Ski doo recovery from Lake Washington

 Some of you may have heard that the Red Rooster, as we affectionately call my snowmobile, disappeared from the back of my truck in the View Ridge neighborhood of Seattle right before the Patrol Race on March 16.  

So imagine my surprise when I received a call from the Seattle Police dispatch yesterday informing me that my "stolen vehicle" would be available for pickup at Lincoln Towing.  I asked if there was any back story on what happened.  She said it was found in the water off the boat launch at Magnusen, and as a matter of fact, they were loading it up on the tow truck at Magnusen and I could go down and talk with the officers if I headed down immediately.

Photos: https://photos.app.goo.gl/XBenH8AnZzWMDao27

Elena and I hopped in my truck and drove down to find  the Rooster sitting on a tow truck, a big police boat tied up to the dock and officers Novak and Daly writing up a report.

They told me that a witness had seen some people show up in two trucks last Thursday around 7:00 pm (in daylight), unload the snowmobile and drive it off the dock into the water amongst other boaters who were pulling their boats out of the water at the end of the day.

Harbor patrol came on Monday with their police boat, used sonar to find it and had a diver attach a rope to it and towed it back to the launch. It was 120' out, in 12' of water.    They were able to identify the VIN number and contacted me (the snowmobile is licensed).

It's pretty beat up and has clearly been boondocking in the mountains before the season ended, but  it's drying out in my garage now, and I'm pretty sure it can be resuscitated.  

The tow truck drivers slid it into my truck and the police hopped into their boat to respond to another call.  Just then, a couple walking by recognized it and had witnessed the event last Thursday.  Their story is where we got most of the details described above (we updated the police report).

You may recall that I had originally suspected Nigel, Jordan or Jim as possible culprits.  Last night, Nigel indicated that the new information supports the Jordan theory.  However after listening to many of Jim's crazy stories, I don't think he's ruled out yet. And we've all seen Nigel drive his ski doo across the pond in the slush cup a few years ago, so he's not ruled out either.  In any case, all three probably would have gotten closer to Kirkland than whoever these yahoos who stole it did.

All I can say is that for the stories alone, we are sure getting our money's worth out of the Rooster!

Possible rename to "Sockeye"?

Bikepacking project - the Columbia Ramble Bikepacking Route

Here is a bikepacking route I created in 2022.  It's inspired by other rides I've done such as the Baja Divide and Cross Washington.

https://columbiaramble.wordpress.com/

"From the Canadian border to The Dalles, follow the path of the Columbia through Washington State over terrain ranging from the pine and fir forests along Lake Roosevelt to sagebrush steppe, coulees, farmland, and cliffy sections of the eastern Columbia gorge.

The goal of the route is to reveal the natural and human history of the Columbia River. It passes several dams, including the Grand Coulee which creates the giant Lake Roosevelt that the route follows for the first 80 miles. Due to access challenges on private land, the route can’t follow the river precisely, so it explores paths through nearby features and terrain. While doing this ride, you can experience some excellent taco establishments most days south of Grand Coulee."

Bikepackingroots was kind enough to publish it as well in their community rides:  https://bikepackingroots.org/project/columbia-ramble-bikepacking-route/

Tahoe Ski Trip - early Jan 2023

On January 5th, armed with my Epic and Indy passes,I headed south to the Tahoe area just as the last storm system had dumped 70 inches in the Sierras and the next one was scheduled to bring another 70 inches.

The Epic pass gives you access to the ‘Vail Universe,’ which includes Heavenly, Northstar and Kirkwood in the Tahoe area.   The Indy pass gives you access to a long list of more local, excellent  areas across the country.  My goal with this trip was to drive to Tahoe and ski the Vail areas, and hit a couple Indy areas on the way down and back.

Overall guiding principles:

• Ski every chair that’s worthwhile
• Don’t pay for parking
• Pack a lunch
• If the ski area is closed, consider skinning up (many of the smaller areas are close some weekdays)

Day 1:  Shasta ski park (Indy pass)

I rolled into Shasta after spending the night in nearby Ashland.  Mt Ashland (also Indy pass) had 50 mph winds, was closed, and not much new snow, so I skipped it.  Shasta, had 10” of new, minimal wind and about a total of 100 cars in the parking lot.

