So here goes our first try at "The Snowboard Chronicles".
Trip mates for these days were:
Keri-Lyn Jakubs - both Friday and Sat
Jordan Jakubs - both Friday and Sat
Austin Jakubs - both Friday and Sat
Randy "Poppy" Kohlschmidt - Saturday Only
Kelsy French-Holland - both Friday and Sat
Brian Fitch - Friday Only
Friday, January 2, 2009
We managed to make it out of the house a bit late, about 7:20am. Had to make the coffee run as I didn't have the time in the am to get up and mak my own so that also put us back a few minutes, but we still got on the road!
We decided to take pictures for posterity on the trips we take to the mountain going forward so all of you are welcome to share in our journeys. This trip, we knew that Highway 26 was closed and we would have to make the decision to go Highway 35 up from Hood River or take Marmot Road, we choose the latter. What a beautiful, yet windy detour. The area received so much snow and was white covered for miles! Unfortunately for local inhabitants, the temperature was 37 degrees and causing a mass amount of runoff, so we saw and drove through many mini-rivers on our way through. The bridge was being worked on over the Sandy River, so a stoplight had been installed to cross the 1-lane bridge. It did take us roughly 45 minutes longer to get to the mountain than usual. But, we made it!
We finally arrived at the mountain at 10:30 ish only to find that Timberline had closed for the am shift due to a power outage and sending their lift operators home. They didnt plan on re-opening until Night Shift started at 4pm. Ooof! This was Brian's first time out snowboarding, so we had hoped he hadnt made the trip in vain. So we pack up and head out to SkiBowl. I am driving and turn left instead of right to go to SkiBowl on 26 and that takes us another 10-15 minutes to fix. :) Ah Well, I had never been there! When we got to SkiBowl, it was packed with all of the skiiers and boarders that were planning to go to Timberline! The lines were pretty long to get passes for the group members that didnt have them. It took us about 40 minutes to get passes and boards for them and off we went!
The proficient kiddos went on up the mountain, and Brian and I stayed at the rope tow for some "How to's". When he was ready to get off the practice slope, we took him on up the lift to the Lower Bowl. It took him a bit, but he finally got his legs under him and did fairly well for a first timer. There is video footage of a few of his trials.
Kelsy recorded this was her best snowboarding day ever! She was confident, she stayed on her feet and she really enjoyed the mountain!
The kids were flying down the mountain! Austin was playing in the rail park, pictures and video are on the site! Jordan and Kelsy were taking the mountain by storm! By 2 everyone was in need of food and rest so we went to the lodge for foodage! At 2:30 or so, the snow started dumping up there and gave us even MORE powder! Great news! by the time we got back on the mountain, it had slowed up and we could enjoy the powder. Austin had broken his goggles, so I had given him mine - needless to say I was thankful the snow has slowed. :) We stayed until 6ish and then headed home. The roads were covered in snow and ice from the days storm and driving on 26 to the detour was slow going. The detour took us an extra hour or more to get home this time because of the one lane bridge, but we made it safe. Just in time to turn around and do it again!
Day two - January 2, 2009
***New PIcs and Videos Added***
Randy made it to the house on time of course, yet we still managed to make it out late. This time about 7:30 ish. No coffee stop today! Gotta get up there!
We took tons of pics of the ride today, including the detour for the album. That said, we even managed to take a detour on the detour. The sign had been wrong on one of the ODOT checkpoints and we (and a hundred other folks in a line of cars) all went the wrong way. Thank goodness ODOT found us and turned us all around! No telling where we would have ended up! So there are extra pics of the beautiful back country.
We made it to SkiBowl today at a decent time, roughly 9:30ish and hopped to it! We had to get Kels her rental boots, but other than that, it was on!
There was no snow or wind in the forecast and the sun came out and shined its little head. It was a GORGEOUS day!
We hit the Lower Bowl first and decided today that Austin would have a lift riding partner since he was the odd man out yesterday so Poppy rode with Austin. This was the first time I had ridden the lift at SkiBowl alone, ick...what a sickening feeling! Those chair lifts have no arms or guards to hold you in, just regular ole' chair lifts....ha ! not for the faint of stomach! I made it, no problem!
Today was pretty uneventful! No one fell hard or got hurt. Everyone had their boarding legs! It was wonderful. We took plenty of videos, pics and mental shots of where we want to go next! The kids decided to venture on to the Upper Bowl and Jordan took plenty of pics and videos there. She has added videos of Austin and Kels as well as a ton of beautiful pics from the top. It is really an amazing site! Have a look!
By 6pm we were ready to get home! Such a wonderful day. Lots of new experiences! We made it back around 9 or so and met Grandma Katie for dinner that the "Rock" pizza place by the new Freddies off Camas Hwy. Great Pizza!
I am not sure where we will go next weekend. Likely to both SkiBowl and Timberline, but I will keep you posted.
I will be asking the kids for their input to the chronicles going forward, so expect some fun!
Board Free!
Keri-Lyn and the Gang
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