Timberline 16-17 April
April 20, 2005
The lifts were not running this weekend but Timberline allowed freeheelers to take advantage of its snow. I'm not a freeheeler but I was up at the resort this weekend and was simply amazed at how much snow was still on the mountain.
White Grass posted some pictures of freeheelers enjoying T-line this weekend on its snow report:
http://www.whitegrass.com/report.html
Check out the videos while you're at it.
Johnfmh,
I post holed up to the top of T-line the Monday after closing last year. It's not a bad hike. It took about 45 minutes. Once to the bottom of OTW, you could probably do round trips in about 20 minutes.
As the free heelers say "You've got to earn your turns"......I guess thats why I prefer a lift.
Ah! I was waiting to hear if anybody did that. Been reading Chip's page all week. He said it was pretty much top to bottom on most of T'line's trails. It was probably below freezing every night last week. Looking at the NWS for Davis for this week it appears that it won't freeze again until late in the week and even that is not certain. When the temp goes below freezing at night the corn is much better and the snow lasts a long time. That is what's happening in northern New England right now. Mt. Washington is having a great spring and Mansfield, Smugg's, Mt. Ellen (SB North) etc. will be great for lift served for another few weeks and earned turns for another 4-6.
I'm going to query Chip on Thurs. and if it looks promising I'll be up to T'line on Sun. and would welcome company. I skinned & skied it on Apr. 27 two years ago. Upper steep part of the Drop. Also have a nice jpeg of an Apr. 19 trip 5 yrs. ago. Send me a PM if you'd like a copy.
I need a good skinning workout because I'm going to Mt. Hood in 2 weeks. We'll be staying in a backcountry hut @ 7000 ft., summit attempt scheduled for May 2 followed by a ski down.
WOW... how long is Timberline going to let this go for?? If they continue that this through this week count me in.
Denis, if you go on Sunday what route would you take? I may be interested.
Saturday was a cold day and the snow looked super. However, by late Sunday, the snow in front of my place had really receded. With warm weather on tap this week, I doubt that the snow will last, but who knows. Timberline could have made a few bucks by running Thunderdraft for a few hours on Saturday. I would have hiked to the summit on Saturday but was tired from cycling around Hancock--I stopped to cycle on the way up, and saw a gorgeous House Finch. On Sunday, I had promised my wife to go bird watching in the National Wildlife Refuge. I spotted about 15 species--more than I expected this early in the season. The highlight of the birding was bushwacking along the Blackwater River and getting buzzed by a very territorial pair of Belted Kingfishers. We retreated away from the river.
I too had looked at the videos on the WhiteGrass site and marveled at the conditions at Timberline. I just noticed that the TLine web cam was up and it showed a lot of snow albeit that Salamander was in bad shape. We talk about the amount of snow and the local areas closing early...imagine a solid, no bare spots, base of 180+ and that is what Alta closed with last weekend!
The Colonel
The Colonel
So... do you think they'd object if I hiked OTW and built a massive kicker? Of my own liability... of course.
