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Pacific NW/AK/BC Mt Hood for the Summer Fun Nationals

Doug Briggs

"Douche Bag Local"
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I have not been traveling much except for visiting family as I wanted to be with my elderly pooch, Misty, in her final days. Well, Misty was stronger than I could imagine so it has been years since I've been away.

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She was over 17 years old when she passed this April. I miss her so much.

The Summer Fun Nationals have been held at Mt. Hood with this year being the 29th year. It is a USSA sanctioned race where Masters compete with the kids on two courses run simultaneously over two days. Day one is GS, day two SL. The driving force behind the race is Meri Stratton who also runs the Intermountain Division's Masters race series. It takes a lot of volunteers and great deal of effort to pull off the race. Meri has been asking me for years to come out and participate so this year I did. I don't race SL or GS anymore so I came out to volunteer.

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This was my first trip ever to Oregon and the rubbernecking began on the approach to Portland's airport. This is the North side of Mt. Hood.

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I got a ride from the airport and started working right off the bat. Brandon and I delivered the bundles of bamboo, CAT5 cabling, scoreboard, pop-up tents and a slew of other equipment to this point along a paved trail above the Timberline Lodge where a snow cat got loaded to take the gear to the snowfield below the Palmer Glacier. The ski down trail was maintained to the parking lot but in the course of 4 days it ended further up the hill than when we arrived even with a lot of snow moving on the part of the ski area.

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After the delivery to the ski area we drove on to Hood River and Meri's home. This is the view from her front porch. This is the North side of Hood again. Out the back were more snow covered summits, but the pictures were washed out.

A bunch of volunteers stuffed goodie bags with bibs, schedules and swag for the racers. We also got the radios charged up and loaded the truck, a van and a couple cars with more gear for the races.

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The view from the Miracle Mile lift. @Brian Finch , I'll apologize here for not connecting with you. It was pretty busy and most of my down time was spent eating and catching my breath. Oh, and a beer or two.

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This is the top terminal of the Palmer lift. They have doors on the terminals to keep the snow out in the winter; they only run this lift in the summer.

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I forgot to ask which summit this is, but I think it is Jefferson.

The historic Timberline Lodge, built as a WPA/CCC project will get a post of its own. Here is a sampler.
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A few of the corners had these animal carvings on them.

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This is a carving that was outside the USFS office in the basement.
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Looking out the main lodge's common room window. The lodge is halfway up the ski area and open year round.

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The same view from the patio out front.

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On the opposite side of the lodge is the FDR Balcony, so named because it is where he gave a speech dedicating the lodge.

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The start area on Saturday.

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The GS courses.

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Fuxi had some new hats. I liked this one for the stiff brim that should stand up to sailing.

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The latest incarnation of the Fuxi Haus. It was NOT an active gas station and is being torn down when Fuxi moves out.

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The next day was very windy to start. It helped clear the 'marine air' that degraded the view the days before.

Did I say it was windy? The snow was super hard this morning as well. We used the 'monkey' to disburse salt. It was a job specific blower backpack that made for superb conditions. It was much more efficient than hand dispensing saving time, money and creating the best lane on the hill.

After breakdown of the SL courses and packing everything up for the cat to carry down to the base, we enjoyed a pool party at the Lodge. While I worked hard on this trip as a 'gate grunt', I had a terrific time helping my old and new ski racing friends enjoy a special summertime race.

There were only two casualties over the weekend. Meri tore her ACL when too many people tried to get on at the mid-load station of the Palmer Lift on Sunday. Nevertheless, she stayed on the hill, radio in hand, and helped direct the rest of the races. The second were my Fuxi rainbow glasses. They took their last fall and the frame broke. I got some new Fuxi shades, but nothing will come close to replacing the rainbow glasses.
 
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Doug Briggs

Doug Briggs

"Douche Bag Local"
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Mt St Helens

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Waiting for the train at the new airport Westin
 

Brian Finch

Privateer Skier @ www.SkiWithaGrimRipper.com
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@Doug Briggs - no worries on not connecting; my wife had a fantastic time @ the event & our kiddos loved the pool @ the Shining:)
 

Muleski

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Great report. Sounds like a lot of fun. For a couple of years, when coaching at Hood for the summer, our son was a "rabbit" at the event. He always mentioned how the attendees had a blast, and how it was well run.

Sorry to hear about the loss of the rainbow glasses.

BTW, Fuxi IS Hood! Always.
 

