Powder Alliance

How would you like to ski at 12 ski areas for the price of one? This is now possible, thanks to the alliace forged between 12 ski areas in the western USA. The deal is that anyone with a season pass from any of these ski areas receives not only
unlimited skiing at their home ski area but also 3 free lift tickets at each of the other ski areas.

The Powder Alliance consists of the following 12 ski areas: Timberline (OR), Mt. Hood Skibowl (OR), Schweitzer Mt. (ID), Bridger Bowl (MT), Stevens Pass (WA), Sierra-at-Tahoe (CA), China Peak (CA), Mountain High (CA), Snowbasin (UT), Snowbowl (AZ), Crested Butte (CO), and Angel Fire (NM).

In effect, you get 12 resorts, 123 lifts, 806 trails, and 26,782 vertical feet. All for the price of one season pass!  There is no additional charge for the Powder Alliance deal. Just get a season pass (a Fusion Pass for Oregonians).

What this means for Oregonians. 
For Oregonians to make use of the Powder Alliance deal they have to purchase the Fusion Pass, which by itself gives you unlimited skiing at both Timberline and Skibowl.  In addition, we will now also get 30 free lift tickets to the other 10 ski areas (3 lift tickets to each one of them). The only restriction to the other ski areas is that you cannot use this deal on Saturdays or holidays. Those are the only blackout days.
The Fusion Pass price for adults under 65 is $475.
Adults over 65 can purchase the pass for just $255.
Those over 71 get free skiing at Timberline, but not necessarily at all the other ski areas. I  think those over 71 can get the Fusion Pass for $50.

I normally never buy season passes, simply because I don’t want to be tied
down to just one single ski area all winter. But with 12 ski areas on a single pass,
variety is built into the Powder Alliance deal and the whole equation changes.

In addition to skiing at Timberline and Mt. Hood Skibowl, this year, our Mountain High club organized trips to Schweitzer Mt. (ID) and Stevens Pass (WA), where about 20 of us put the Fusion Pass / Powder Alliance to good use.

But, Sierra-at-Tahoe (CA) and Snowbasin (UT) are all within easy reach too. Also, once in California, why not drive a bit farther south and visit China Peak in Central California and Mountain High ski area in Southern California!  And once there, why not complete the whole circle and visit all the Powder Alliance ski areas?!

That's how my plan was born.  Let's do them all!  It's a long road trip, a little over 4,000 miles.  But the skiing is all free!

The Game = Best Time to Ski

People often complain about big weekend crowds at Mt. Hood Meadows. But, this Saturday, there were no crowds at all. Instead, yesterday, Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, was a very crowded day with long lines everywhere. Both days were equally good weather-wise. So, why were there no crowds on a Saturday?

I met about a dozen club members on the slopes today. Those in the picture are only some of them. At first, several people theorized that maybe there were no crowds because the weather forecast had said there would be a 30% chance of rain. Well that's also a 70% chance of good weather (which it turned out to be). So, that couldn't be the complete explanation. And then the real reason appeared.

There was some kind of game on, starting around 12:30 pm. It was referred to as "the game". Everybody talked about it, but nobody mentioned the location or the teams involved. It was simple "the game". So I checked it out.

It was about some grown men fighting over an odd-shaped ball. They ran left, they ran right, for what seemed like hours. They crouched low to the ground sticking their asses up in the air. They piled up on top of each other, like they really enjoyed it. They hugged and clung to each others waists like there's no tomorrow. It was so gay.

On second thoughts, maybe they were not fighting over the ball at all. Maybe it was really over a quarter. At the start of the game, they tossed a quarter in the air. One team won it. For the rest of the game it was all about getting the quarterback.

And it went on for hours. By the time I got home, unpacked my ski gear, had dinner, and turned the TV on, "the game" was still on at 7:45 pm. Maybe it wasn't the same game. Maybe there was more than one "game". But, it's all the same: more squatting, more sticking their behinds in the air, more grown up men running after a ball, pumped up shoulders, looking very "macho". Nothing ever happened, except that the ball kept getting shoved left and right across the field.

Why would people prefer to watch this instead of enjoying the pleasure of flying over mountain slopes with almost total freedom? Beats me! But, I did learn one important lesson today:

I should pay more attention to "the game". When the game is on, that's the best time to go skiing!

Ski Adventures in High Heaven

The Pacific Northwest is a skiers' paradise, with over 100 ski areas within a day's drive. Why not explore all of them? One or two every other weekend or so. Start with your own home State, and then visit neighboring Sates. As Warren Miller says: "If you don't do it now, you'll just be a year older when you do."
I visited all of Oregon's ski areas last season, and documented that in detail at http://www.mthigh.org/Articles/Ski-Oregon-Challenge-diary.pdf.
In this blog, I will add more fun adventures in the snow, starting with some Washington ski areas. Come "fly" with me!