Early Season on Hood

Early season on the upper mountain 

After a four month hiatus, skiing has returned...and it's about damn time. A few early season storms have brought just enough snow to ski on. It's not stacking up to be the most epic November ever, but even as I type, there's a forecast for another few feet up in the mountains. Bring it on.

The view from Illumination Saddle

Last weekend Jake, Andy, and I made our way up to Timberline without any particular objective other than to ski. When we arrived in the Timberline parking lot, there was a frigid wind blowing from the East. We began our climb with all our layers on, and kept moving to stay warm. However, as we climbed, the wind died and the air warmed. After a leisurely trudge up to the top of Palmer, we set out across the Triangle Moraine to Illumination Saddle--a spectacular destination when you have nowhere else to go.  As we rounded the slope onto Triangle Moraine, we fell into the leeward side of the mountain; out of the wind and cold. By the time we reached Illumination Saddle, we were in t-shirts. After an extended break in the sun, we clicked into our bindings, and began our descent back to Timberline.

Dropping into the Triangle Moraine below Illumination Rock

The initial descent was excellent (notwithstanding a nearly lost glove and ski). Soft, wind buffed sastrugi formations covered the upper mountain.  We cruised down until the snow began to thin. Afraid we would get caught on the wrong side of a bare spot (of which there are many below 8000 ft) we began our traverse back into the ski area. Eventually we joined the hoards riding the Palmer lift, and made our way down to the bottom of the snowfield. The snow coverage between the bottom of the Palmer Snowfield and Timberline is marginal. We opted to ski the gully skiers right of the Silcox hut. While there is continuous snow, the snow was variable, and there was plenty of rock to avoid. If you make it up there, remember to ski slow: it's a long ski season.

Andy shredding on the upper mountain