tumalo.

The XCD clinic is a great way to work on lots of downhill techniques without burning all your energy climbing the hill.  Instead, the lifts at Hooddoo take care of that, and for only $35 on Thrifty Thursday.  11 students were eager to learn from instructors Woody Keen and Mark Waters, and all had a great day.

As Ed put it, “Today’s XCD Clinic at Hoodoo ski area was an effective , efficient, way to expedite learning and build confidence to attempt backcountry downhill turns, and enjoy the experience.“  Excellent, Ed!

Friday's ski to Bare Lake, led by Chuck DeVoe, had better weather than expected. 

As we left the marked trails near Todd Lake, we found lovely uphill tracks set out by other folks that were probably on AT gear. We managed to work our way up to where we were well above Bare Lake, enjoying the views of Mt Bachelor and Sparks Lake. 

The fresh snow made for marvelous turns as   we glided down to Bare and then back to Todd Lake. 

John Harvey "checked all the boxes" Feb. 2 on his first trip as a leader for the club.  "Wonderful trip today. A perfect outing for the Nordeen Shelter loop."  He received positive feedback from the group and had some awesome views.  Well done John!

Five of us enjoyed a nice ski to Tumalo falls, led by David Gast. There were a few interesting descents and twisty sections which we all "enjoyed" on the trail along Tumalo creek. The view at the falls was beautiful as always. The return trip on the road was a fun cruise.  About an inch of new snow fell during our trip. 

This is a good ski which can be enjoyed when we have fresh low elevation snow.

With only three of us on the ski this morning, we diverted from the original plan to ski the Beginner Loop at Swampy Sno-Park. Instead, we headed clockwise on the Swampy Loop to the Swampy shelter, where we found a toasty fire already going in the stove. We threw another log on the fire while enjoying a snack.

A kind skier popped her head in and asked whether anyone had lost a cellphone, as her party had found one on the ski trail. The errant phone indeed turned out to belong to one of our group, and many thanks were given to the good Samaritan for finding it and tracking down the owner.

Contributed by trip leader Mark Waters

Conditions were awesome ,everyone skied great and had a good time.

Contributed by trip leader Dennis Damici

A blue bird day on the Todd Lake Loop trail. Three participants were new to the club. I gave a tutorial on the benefits of heel lifts. Everyone had fun and enjoyed the social interaction.

I really had no business leading a trip to Ray Benson SnoPark.  I hadn't been there in years and didn't really remember the trails.  But NOAA promised 40 degrees and a cloudless sky; perfect for skiing on Big Lake, which is what I really wanted.  And it was perfect.  There's just something about gliding across this seemingly endless, white, horizontal surface while looking at the mountains.

More importantly, I was pleasantly surprised to find that the forest around Ray Benson is not very dense.  This is perfect for off-trail skiing as there are only a few places where it is difficult to pick your way through the forest.  The primary area that is dense with trees is along the Pacific Crest Trail, so it is important to find a path to cross this area when skiing east-west.  And this day it was essential to ski on the crust between the trees, as the trails were all complete ice and dangerous.  We only skied maybe 40 yards total on the designated trails.  Out on the crust, the snow was soft enough for kick and glide.  In total we skied 6.3 miles with only 250 feet of elevation; pretty pleasant!