It was somewhat of a blizzard most of the time and the whole mountain was open (something that later in the trip I realized I should not take for granted).  After checking the map at the bottom I rode up two chairs to what I thought was the top. But two snowboarders were next to me pointing off towards a gulch in the distance and talking about a new chair.  What?  Sure enough, there is a new lift at Shasta that seems to almost double the size of the already big area and wasn’t even on the big map at the bottom yet.

Best chair on the hill is Grey Butte Quad. Top elevation 7500’.  Some might say the area lacks steep chutes, but I’m partial to trees and found plenty to do in the untracked glades and 2000 feet of vertical.  Had an entertaining ride up with nick_thegrow_guy a cannabis greenhouse manufacturer and snowboarder. He said there is a netflix special coming out soon.

 (Lift lines at Shasta top chair. 6400’)

Day 2:  Heavenly, California

The drive from Shasta to Tahoe crosses from the west side to the east side.  I experienced one of the biggest wind and rain storms I ever drove though (maybe should have pulled over).  After spending the night in Reno, I rolled into Heavenly with 19” of new.  Heavenly is somewhat notorious for crowds and parking problems.  I drove directly to the California base (more on the layout later), felt lucky to find parking on the access road, then realized I needed to walk about ¾ miles to the chair. So I left my walking boots on and stashed them in a tree well at the base area.

I was pleasantly surprised.  It was cold and there was a ton of new snow from the top to the bottom. In fact the best runs of the day were on the bottom chair, Gunbarrel Express, which had great steep tree runs.  Overall the area was in limited operations due to wind, but there really weren’t any lift lines (despite the parking woes), and one of the best powder days you can have.

That night as I was walking though a deep boot path from my hotel to Safeway, a coyote ran down the bank, looked at me and trotted off.

A cool run at Heavenly I had to keep coming back to

Accomodations in South Lake Tahoe

Day 3: Kirkwood, 21” of new, 28 degrees

Kirkwood was closed the day before I arrived due to avi danger on the roads.  Its clientele is a local crowd who are quite convinced their area is the best in Tahoe. They might be right.  The main chair, Cornice Express, is all that is needed for a complete ski area: cornice, cliffs, gulches, trees, sidecountry.  There are other worthwhile chairs too: The Wall, a really long triple, and the backside that was closed due to avi. I had a good time following different groups of locals around for the day.  

Kirkwood cornice

Day 4: Heavenly Nevada, 2” of new, 28 degrees, somewhat sunny.

Heavenly is split down the middle by the California/Nevada border.  There are multiple parking areas on both sides and on windy days, if the gondola and Sky chairs are closed (Vail likes to close chairs even in moderate wind), then it’s actually not possible to get to the Nevada side from the California side, unless you uber between the parking areas.

Since I had only experienced the California side 2 days earlier, I came to the Nevada side. The pictures in the base lodge give you an idea of the history of this area.  The terrain and views of Lake Tahoe are great.  My favorite chair was North Bowl, kind of an underrated chair like Garbanzo at Whistler, with good trees and few people.

Recognize anyone?

Lake Tahoe off the North Bowl chair

Day 5: Northstar

Most people I spoke with wrote off Northstar as kind of flat and crowded. Well, I rolled in there on a day of 11” of new, and strong winds that were keeping the other ski areas mostly closed.  To my delight, it was uncrowded and everything was open.   Since the clientele are mostly intermediates learning on the groomers, they leave the trees alone. Good for me. After half of the day, I switched to snowboarding to mix things up.  Favorite chair was the Backside Express, opening up unlimited mile long tree runs.

Northstar also runs a sort of ski patrol university.  The patroller I rode the chair with said candidates can apply and do a try out in March. If they don’t have their EMT certificate, they show up in October for EMT training, then start working right after Thanksgiving. Something to think about for the Meany youth (or me!).

Backside express.

Backside trees.

Day 6: Warner Canyon, Oregon

The temps warmed up overnight and another storm came in. I showed up at Heavenly again in a blizzard of very wet snow and practically nobody in the parking lot.  Figuring it would be good further up, I rode up and then was intercepted by a guy on a snowmobile at the top who said the ski area was closing.  Why I asked?  He didn’t know, and muttered something about wind (was dead calm where we were), power glitches, lightning, but was somewhat apologetic.  Welcome to Vail.  I decided to quit while I was ahead and headed north via Oregon.

