This past weekend was very excellent. Was a little warmer on Saturday with Blue-bird skies. They were snowmaking on WL on skier's left. Actually, when the guns were turned off we discovered the birth of mini-whales which created some of the most fun I've ever had in skiing WL. Skied them until my legs couldn't take it any more sometime around beer'clock. Got up Sunday to a different world. Started puking early and often and the winds picked up and the snow guns were turned back on and the temps fell and it became, in two words, fricking cold. Suppose to snow all day so if I could, I would leave work and ski tomorrow which should be really good.

Indeed. Saturday was really a beautiful day -- even when the guns were on, I found it wasn't too unpleasant to ski the soft snow and minimounds down center of WL since it was so warm. My only disappointment was that the warm temps didn't seem to soften up the ice moguls on The Drop. By Sunday, WL was sooo soft and even the fallaway sidehill under the lift (ie the old Streak) was decently covered and smearable.

I skied Friday as well and can report that it was even colder than Sunday.

I did see one disturbing thing Saturday. Preface needed: I respect and admire the job that ski patrollers do, and I know that Tline, like most other ski areas, is blessed with lots of hardworking, serious, committed patrollers who are there for the rest of us when we need them. So this is NOT some ungrateful anti-patroller rant. What I saw was this: two patrollers bringing a teenager (guess) down WL in a sled, one in front and one behind (with the guide ropes) as usual. Midway down, about where the pitch moderates somewhat, with the sled moving slowly, the rear patroller got tangled up in the guide ropes, fell twisting over onto the patroller's side, and clocked the kid in the sled in the head with the patroller's ski. I couldn't tell if this was training or a real evac (the kid was sitting up in the sled, so perhaps training), but I was pretty shocked. Even if you fall (everyone makes a mistake) shouldn't not clubbing the injured with your ski be a high priority for the patrol? Shouldn't patrollers have the control and ski sense to avoid that?

So my question is this, how is the patrol at Tline in general, and do they have a lot of turnover or newer patrollers at present? Again, said with lots of respect for the hard work that patrollers do for all of us.

The ski patrol was doing training all weekend on WL. Standard protocol would have the injured skier lying down and strapped onto the sled, so my guess is that you were watching a training session. Of course, the reason they train is so that they get proficient so I don't think we should make any judgements about the competency of the working patrol based on a training incident.

My experience working with the patrol this year has been nothing but positive. They have always bent over backwards to help me with anything that I ask. It is my belief that Timberline has some of the hardest working, best skiing, and most committed patrollers around.

We skied Saturday and Sunday. IMO, Saturday was one of the nicest ski days we've had this year. Warm - but not too warm, sunny, and excellent conditions. I like White Lightning with the little hump backs, that was a lot of fun! Sunday started cold and kept getting colder as the wind picked up. My daughter and I gave it up around 1:30 and headed home. I didn't think the conditions were as nice as Saturday, but they were still good!

Tom

The nationals train every weekend. Sometimes they improvise but the "fall" is rare indeed. I was watching them a couple of weeks ago on the drop. Some of the trainees were having difficulties with the whale field but it is necessary since they more than likely pull more accident vics off that terrain than the flats.
I enjoy going past the bump shack and smelling what they are cooking for lunch. It'ususally superior to the cafe in the lodge. Maybe they should open a bistro andf make a few $$ for their cause. I'd buy!