With out a doubt, this was the best day I have had since I have been out here! I got good nights sleep last night which really helped, but now the details!

I spoke to Smurf this morning, a shorter conversation then I planned, but we are going to talk again tomorrow for a lot longerJ. Then Mum called and updated me with the family, Dad is really into his golf. I am really please to hear that, it means getting presents for him will be a lot easier!

I think the biggest upper this morning was booking the flights over for Smurf! 13^th until the 30^th. I am so excited about that I almost lost for words. Almost! I need to sort so much out before she comes, hopefully by then I will have my apartment furnished.

The rest of my day (so far!) has been spent snowboarding. My word what a day. Possible the best day on record for me! It was about -4 degC, clear skies and brilliant sunshine! I headed up to Mt Hood Meadows, after some faffing with parking I got on piste at just before 10am. I was very ambitious; I paid $57 for a ticket until 9pm. I made it to 4pm!

This image was from the top lift at Meadows and is crying out for Andy and Tons-O-Fun! You can get Corona and Tacos on the mountain, Mexican food and beer, then boarding . . . hmmmm . . .

Meadows is so much better then skibowl for park riding! They have 2 half pipes, a baby one (6ft) and a super pipe (err . . not sure . . BIG!) They have a proper pipe dragon to cut it and they were both pristine today. I rode that baby pipe most of the day, I can just get out of the lip, how’s that for progression? From never being in one to getting about 1ft clear on front and backside air! Well I am impressed. I reckon I could have done better but there were loads of STGs in the way . . . . I rode over one guys skis, he was a prick.

I really like this pic as it shows the difference between the diddy pipe I was riding and the super pipe that the locals were killing! The chair you can see on the left going over the superpipe it the one that serves the park. Such a good setup. This is part of the "night -ski" area!!! How did I miss that last time out???

The reason I was riding pipe was because the main park was taken up in the morning with a slope style competition. Real mix of abilities, I would not have been out of place if I had entered. They could not ride rails for love or money, only one gap to fs board slide on the kink, the rest were 50/50. But nearly all the riders could throw down fs3s or fs shifties on the kickers!

While the competition was on I was getting the 2-man chair over the park, riding down next to it over little rollers and practising popping bs180s, some good, some not . . . more practice! That would take me into the small pipe and then back to the chair.

This is the view from the Mexican cafe looking up at the pipe contest and the top of Mt Hood, this was at a mid station so about 7Kft. 2.1Km I think.

Once the competition ended I rode the fun box (only 50/50) and the medium kickers, just straight airs, the pipe riding had taken its toll on me! The park is amazing, really well shaped and at least 3 lines. From the top there was a flat down (gap on), wavy box, box (gap on, only 18”). Then the park opened up! Off to the right (as you rode through) there was a huge hip with a 5M table, in the middle there was a kicker with small, medium and high err, kickers! Then after that down to the left was an even bigger hip (but shorter), a quarter-pipe about 200M wide with a hip on the far right of it and also a rainbow rail.

I was really surprised about the lack of rails, there were only 4 in the main park and as you rode out the park there was a C-rail, an Ollie on box (about a 2ft Ollie off the ground) and a really wavy rail.

Right at the end of the day as I was going back down to the car park I found ANOTHER park! It was a beginner’s rail park, so I hit the 2 rainbows on the way through, there must have been about 12 rails in there, I cannot recall all of them but they were not all beginner thingies, definitely some tricky looking metal bars in there.

I am hoping to go back over for the afternoon tomorrow; if I do I will get more piccies!! The snow ratio is looking a bit better now, 2.5days out of 19! That is 1 day on snow in every 7.6 days so far. I think the magic ration is 1 in 7, if I go up tomorrow I will make it!!!