On The Road: Skiing The Cascade Volcanoes in May

With a record winter, churning weather and turbulence in the air, skiing the Cascade volcanoes in May has been, surprise-surprise, a challenge. Physically, yes, I expected this. I've been training for over 12 months for this mission. Traveling across hemispheres to ski uncharted peaks in Alaska and Patagonia and working on Snowbird's trail crew for 5 months at high elevation in inclement weather has prepared my body and mind as a mountain climber and skier. This winter season has brought over 600" of snow to the Pacific Northwest volcanoes. The reality is, its still winter out here.

Spring Mountaineering season can begin as early as April, but not in 2017. Early May beckoned a cloud of fog over the PNW that subsequently shortened the project by 6 days. I climbed to 14,000' on Mt. Shasta and skied the whole way down through ice and to corn May 7th. I then took the next day to recover and travel to Mt. McLoughlin, summiting May 9th. The next day I hiked up and skied Mt. Bachelor: an inbounds resort which brought complications of its own to the table. Ski Patrol doesn't like climbers to be on the mountain past 1:30 pm... opps. Sleeping under the starts at Smith Rock that night was magical. I was in my tent, out of my car, resting my eyes within a 30 million year old super volcano crater. My ears popped and I knew the storm was rolling into the region quickly. The next morning, May 11th, the rain started and hasn't shown signs of holding up.

After 3 days of typical PNW down pour across the coast, I decided to go ski in the fog and sleet in-bounds at Mt. Hood. Thank you Mt. Hood Timberline Ski Patrol for the free skiing :)))) The next day, I was able to skirt an 11 hour weather window in between storms to attempt my 4th volcano summit bid in a time span of 9 days. Thus far I have climbed to the top and skied Mt. Shasta, Mt. McLoughlin, Mt. Bachelor, and most recently Mt. Hood.

I set a goal of skiing 20 volcanoes in 30 days, knowing it wasn't foolproof or at all realistic for the time-span. But it was possible. I have been skiing the Cascade volcanoes for over a decade and understand the numerous variables I'm dealing with: from weather to climbing partners nothing ever goes as planned. I like creating lofty goals that require multiple attempts for no other reason than to challenge the game of life itself. If the weather in May were to be perfect, the goal could have become a reality. Since the rain has eaten up over a week of my time, the initial goal has been tabled for another month, and maybe another year. No worries on my end, as I am still pushing myself to track with the weather, reach out to fellow athletes so as to ski as may glaciated peaks as possible before I move to Aspen and dip my toes back into the working world June 1st.

I am still in the game and see another high pressure sunny spell nearing end of this week. You can bet I'll catch the light and ski what Washington has to offer.