Warner Canyon is a small community run area with one lift just north of the California border by Lakeview Oregon. It’s closed on weekdays.  I rolled into the parking lot, which doubles as a snow park, in the very late afternoon on a Tuesday.  2” of fresh snow covered the entire parking lot and there were no signs of people but 4 friendly dogs came running over from the snow cat shed.  I skinned up to the top and skied down as it got dark.  I was kind of sad to leave one of the dogs who hung out with me in the parking lot while I derigged.  She has a good life though - someone is taking care of them and they have the run of the place.

Ski area dogs  (I noted that Warner ski patrol uses the same ski doo model/year as I have)

Day 7: Hoodoo, near Bend Oregon. (Indy pass). 2” new.

These trips are modeled after trips that my friend Art Freeman does in his pursuit of going to every ski area in x state.  But Art mostly sleeps in his Subaru and I haven’t elevated the experience to that level yet.  On this leg I improved my dirtbag status by sleeping at the Summer lake wildlife refuge rest area.  Recommended.

Hoodoo is a not so small area near Bend.   It was closed on Wednesday, so I was hanging with the small crowd of locals that like to skin to the top. (1100’). There is a DIY ski/board making shop at the bottom (something for Meany to think about)   It also has an enormous sno park next door with a legit warming hut (something Crystal springs could use).

I had a really good time on this trip.  Despite Vail and all its issues, the Tahoe areas were excellent and accommodations at nearby Lake Tahoe or Carson City were inexpensive.  In my opinion, the Indy areas stand on their own and you feel the care each local community puts into them.  Which is why my next trip is north to BC to ski at “every ski area you probably haven’t heard of.”

BC Ski Trip, Jan 2023

BC Ski trip - January 2023

Hello all - here is a recap of my ski trip up to BC in late January.

Shames Mtn Coop - Terrace BC

Last year I started hatching a plan to ski every area in BC.   I’d hit many of the big places in BC  with the kids over the years (Silver Star, Sun Peaks, Revelstoke, Whistler, etc), but if you peer a little closer at the map you’ll find many more that are off the beaten path.  

BC is over twice the size of California, and the distances were starting to look intimidating.   But a lunch visit with Art (a co-conspirator for trips like this)  over some maps proved fortuitous. We hatched a plan for a giant clockwise loop up Vancouver Island, continuing north to Prince Rupert via BC Ferry before heading east towards central BC and back to Seattle.

So, in the second half of January, as the storm track pointed towards western BC, I headed north, prepared to sleep in the Subaru if needed, with a list of indy ski areas that I really hadn’t heard of until a few weeks earlier.

Photos (a few pasted below):  https://photos.app.goo.gl/m4GdXbdXqgS8QFdE8

Map: https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1_VOdxe9__a7akqCDRMmw9YGrMHjR_gg&usp=sharing

Blog: Links to other stuff

Day 1: Mt Washington, Vancouver Island. Base elevation 3500’. 1700’ vertical.

After leaving Seattle around noon and catching the Tsawassen ferry to Nanaimo, I spent the night in the small town of Courtenay.  The next morning, it was 30 minutes to Mt Washington which had received 16” two days earlier.  The visibility was the best of the trip with peekaboo views of the Vancouver Island mountains, and coast range to the east.

Mt Washington had recently been bought by a large corporation and I got a quick update from a local woman on my first chair ride describing what happened next: lifts not opening, ticket prices escalating and crazy crowds on weekends.  Indeed a day ticket was $130 (CAD) and they were just starting to dig out the backside chair to open it for the first time of the season (in late Jan).

Best run: I’m sure my favorite would have been the backside “Outback” if it were open as the zone reminded me of Alpental.  But my favorite was the glades off the Sunrise Chair, or West Basin off the top of the Eagle Express.

Looking towards the BC coast from Mt Washington

Day 2:  Mt Cain

After a full day at Washington, I headed north, stopping for supplies, hot tub and shower at the Campbell River aquatics center and arrived in the Mt Cain parking lot around 8pm after a steep dirt road climb up to 4300’.

I got out of the car and started talking with my neighbor who pointed out the bathrooms and legit ski bar  that was packed with people, with mugs hanging from the rafters, history books dating back to Cain’s founding in 1980 by local loggers, and a roaring wood stove.

