A White out Christmas...

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Cross Country Skiing/Mt. Ashland, OR

Southern Oregon was hit with a series of "storms" starting a in late November through the week following Christmas.  Storms in this case are not the ones I am used to as there was no thunder and lightning, nor tornado sirens.  There was however some high winds; 30 miles per hour with gust over 60 is pretty strong wind for any part of the country and a WHOLE lot of snow.  

Mt. Ashland, located just five short miles north of the California border and at an elevation of 7,532 feet, is the highest point in the Siskiyou Mountain Range.  Better yet, it's only 39 miles from the driveway to the ski lifts!  With Santa hearing our cry for studded snow tires we decided to spend Christmas Day on Mt. Ashland cross country skiing.  Unfortunately, or humorously depending on your perspective, the snow storm(s) were not quite finished by Christmas!

So the follow is a series of pictures of our 2012 Christmas Day Outing.....enjoy...

Mt. Ashland, OR
Christmas Day 2012

For those that are wondering; the picture is not out of focus, it is not over exposed and there wasn't a dirty lense.  The specs on the picture are snow flakes landing on the camera and the "over exposed" portion is simply the snow in the distance.  

Our friend Andy learning that swinging your ski pole at snow covered trees is not always a great idea.  Sometimes the trees fight back!  

SNOW
SNOW
SNOW
SNOW
SNOW
SNOW
SNOW
SNOW
SNOW
SNOW
SNOW
SNOW

The trail ahead looks abandoned....If I was in a movie I would have said we should keep going, there won't be any dangerous animals or beast living in these woods! 

On a more serious note, we did pass a couple of other skiers and hikers but only a few.  Due to the heavy snow and that it was Christmas Day the mountain truly was ours to ourselves.  

We skied for a few hours heading down two different trails.  The key to cross country skiing is to be sure and turn around before you get so far out that you don't have the energy to make it back.  

Just a little cold!

Unfortunately every day of fun must come to an end and so it was with ours.  We headed back to to the parking area and found our car slowly disappearing into the snow.  I renamed our "family car" after this trip.  With the new black wheels, studded tires and it's ability (and in some cases non ability) to plow through the snow the Beast seemed an appropriate name for the family auto.

THE BEAST!

So while Toby and Andy warmed up inside the beast I took pictures and admired my awesome parking abilities.  As you can see in the photo there were very few skiers on the mountain.  Others had parked by doing donuts and locking up their breaks.  Looked fun except I was nervous about what lay beyond the snow bank behind us...basically nothing....it's straight down.

By the time we loaded up the snow had started back in full swing.  I could not see 20 feet in front of me.  I was extremely cautious as we approached the main parking area.  I knew there were cars and downhill skiers wondering around, I just couldn't see them clearly.  Moving forward at a very slow pace I felt I was doing pretty good.  Suddenly the car came to a complete STOP!  So much for that good feeling I was having.  For those who have ever run a boat up on a sand bar, you know how I felt.  I had literally run the car up on a snow pile in the middle of the parking lot!  

Four wheel drive?  Check!  Studded Tires?  Check!

Amazingly but four wheel drive and studded tires don't work if your tires won't turn.  At this point Toby asked if I had brought that shovel by the kitchen door.....Well, NO.  That's by the door in case I need to shovel snow at home....I didn't think we would need to the shovel on the mountain!  We grabbed two skies and started digging our way out.  Did I mention it had starting blowing REALLY hard...  I don't know which was worse, trying to see thru fogged up sun glasses or trying to see without them.  Either way it was an adventure.  Toby had left for the main lodge building in search of a shovel and help.  She lacked faith....that or she was the only responsible person in the group.  Eventually Andy and I got the car out and met up with Toby and a helpful ski dude as they made their way toward us.  Ski dude guided us through the parking lot and we headed down the mountain.  That's when we ended up following the VW Jetta with Florida plates for half an hour.  And I thought I drove slow.  

 

Toby really hates when I take pictures while driving.  And videos, well those just make her nervous!

We ended the day at Callahans at the base of the mountain.  Snow and cold beer...sounds good.

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With the snow continuing to fall for several more days it was decided we should return to the mountain the weekend following Christmas.  It was partly cloudy in the valley as Toby and I headed out.  As we climbed the mountain we knew it was going to be a different day of skiing.  

A Sunday + Fresh Snow + Clear Skies = lots more people

Slightly clearer skies
Slightly more people
An exciting day of skiing

When the skies clear in the Pacific Northwest the ski turns an incredible blue.  The combination of blue skies, snow white covered trees and incredible fresh air makes for an awesome day.

Top of Mt. Shasta, CA off in the distance

Mt. Ashland, OR
December 2012

Mt. Shasta, CA in the distance, from top of Mt. Ashland

Refer to the fourth picture in the post, one of Andy and Toby posing in front of sign, with no visibility beyond the sign.....now look at the picture above, same sign on a clear day.  

Mt. Ashland and the fog rolls in.....

No matter how crowded the parking lot if you ski far enough out you earn the privacy of having the mountain to yourself.

Left:  Toby out front leading the charge through the candy land forest.


Right:  Skiers of all ages enjoying the sun and snow atop
Mt. Ashland.

Moments prior to leaving the beast and skiing we heard an incredibly loud explosion....yeup!  One of the new tires simply exploded while we were getting geared up.  Just grateful that it was this day and not in the blizzard on Christmas. 

Mt. Shasta, CA
from Mt. Ashland, OR

Mt. Shasta, CA
from Mt. Ashland, OR

Leaving the lodge I had to take a couple of shots of Mt. Shasta, CA off in the distance.  

And another wonderful and adventurous day on the mountain draws to a close.  The sun sets in the distance and we are blessed with a last shot of it through the snow covered trees.  Life is good and each day continues to be an adventure.  

as always,

bkd

Cross country skiing is great if you live in a small country. ~Steven Wright

The sport of skiing consists of wearing three thousand dollars' worth of clothes and equipment and driving two hundred miles in the snow in order to stand around at a bar and get drunk. ~P.J. O'Rourke, Modern Manners, 1984

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