Westbound Boarder

Alright everyone, time to keep up your snow dances, that is if you know what’s best for you. As this slow to start season is finally blessin us with some fresh powder, Mt. Bachelor is doing the same (if you’re over 21 that is). Keep a look out for their base depth of 95 inches to cross the 100 inch mark, because Mt. Bachelor is inviting you to join them on the hill for a huge 21 and over celebration when they finally reach that century mark. So be on the lookout and THINK SNOW!

For the past few weeks, I had been counting down the hours until Christmas, not because I got to see my lovely family who I hadn’t seen in five months, but so I could make a much-anticipated trip to Mt. Hood for some serious shredding! (Just kidding mom and dad, of course I was excited to see you too! )  Reports of massive amounts of snow in both Portland and on the slopes excited me even more.  Unfortunately, to my dismay, the fluffy powder snow turned to rain on Saturday and Sunday, ruining our plans for a fun-filled weekend on the slopes.  Bummer!  Despite not being able to go to the mountain over the weekend though, my brother and I were able to catch a few minutes on our boards Christmas day with the nearly 1.5 feet of snow Portland saw that week. (Pictures below!)

I don’t carry all bad news, though.  According to Drew Jackson from the Travel Oregon blog, one to two feet of powder is expected to hit Mt. Hood tomorrow. (Two days too late for me! But snow, nonetheless.)   

In SoCal mountain news, looks like another sunny week at both Mt. High and Big Bear mountains.  And today, Bear Mountain officially opened the first pipe in SoCal!  And what a better week to check it out than this?  Good news is you definitely won’t see rain this week, but will the fresh snow melt away?  Hopefully not!  I’ll have my fingers crossed for a good few days over the New Years holiday here in Southern California.  

Wow! As if we didn’t have enough snow yesterday, we got more overnight!  More photos below; check them out! (Note: Click on a thumbnail to see a larger image displayed on Flickr).  Yes; a UPS truck actually got stuck outside of Andrea’s house for nearly half an hour.  Good to know, though, that despite the rain, hail, and snow, your Christmas presents WILL arrive on time (I hope??)

Do you have pictures to share?  Send them to westboundboarder@gmail.com and we’ll post them to the site!

Update: Here are a few more photos Wend Magazine sent over to us; looks like West Linn isn’t the only Portland town with heaps of snow.

Unfortunately, for many hoping to make it home to their families for the holidays this week, these blizzard-like conditions have caused two major Oregon and Washington interstates to close (parts of I-84 and I-90) and has resulted in more than 380 flight cancellations at Portland International Airport (PDX). Where a typical Sunday at PDX will see more than 400 flights, only 20 total arrivals and departures occurred yesterday. Additionally, more than 63,000 people in the Portland area are without power.

The roads are so treacherous that chains are required on all highways, and Oregon Department of Transportation is urging people to drive only if it is an emergency. Although this storm is frightful for some, and a hassle for others, most are more excited about the office closures and snow days that the storm has brought them. As long as Andrea makes it to Portland this Wednesday to snowboard with me all weekend, my Winter Wonderland truly be complete!

Though I can’t claim to own an iPhone of my own, working in the online technology space makes me want to go out and buy one just so I can play with the snazzy apps! (Sorry BlackBerry, you’re great for e-mail and TwitterBerry, but that’s about it).

Gizmodo displays a list of their ‘essential iPhone app‘ picks on the site; low and behold one of the items they picked as top 20 is a snow reports application!  From Gizmodo: “If you fait du ski/snowboard, Snow Reports will let you know when you should drop everything and head to Alpine Mountain for the weekend.”  OK, I’m sold.  Now my next task – get my company to ditch our BlackBerry Curves and replace with iPhones.  Think they’ll go for it?

More about the Snow Reports app from Gizmodo:  Released Oct. 13, 2008, “Snow Reports gives you the ability to create a personalized report of all your favorite ski resorts worldwide.”  $1.99 for the downoad.

Somewhat related, Yelp also has an iPhone app and apparently it’s pretty cool, too.  Though I’ve never used Yelp for mobile, I’m a huge fan of the Web-based version and can only imagine the mobile app would be just as great.  Next time you’re at the mountain and need a place to grab a bite after, Yelp for mobile would be a good resource to check out.

Anyone else with an iPhone have an essential app recommendation for Westbound boarders?  Shout out in the comments!

Credit: Ethan Miller / Getty Images

Snow blankets SoCal and, the Vegas strip? Great photo album in the LA Times; check it out!

This is a neat service from Ski Oregon I recently discovered via a Twitter update. (Are you following us on Twitter, yet?)  This comprehensive and frequently-updated spreadsheet showcases weather and snow conditions for every ski resort in Oregon.  Of course, nothing beats picking up the phone and calling snowphone lines for the most detailed news (Meadows: (503) 227-7669; Timberline: (503) 222-2211; Bachelor: (541) 382-7888) but if you’re in a rush and need some help deciding which resort to go to, this is a great place to start.

Is there snow yet on your home mountain?

Who would’ve thought my friends in Portland would go from no snow even at the mountains to snow in their own backyards in just a day?!  Here’s a picture of our front yard my mom sent over; it’s times like these that make me miss my home town!

In LA news, we had our first rainstorm since I’ve lived here yesterday   And even some snow?  Californians do NOT know how to drive in the rain!  I hope I don’t see snow in my front yard (front sidewalk?) anytime soon!

Who else had snow in their front yard this week?

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