I did a quick ski tour from Government Camp to the top of Magic Mile up and down on the Alpine Trail from Summit Ski Area today. Traffic was terrible through Sandy – there was construction right outside of Otto’s in Sandy and only one lane of traffic was getting through. Combined with a late start (left home at 10am) I wasn’t skinning until noon. There was a couple on skis with their dog going up and a snowboarder who had stopped to stretch his IT band(s). Those were the only people going up – but I got to make my ‘Crack of Noon’ joke twice. I was surprised how little wind there was – zero through the trees nearly to the top of Jeff Flood. I was a bit overdressed and was dripping sweat from my nose and getting sunblock sweat in my eyes. Once I got up to treeline the wind picked up and I literally felt my nipples freezing. I pushed a little bit further and then relented and put on a softshell that blocked the wind. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I have no idea what the uphill travel policy is at Timberline atm. The few times I’ve gone up this way I’ve been in for an early start and never see any skiers coming down. Today I stuck to the left side and scooted across to skiers left on a few sections where snowboarders were hucking off jumps near the ski area boundary. I didn’t want a snowboarder to land on my head.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Felt amazing on the way up . Time in the gym has really paid off. I don’t think I stopped until I got just below the Jeff Flood lift and was just super thirsty. I still subscribe to the idea that the only thing that makes climbing mountains easier is climbing mountains and lifting weights. <\/p>\n\n\n\n