I’d first learned about Cain after watching this movie two years ago, which fairly accurately described this unique place.  Mt Cain is one of those places where with just a bit of effort, you fit in just by being there, similar to Meany Lodge which has been my family’s home mountain for the last 10 years.

There is a lower and upper t-bar.  When it’s not a blizzard a lot of touring takes place off the top t-bar.  Cell phones don’t work at Cain.  At the end of the parking lot, there is a mini trailer park (each with snow roofs built over them) called ‘the ghetto.’  There is a spot to fill water jugs and a ‘water person’ in charge of maintaining it.  The guy next to me had a wood stove in his van.  The lot has kids, dogs and snowmobiles running around.

Around midnight it started snowing and by the morning  there was 12” of new.  As I lined up for the t-bar to open, someone I had met at the bar yelled out: “Hey Seattle, good morning!.”

I had to leave by 2:00 pm to catch the ferry to Prince Rupert  because it only runs once a week, departing at 6:00 pm on Saturdays.  So as they were setting up the beer garden at the end of the lot,  I reluctantly packed the car at 2 and headed off to Port Hardy.

Mt Cain: Ski Patrollers getting towed up behind the snow cat at dawn.

Big dog at door of cafe

Day 3: Ferry to Prince Rupert

Port Hardy Ferry Terminal

The ride from the north end of Vancouver Island to Prince Rupert (which is just a few miles from SE Alaska) is 22 hours.  The ship, the “Northern Adventure” felt more like a cruise ship to me and makes two stops along the way at Bella Bella and Klemtu in the middle of the night..  There is a big cafeteria, large carpeted areas, multiple decks and outside areas.  The first few hours was wavy as the boat crossed the channel towards the inside passage, then things calmed down.  

I slept by the window on the carpet.   We passed some orcas, but the biggest surprise for me was the white sided dolphins.  One group came right up to the side of the ship and put on a show in the waves.

This ferry route had a terrible accident in 2006, when the ship hit a rock and sunk in deep water.  Two people died of the 101 passengers and the local First Nations village played a big role in rescuing people.   There is controversy about what was happening on the ship bridge that night.  Here are a few articles, and a song.

https://nationalpost.com/entertainment/books/captain-of-b-c-ferry-that-sank-after-crew-allegedly-had-sex-on-bridge-makes-case-for-what-caused-disaster

https://www.timescolonist.com/islander/the-sinking-of-queen-of-the-north-4643144

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FpLfHOMhNnQ

Boarding (reminded me of a certain James Bond movie)

Day 4: Shames Mountain, Terrace BC

I woke up in the parking lot at Shames Mountain in a blizzard and 12” of new after enduring the giant loader plowing the lot (and almost my subaru) at 4:30 am.

Shames is another co-op ski area and Powder magazine had a good article about it.  In a nutshell, it was founded in 1990 but threatened to close in 2011.  The town panicked at the thought of the long winters without the ski area, and formed a co-op to buy it.

The Blue chair takes you up to the Red t-bar where many ski touring routes take off.  It was a blizzard all day so people weren’t straying too far.  It was fun to see a few cars in the lot with Quebec plates. I guess they head west, then start skiing when they hit the Pacific.

Best run: Junior’s Jingle from the top of the t-bar through the steep trees all the way to the bottom.

Shames Upper Red T-Bar

Digging out Subaru

Day 5-6:  Smithers, Hudson Bay Mountain

It’s a 4 hour drive from Terrace to Smithers along the Skeena River, ground zero for steelhead fishing.  I took my time stopping at some fishing outfitter shops and learning about the history of the Yukon telegraph (originally planned as a telegraph to Russia), gold rush and even crazier stories of how they kept the telegraph cabins (spaced every 20-30 miles over 1500 miles) resupplied.

Smithers is on the east side of the Coast Range and a bit drier than Terrace, and has the usual parade of trucks with snowmobiles, plus some outdoor stores, a great B&B/Hostel (Smithers Gueshouse) and a nice brewery that happened to be showing an outdoor film festival that night  called “Skeena Wild.”

About 15 minutes away is Hudson Bay Mountain, 8400 feet.   Two t-bars and a triple chair are perched on the side of it, providing excellent touring access.   In the warming hut at the top of the chair, I ran into the crew who I’d met at the film festival the night before and skied a few runs with them. They pointed out the various tours that were possible when the weather was better.

