TRIP REPORT - Friday, December 7th

Finally... I was able to get up to the mountain on Friday. I spent some time at both Mt. Hood Meadows and Timberline. I have to say -- both areas were in pretty good shape. I expected worse, given all the rain earlier in the week. But a few inches of snow following the rain really helped.

Friday reminded me that early season skiing and boarding is unique. There is so much energy in the air and the crowd is full of excitement about being back on the mountain. And while the runs are in need of additional snow to cover the various small trees, rocks, brush and creek beds, there is a lot of character to the runs early in the season. The terrain is far more natural -- rollers and small canyons have yet to be smoothed-over by a deep winter snowpack. It's fun to ride... as long as you're care-free about the land mines you might come across.

At Meadows, the best conditions are in the Shooting Star area. There's enough snow covering most of the runs there such that hitting bottom isn't much of a concern. Runs off the Vista Express and Mt. Hood Express lifts are still a little dicey in spots. And forget about Hood River Meadows -- even though the lift is open to skiers & boarders, the area needs another couple feet of snow before the experience will be enjoyable to most.

At Timberline, most of the runs in the Pucci lift pod are in great shape. Stormin' Norman's runs are adequately covered... but could use another foot or two. There is one ridable path down the Mile -- it too was adequately covered (but narrow in spots). All other areas & runs served by the Mile are rocky death traps. Neither Molly's nor the new Jeff Flood Express lifts were open; I assume that the snowpack isn't what it needs to be in those areas just yet.

All told, I had a nice, leisurely day on the mountain. A good warm-up to (hopefully) a great season. I welcome your reports from this weekend.