Four Ski Interludes, Part I: Skiing Powell Butte

[Charley]

I love skiing. If there's snow on the ground in Portland, I'm eyeing the depth, to see if I can ski around the neighborhood. I ski loops in Creston Park, to the Woodstock Library, and even skied much of the way to work one day. My fondest dream is to ski the Wildwood Trail end to end. I wonder if it's ever been done.

Unfortunately, on Tuesday night, when the snow began, I was resting up from a rough cold, and cursing my luck: wouldn't this storm have been perfect for a Wildwood One Day Ski? On Wednesday, I had just enough energy to clear my driveway and ski to my Temple and back, just about 8 blocks away.

When I woke up on Thursday, I realized that I could at least go on a less physically demanding ski around Powell Butte, where I hike and mountain bike regularly (in fact I rode it just last week, since the normally muddy trails were frozen).

I took the Holgate bus, since, at this point in the storm, I was still leery of taking my car out on the roads (all the busted bumpers, broken fences, and bent stop signs around town have convinced me that, no matter how easily I can get around in my chained-up Civic, drivers have no clue what they're doing, and I didn't want to get caught up in the results). Usually, when I take the bus to skiing, it's the Mt Hood Express. The Trimet drivers seemed totally prepared.

Skiing into the Park was like opening a closet door and finding myself in Narnia; from the sunny, noisy streets into cool, snowy forest.

I skied up Old Holgate Road and entered the prairie above. Some of the trails had been covered by ATV tracks. I don't know who thought that was a good idea (it doesn't seem likely that it was Park personnel, right?). The tracks weren't that bad, though.

I worked my way around the Butte, basically following the route I use when I'm riding my bike. The cedar grove was lovely, of course:

I worked myself around to the southern part of the park, with its big views:

From there, I skied the best descent in the Park (on tires or skis), which is the South Trail:

None of these trails were too hard, with Nordic backcountry skis (90mm shovel tips, metal edges). Granted, this is what I live for, and my ski friends and I ski stuff like this all the time. That said, I did see other skier's tracks during my week of skiing, so I know we are not alone in our XC obsession! For comparison, almost all of the mileage at Powell Butte was comparable to typical conditions on the Crosstown Trail up in Govy. A few sections of trail at Powell Butte were comparable to the steep stretches of trail on the Yellowjacket Trail, between Govy and White River.

Now that I've skied a place that I'm very used to riding, I can make a direct comparison between skiing and mountain biking:

1. Descending short, steep, curved sections of trail can be murder on XC skis (and there are several on the trails at Powell Butte), however, powerful disc brakes make this kind of slope a non-issue on a mountain bike.

2. A long, gently descending trail, even with occasional grade reversals, can allow a mountain biker to accumulate a great deal of momentum, requiring lots of control over the brakes and handlebars. On skis, however, even a very slight grade reversal kills the momentum effectively.

The upshot is that my ski trip felt a little sedate, compared to my bike rides. Most of the trails at Powell Butte have grade reversals built in, because they promote better drainage and can help slow cyclists, too. Those grade reversals kept me from ever getting up a real head of steam on the skis.

Part II: Washington Park is up next!

[wsevert]

Some of the trails had been covered by ATV tracks. I don't know who thought that was a good idea (it doesn't seem likely that it was Park personnel, right?). The tracks weren't that bad, though.

I was up there a few days ago (the 12th) playing in the snow and saw 3 ATV's buzzing around the trails. They were definitely not park personnel. Teenagers or early 20's. I think they were taking advantage of the fact that with the roads messed up nobody was going to come up there and chase them out.

Severt

[acorn woodpecker]

Way to make the most of the conditions and using public transportation to get there!

Some of the trails had been covered by ATV tracks. I don't know who thought that was a good idea (it doesn't seem likely that it was Park personnel, right?).

The personnel do get around the wide trails on Powell Butte via small maintenance vehicle (the wheelbase is similar to an ATV).

Edit: Severt's post verifies the ATV theory, unfortunately.

[Charley]

Some of the trails had been covered by ATV tracks. I don't know who thought that was a good idea (it doesn't seem likely that it was Park personnel, right?). The tracks weren't that bad, though.

I was up there a few days ago (the 12th) playing in the snow and saw 3 ATV's buzzing around the trails. They were definitely not park personnel. Teenagers or early 20's. I think they were taking advantage of the fact that with the roads messed up nobody was going to come up there and chase them out.

Severt

That's a big bummer.