There was a cool crowd of lifties, patrollers, and locals at this area, and some really good skiers. Like the guy with the orange helmet doing tricks and flips on huge inverted camber skis.

Best run: Alpenhorn or the lift line off the triple.

Warming hut

5th grade playing around lodge.

Day 7: Murray Ridge

Murray Ridge has the longest t-bar in North America, at 1.25 miles and 1700 vertical feet.   What’s with all the t-bars in BC you ask?  Here’s a worthwhile article.  (https://finance.yahoo.com/news/t-bars-aren-t-relic-140052400.html)

I rolled into the parking lot after sleeping at one of the many convenient rest areas you find on two lane roads in BC. The guy parked next to me was there to see his granddaughter ski with the local 5th grade. He was First Nations and we had a great talk about growing up in the bush running trap lines, and building railroads.

Murray Ridge was founded in 1977 and has been community run ever since. An underrated place, it has many cool features, benches, natural half pipes, trees and cliffy sections. It was just me and the local 5th grade skiing on 3” of new.

There was one lifty on the hill.  The top of the t-bar had an emergency button and trip wire.  Possibly sketchy but helps the business model.

Favorite run: Haslinger.  I think I was the only person who skied it that day.

Bench at top of Murray Ridge T-Bar.  Ft. St. James valley in distance.

Day 8: Little Mac, Powder King and Hart Highlands Ski Club

Two hours over logging and copper mine roads from Murray is the small town of Mackenzie with a local hill below the water tower called Little Mac Ski Hill.  It was closed in the evening when I showed up, so I walked 200m down to the bottom and back up.  

Mackenzie was the northernmost waypoint on my trip, equidistant from Seattle as Tahoe CA, and way north of Jasper BC.

An hour away is Powder King, on the western edge of the Rockies, with a very basic hostel in the parking lot and a reputation for some of the best snow in North America.  Just as the chair opened in the am, a small storm rolled in and by noon there was 4” of new and it got pretty good.

I ran into a local forester from Prince George who helped design the area, has a cabin near the hill and uses his snowmobile to get back and forth. He showed me around the backside and how the unique layout and features such as the power lines (transmitting ⅓ of BC power) and gas pipeline (from the Yukon to Vancouver) provided good waypoints to route back to the base area.

Best run: Elevator shaft, off the backside from the t-bar.

Powder King

The forecast was for temps to drop close to -10 F, so I started heading south and spent the night in Prince George, after checking out the night skiing at the local hill called Hart Highland Ski club.  The place was being well used by kids, with live music in the lodge.  Also, don’t miss the Kadai Paneer at the Madras Maple Cafe if you are in the area.

Hart Highlands, Kamloops, Sat night skiing

Day 9: Mt Timothy

Two hours north of Kamloops, up a logging road is Mt Timothy, with one chair and a t-bar that give you practically 270 degrees of skiing down the mountain. A lucky storm in the Kamloops area had dropped 4” of new.

New owners are transforming this little ski area and there are many little cabins being built with snowmobiles parked outside.

My second ride up was with a woman who learned there as a child and also taught her kids to ski there, who are now in college at UBC.  

I had a fun talk with the lifty at the end of the day. He’s a local kid who plants trees in the summer and does lift ops all winter.  A serious skier, he prefers the indy areas and filled me in on the other local areas and was interested in some of the ones I’d been to.

Best run: The glades off Solitude.

Mt Timothy

On the way down the road I passed a ramshackle place with hundreds of snowmobile carcasses in the yard.  Turned out to be 1500 according to the owner who started Williams Lake Snowmobile Recyclers in 1972 and has been a parts depot for people far and wide ever since. There was a cool shop with various engines, cats, dogs and a woodstove.  Outside, two visitors were pawing around looking for parts.  Junkyards like this don’t look too appealing but are interesting outdoor museums and let people keep old stuff running affordably.

William Lake Snowmobile Recyclers

From Kamloops, I made my way home the next day, impressed with the commitment that communities all over BC have for keeping their local hill running.  And I’m looking forward to the rest of the BC areas that are still on the list to be visited:  Phoenix, Fernie, Kicking Horse, Panorama, Sasquatch, Baldy, Apex, Purden, Troll, Clearwater, Bear Mountain, Manning, Seymour, and Cypress.  

Apres ski coffee at Mt Timothy