Conditions Report
Report from Tuesday, January 28, 2025
My buddy Russ is old.
Way older than me.
He recently turned 50, and to commemorate the milestone, he wanted to ski 50,000 vertical feet in one day.
Of course, I was more than willing to do it with him.
With enduring high pressure and a forecast for sun and high temperatures in the 40s, Tuesday, January 28, seemed like the day to make it happen.
Our group was three deep for the day with me, Russ, and our other ski partner, Brandon.
I had never skied with the goal of logging maximum vertical, but I knew I wanted to make sure it was still fun, ski the entire mountain, and work on my form with no straight-lining.
We jumped in the lift line at Mt. Hood Express early enough to grab the third chair.
We headed immediately for the Cascade Express chair, which is one of the longest lifts and takes you to the highest point on the mountain.
It hadn’t snowed in weeks, but the groomers laid down perfectly and were super carvable.
All the high-speed lifts at Meadows range from 581 to 1,400 vertical feet, which makes it more challenging to log eye-popping vertical, but we estimated it would take about 6.5 hours to reach our goal.
By lunchtime, the sun was softening the snow, and we were ahead of schedule with over 28,000 vertical feet.
I had to stop for a quick break to hydrate, use the bathroom, and refuel with some leftover spaghetti.
Then it was back out for more smile-inducing laps as the snow continued to soften and even get better in spots.
Although we hit the entire mountain and rode every high-speed chair that was open, we spent most of our time on the Hood River Meadows chair and The Cascade Express.
As the sun was getting lower and the shadows got longer, we ended the day on the Vista Express to be more exposed to the higher alpine sun.
By 3:20 p.m. we hit the mark with 40 minutes to spare before the resort closed for the day.
I usually consider 25,000-30,000 vertical feet to be a pretty solid ski day, so eclipsing the 50,000-mark felt accomplishing.
This day proved to be a fun challenge in the midst of a dry spell.
Thankfully, some significant snowfall is forecasted later this week.
Until then, I better do some foam rolling, and I will probably sleep pretty well tonight.
Enjoy being 50, Russ.
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