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Mt Bachelor,
OR
Trip to Mt. Bachelor
On February 24th, our group of 17 starving for fresh powder, traveled
to a destination that the Club hasn’t visited in over 20 years.
Mt. Bachelor, Oregon, is one of a series of volcanic mountains that
stretches from Washington to Oregon. Because it is an inactive volcano
and a lift reaches the summit, you can ski 360 degrees around the
cone of the mountain. Little did we know that before we left BWI,
that storms were coming in which would prevent us from not only
skiing the top but from seeing the top the whole time that we were
there.
We arrived in Portland where we met Rita Scheinin’s brother
Warren (hard to miss in his skiing cowboy hat) arriving from California.
We begin our trip in mild, wet and lushly green Portland. Before
getting to our destination, the town of Bend, our bus driver put
on chains to cross snow-covered mountain passes through Mt. Hood.
We reached The Riverhouse Hotel, in late afternoon and were greeted
with a wine and cheese party. Lift tickets and trail maps were handed
out as well as other information concerning the town and activities.
Each day we enjoyed walking on the covered footbridge over the scenic
Deschutes river rapids that linked our rooms to the hotel dining
room and nightclub.
The next morning at breakfast we were greeted by Bachelor Bob, our
mountain rep. He met us most mornings and told us how much snow
had fallen overnight and when trails were last groomed. He and our
private shuttle bus driver acted as tour guides the first few days
with their interesting commentary about the town of Bend and Mt.
Bachelor. With 10 inches of new snow and low visibility, the Mountain
Tour guides helped us navigate our way around the mountain the first
day. The following morning we were greeted with another 12 inches
and were easily persuaded in taking a discounted powder lesson for
that day. Every day of skiing started with 8 to 12 inches of new
snow. We never could see the groomed slopes since the powder was
covering it up faster than they could groom them. It is hard to
believe that Bend, less than 20 miles away, had only a trace of
snow all week.
While it was a challenge to ski in deep powder, everyone had a good
time. Jeff McBride, our snowboarder, took Kevin Sams over some terrain
that took him to the bar sooner than expected. Greg Clark used this
powder to prepare for his Heli-skiing trip in April. One day the
powder was especially deep and heavy and Joel Becker, Marty Schnuit
and Jack Fahey, the 3 Amigos, became our entertainment on the slopes
because we actually saw them fall. Our leader, Beth Muscedere, also
participated and claimed that it wasn’t a snow snake that
kept getting her but a python. Stan Stone was a natural in powder
and patiently waited for the rest of us to get down. Dan Van Gelder,
Andrew Dombrowolski and Brad Schlegel not only had a good time skiing
but found they have the same taste in classical music which Andrew
brought with him. Allison Crispell and Kendra Palmer were seen skiing
together and Brian Jones kept trying out new powder skis all week.
We enjoyed 2 group dinners, arranged by Assistant Mike Jones; McGraff’s
Fish House on Monday and Baldy’s BarBQ on Thursday. On Wednesday,
our day off, most of the group went to the High Dessert Museum and
then into town to a brew pub (or two) and also did some shopping.
Oregonians are very environmentally conscious. Our cab driver was
a one man company, Green Energy Transport, who drove a 1984 Mercedes
sedan fueled with recycled vegetable oil! Several members went dog
sledding and one cross country skied. While many of us tried new
restaurants, you can find our 3 Amigos at IHOP or Shari’s
across the street from where we were staying. I believe one of them
had an eye for the waitress who gave a 20% discount when he flashed
his lift ticket!
Saturday was sunny and mild allowing us to see magnificent Mt. Hood
directly ahead of us as we rode to the airport. While heading home,
we all agreed that the past week was a new and very different experience
that we encountered, and with the amount of snow we had, one had
to say “Be careful in what you wish for”.
Respectfully submitted by Mike Jones, assistant.
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