Birthday Rainier Ski tour

Finally got out for a ski tour this year and it turned out to be a pretty fun day up on Rainier. We had perfect corn snow on this beautiful spring January day and got a few laps in on several different aspects. There was strong winds on some aspects but for the most part it was nothing but bliss.  On the way home we ran out of gas but it all worked out...GREAT BIRTHDAY!! Here are some pictures taken by one of the party members.

First skin up

Scott and I

Great turns

The Crew

Got that gas!!

Alpental Work

So work is finally kicking in up at Alpental which is pretty nice even though it's raining like crazy and the same 20 people keep lapping the runs but I'm happy to finally be getting some work in and hope it continues. The guys I'm working with are all pretty relaxed and it seems like Alpental gets treated a little different than the rest of the resorts at the pass which is good.  There are not as many supervisors coming by to check up on us and we are more or less able to go on ride breaks whenever time allows. I need to make a little lift operator gopro edit but I'm still getting use to the normal roles I will be doing at this job so it will come with time. As for now I'm just hoping the snow starts coming because to be honest, the base it already super shallow and rain will only hurt what we do have.

Nice view

Seasonal Work...

I have realized in the last couple days just how hard it is hard to save up money on seasonal work especially in places like Washington state where seasons often blend together and become more of an extended fall than a full on winter season.

When I first got hired back in November at the pass, first as a lift operator and soon after as a ski instructor, I was pretty excited to get out skiing and hopefully make some new friends while I was at it. It is now January 6th and I would if I said that I was looking forward to skiing as anything more than a means to make money. On the web cam at Alpental it looks like there is a small stream carving it's way down the center of the beginner slope and there are bushes pushing their way through the snow as far as camera can focus.

It's only now that I've come to the conclusion that to make seasonal jobs work you need to get out of Washington after the summer rafting season and head to colder places like Colorado, Montana, and Wyoming where season are less of a melting pot and more of a definitive thing. All of my friends in Colorado are getting hit with more snow than they know what to do with and as far as I can see Utah is in the same predicament which leaves me thinking....what am I doing? Next year hopefully I can stay in Washington and keep on doing what I'm doing but with more of a permanent job, if not I will be heading to a colder place without a shadow of a doubt.

I guess it's not all bad though. I have been kayaking a lot and with all this rain the rivers have been flooding like never seen before. I'm pretty sure a buddy and I might have gotten on the Snoqualmie at the highest flow it has even been kayaked...we think it was around 27k but might have been higher because the gauge maxed out. We could hear boulders moving down stream under us and a few full grown trees past us by but all and all it was a pretty good run with one hole ride that woke me up. The middle fork road was washed out so we put on at the A-Frame rapid and it was all over in 20 exhilarating minutes...ROWDY!! It's on a run like this that my gopro decides not to work...WTF

Was BIG!!

Maxed out!

 -Owen

New Years!

 December 31st I found myself once again on the Skykomish river kayaking...which is the best way to spend time anytime of the year. A buddy decided to take his sister out for her second rafting adventure ever in these cold temps. Giving the rafter enough time to scout wasn't hard since I brought some of my Christmas present with me out on the river...pretty good beer! We did have a small hole ride going through boulder drop when the raft got stuck in a small hole and both guys swam but the sister hung in the raft and it all worked out nicely. 

Gearing up in Index

Scouting boulder drop with the rafters!

On New years day we got out for another lap and actually had a policeman tell us that we were "Fricking Nuts" as we kayaked by and he snapped some pictures of us. It looked like there were quite a few people out enjoying the river because there were three more groups on the bank snapping away with there cameras. Happy to be the highlight of someones day. These were both great runs with nothing new but still good times on the river

-Owen