Couchmaster

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Awesome report. Good on you for helping out and making the world a better place! It can be hard to realize when it's 100 degrees in PDX in August that folks are still getting runs up on the Palmer Glacier at Timberline. First time I went up there, fella said: it's "edging skills or hospital bills", but wipeouts usually only result in a long slide. The worst is when you are skiing in shorts and get what looks like a bloody road rash up yer leg from scraping hard corn snow. Usually by 11-noon it starts getting too slushy to crank turns.

ps, sorry you lost your pup- good lookin dawg, 17 good years ....you were blessed.
 
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Doug Briggs

Doug Briggs

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Great report. Sounds like a lot of fun. For a couple of years, when coaching at Hood for the summer, our son was a "rabbit" at the event. He always mentioned how the attendees had a blast, and how it was well run.

Sorry to hear about the loss of the rainbow glasses.

BTW, Fuxi IS Hood! Always.

Fuxi is losing his location (has he ever had the same one two years running?) and thinks he may not be back except for the Nationals next year. Too bad. He is the premier marketeer and his sales jump following every visit he makes to the camps on the hill.

I'm hoping to repair the glasses to at least have them for special occasions.

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:( But I'm moving on.

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Low-res Doug is here! :ogcool:

Minam Craven, a 30-something point SL racer set the pace racing on Sunday. He crushed. He had two beautiful runs and won by a mile. We were on the 'public' lane directly adjacent to the Palmer chair on the East side. On Saturday we had a forerunner that laid down a perfect Daffy in the second gate as it was placed on the berm that had developed from days before from people going to the West side. Arc, Daffy, arc. It was a beautiful thing to see.
:daffy:
 

Muleski

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Arc, daffy, arc sounds a lot like Marcus Caston to me. He's so much fun to watch is,and he has so much fun, I forget what a tremendous alpine racer he was until it just was not that much fun for him. If he had a bigger frame, no question in my mind that he could have been a WC speed skier.

He's one of the founders of Party Beach Camps. So he's at Hood for a solid month. Might have been him?
 
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Doug Briggs

Doug Briggs

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Yes, it was Marcus now that you mention it. I met Lindsey. She is the one running the drill in the video above. She's a hoot! She also crushed.
 

Jimdh

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Doug, great report - you nailed it. What a great time! My wife worked the timing tent both days, and we both raced the GS. Well she raced - I just skied rapidly. Hope to make it next year. Condolences on your pup. Very tough duty - I know all too well.
 

Core2

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Great post! I'll be up there Labor Day weekend if they are still skiing.
 

CharlieP

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Timberline 2016.PNG

Aug 10 2017

These pictures bring back pleasant memories of the month long trip late April 2016, when I wrapped up a Northwest ski vacation with a three day visit to Timberline Ski Resort Mt Hood. I found Timberline to be extremely skier friendly for laid back skiing due to the non-intimidating nature of the wide open spaces as well as the extremely long runs available from top to bottom. Given that this has been a banner snow season for Western US, one can easily extend one's season by a few days at Timberline and would be an excellent way to wind down one's ski season.

Think snow,

CP

ps: What is shown in this picture is the upper half of the mountain. A lower half which is almost as long, starts at Timberline Lodge going down. Compare with Doug's seventh picture counting down.
 
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Doug Briggs

Doug Briggs

"Douche Bag Local"
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View attachment 27797

Aug 10 2017

These pictures bring back pleasant memories of the month long trip late April 2016, when I wrapped up a Northwest ski vacation with a three day visit to Timberline Ski Resort Mt Hood. I found Timberline to be extremely skier friendly for laid back skiing due to the non-intimidating nature of the wide open spaces as well as the extremely long runs available from top to bottom. Given that this has been a banner snow season for Western US, one can easily extend one's season by a few days at Timberline and would be an excellent way to wind down one's ski season.

Think snow,

CP

ps: What is shown in this picture is the upper half of the mountain. A lower half which is almost as long, starts at Timberline Lodge going down. Compare with Doug's seventh picture counting down.

@CharlieP , The Palmer Snowfield wasn't open when you were there in April, 2016, was it? Mountain Ops stay busy all year long closing and opening sections of the mountain to keep up with snow accumulation and reduction.

CP's picture:

timberline-2016-png.27797


Here is the photo CP referenced for comparison:

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July 2017

A quick search couldn't find an image of the Palmer Snowfield lift prior to opening for the summer, but the top and bottom terminals have doors that are closed during the winter to protect them from the immense quantities of snow. The top towers are all but invisible for being buried.
 

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