Well what a Sunday so far! Up at 4:30, took the rental car back (forgot to arrange another one for when I get back, school boy error . . .) made my flight, it was all so perfectly timed I managed to walk straight through and sit on the plane. Some may call that cutting it a little fine .. . .

I am now privy enough to see the inside of yet another airport, this time it is Minnesota (I think). I am sat with a beer and a turkey salad . . . Anyway, the reason for this post is not to discuss my business flight on a Sunday but to discuss yesterday. I should call it, in true school boy fashion, “My Saturday at Mt. Hood Meadows”

What a day! It was another one of those days where so much went wrong and yet it was still totally amazing! Let me get all the bad stuff out of the way and we can see why the day was so good.

• Bad stuff:
  Set my alarm for PM not AM so got up 2 hours late
• Had to park on the off site parking as I got there so late.
• Forgot my parking permit and got a ticket $30 . . .
• Left my camera in the car so no pictures
• Both my goggle lenses are scratched in places that make them useable for nothing other then dog toys. Thats gonna cost a few dollars . . .
  
• Got stuck in 1 lift que for nearly 5 mins. lol !
  
• I only took one board, the kink. I needed the other one :)
  
• I had a bottle of wine and a couple of beers the night before . . . and woke up a little dehydrated . . .

Now the good stuff, not bullet pointed, but explained in boring detail!

Well, I finally got to the chair lift and looked up the hill . . . Wow . . It was a little overcast but it was amazing conditions about 4” fell over night and the total for the storm that week was about 2ft. In English that means the snow was fresh and soft! I tried going in the pow a few times on the kink but I had to lean so far back on the board that I could not turn, I was laughing myself silly at how much fun it was to go screaming 100yards then have to bail to avoid a tree/boarder/stick/death! I decided I needed another tactic. I found the park run and sessioned it all day.

Well, I say sessioned, it was more like I was owned by the kickers, the rollers and the small half pipe (big one was closed for a competition). Based on that I avoided the rails!

The rollers are really good for technique. When I try to Ollie a BS1 my head ends up really low behind me, after my one-zillionth run I was managing to avoid that problem. After the rollers there was a little hit that allowed you to get airborn with out popping, and I nailed a few really nice BS1s on that :) . When you go along that run from there it flattens out a bit and I was buttering all over the place, nose presses, 360 nose butter (attempts . . .) I forgot to try some forward rolls or hand drags though.

Once I had finished messing about with all that it was the baby half pipe. I did not do as well as the other day, it was pretty icy and my legs were not responding to my commands! I never got out of the lip L but I had some of the most spectacular face plants since I have been in the US! The kind that has you laughing like a child! The pipe was not in great shape, they had cut the super pipe for the competition but not this one. As a result the transition was short and the vert was, well not vert! There were a ocuple of times as I rode high up the side I came straight out of the pipe, not too clever. I did try and hike the pipe a couple of times, but because of all the fresh snow it was really tough!

I was talking to a guy and he reckoned the baby pipe was much harder to ride for this very reason. The super pipe was due to open at 2:30, but I was way to tired by then! I guess the next time I go I need to get there early to have a few runs to warm up and then hit the super pipe. The post I make after that should make for good reading.

I took a few minutes out to adjust my bindings, I have been riding them stock but moved the ankle strap to offer more support against my ankle as opposed to across the top of my foot. This stopped the cramps I was having in my feet, there was me thinking they were due to dehydration! Then it was back to the top of that lovely 2-man lift.

I have my no-complies down now, I can even grab the board, lol !! I hit the rollers with my newly adjusted bindings, wow, what a difference. I think one of the major differences in my riding now compared to even a year ago is I can now really feel the difference in a set up, I know how I want it to feel and this was it! I had a new found confidence and went off to hit the 4 rollers doing sequential bs1, switch fs1, bs1, switch fs1 and then off that little hit off the bottom a really nice bs1. It felt so natural. It was also the marker of the end of the day! I was so tired and I knew I had to be up at 4:30 the next morning, back to the SUV!

This is major proof that practice makes perfect. You have to session something to really get it down. With the exception of the first run (that has the 4 mid sized kickers) which takes you to that part I did not hit another run all day, just that one; no-comply, rollers, little hit, short steep and flat for butters, mini pipe, short steep more butters then lift back up. For 4 hours. I was shattered and my legs are a bit achy now.

I can’t wait to get back up meadows next week. There is a good 2 months left for this season, I will have to see how much a pass will be for the rest of the year, I will be there at least once a week and at $50 a hit I need a more economical way of doing this! Especially if I keep leaving my parking permit at home.

I found out that lockers are $1 for the day. Next time I go it will be with a packed lunch and supplies, we all know how expensive and ropey “on-the-hill” grub is. That should shave a few dollars of the day. There is apparently a car pool scheme. I need to look into that, after all that should mean people to drive and ride with!

One down side to Meadows is it is hard to meet people. Each time I have been there has been a competition on and as such most of the boarders have been in their own groups that make it harder to talk to people. This also means there are less people actually sessioning a given rail or kicker.

This is one advantage of the UK scene, there areas are small and you can easily meet and talk to people. If you think about the last time you were on the mountain and meet some one to ride with, it is not an everyday thing. I am think that if I can get a few good days of practice I will enter a comp in April, just for a laugh and to meet people. You would be amazed how bad they are at rails over here . . . Even a gap to 50:50 on a box would be nice to see. Looks like I have to session some metal work . . . Did I sign those medical forms . . .

As you can see I had a riot up at Meadows, even with the list of disasters. Sometimes you have to stick with it despite the problems, I feel I really earned that day in the end and when I got home I felt ace! Tired but ace.

I am gutted that I have had to travel for work today. I could happily have gone back today for more of the same. But on the plus side we are due more snow this week and the conditions should be good next weekend.

That reminds me. I have been told by everyone I have spoken too that this has been an exceptional season for Mt Hood. The snow came early and has stayed all season. This has be an unprecedented amount of snow for Hood. Last season was one of the worst, with bare ground all over the mountain all season. Why am I saying this? Well I am trying to stay prepared for next season; I cannot expect these kinds of conditions every weekend next season! But I don’t care. I have been used to indoor slopes being crap for the last 4 years; with only the occasional time I can say it has been great. Some of the holidays I have been on have failed to deliver good snow too, that is the worst. Going away for a week and not getting good snow . . . bummer. So I guess Hood cannot be as bad as that! But I still have other options. I can drive to Mt. Bachelor or to Crystal (Washington) or jump on a plane to California/Canada/Utah easily enough. At the ripe age of 30 I will hopefully get a full season next year, bring it on!!!