C-Rex
New member
Let me just start off by saying, WOW! Three years ago I went to Tahoe for the first time and thought I had found the place I wanted to end up. The beautiful town/city of Bend, Oregon has changed that completely. I have never been to a place more beautiful and inviting. But more on that later. First, the skiing/snowboarding.
We shuttled to Mt. Bachelor just before the lifts opened on Friday morning. It was snowing lightly and the clouds had a solid grip on the mountain. While the rest of my group was getting their demo skis, I did a couple of warm up runs. Visibility was terrible. I had to stick to the edges of the trail or in the trees just to have some definition of what I was riding. However, once we linked up with the ambassadors they took us to the east side where conditions were much better. As the morning went on the skies cleared and we were treated to several inches of untracked powder and many much deeper stashes off piste. The terrain on the lower mountain (we weren't able to get to the summit due to the weather) reminded me of Kirkwood, with lots of rolling mounds and twisty gullies. Super fun and playful stuff. After lunch we hit the north west side where the terrain is steeper and the trails are much tighter. Again, fun and playful, with some nice challenge thrown in. My initail impression was very good. The ambassadors did a great job showing us around and letting us in on some secret stashes of what I like to call "The Goods".
The next day we set out on our own and explored more of the lower mountain. It's very easy to explore Mt. Bachelor since it is very well interconnected. You can take off through the woods and somehow always end up where you wanted to be. Again, the weather kept us off the peak, but I was having so much fun I didn't really care.
We ended up scrapping the 3rd day because an ice storm had slammed most of the mountain over night, depositing up to 3 inches of ice on lifts and the northwest side. Instead we explored more of Bend, renting some bikes and getting a tour from, Troy, one of the guys working at the bike shop. He was off that day and just happened to see us trying to find our way around. He started off telling us some directions and then decided to just show us. He rode 3 or 4 miles with us, stopping to take group pics and tell us about certain sites. He did it all out of sheer kindness. And oddly enough for a New Englander, his kind of outgoing generosity was very common in Bend. The first friday of every month, Bend has what they call "First Friday Art Walk", where most of the shops, restaurants, bars, etc. have exhibits of local artists, bands playing, and beer/wine tastings set up. It was a blast, walking the streets in the approx 6 square block downtown area, beer in hand from one of the 24 local breweries, listening to great music and seeing the work of some very talented artists.
This is getting lengthy so I'll wrap it up by saying, GO TO BEND. You will not be disappointed. The skiing/riding is fantastic, the people are ultra friendly, and the town is wonderful. I definitely cannot wait to go back. I'm seriously considering putting a trip together for next season. Hopefully some of you will decide to come along.
We shuttled to Mt. Bachelor just before the lifts opened on Friday morning. It was snowing lightly and the clouds had a solid grip on the mountain. While the rest of my group was getting their demo skis, I did a couple of warm up runs. Visibility was terrible. I had to stick to the edges of the trail or in the trees just to have some definition of what I was riding. However, once we linked up with the ambassadors they took us to the east side where conditions were much better. As the morning went on the skies cleared and we were treated to several inches of untracked powder and many much deeper stashes off piste. The terrain on the lower mountain (we weren't able to get to the summit due to the weather) reminded me of Kirkwood, with lots of rolling mounds and twisty gullies. Super fun and playful stuff. After lunch we hit the north west side where the terrain is steeper and the trails are much tighter. Again, fun and playful, with some nice challenge thrown in. My initail impression was very good. The ambassadors did a great job showing us around and letting us in on some secret stashes of what I like to call "The Goods".
The next day we set out on our own and explored more of the lower mountain. It's very easy to explore Mt. Bachelor since it is very well interconnected. You can take off through the woods and somehow always end up where you wanted to be. Again, the weather kept us off the peak, but I was having so much fun I didn't really care.
We ended up scrapping the 3rd day because an ice storm had slammed most of the mountain over night, depositing up to 3 inches of ice on lifts and the northwest side. Instead we explored more of Bend, renting some bikes and getting a tour from, Troy, one of the guys working at the bike shop. He was off that day and just happened to see us trying to find our way around. He started off telling us some directions and then decided to just show us. He rode 3 or 4 miles with us, stopping to take group pics and tell us about certain sites. He did it all out of sheer kindness. And oddly enough for a New Englander, his kind of outgoing generosity was very common in Bend. The first friday of every month, Bend has what they call "First Friday Art Walk", where most of the shops, restaurants, bars, etc. have exhibits of local artists, bands playing, and beer/wine tastings set up. It was a blast, walking the streets in the approx 6 square block downtown area, beer in hand from one of the 24 local breweries, listening to great music and seeing the work of some very talented artists.
This is getting lengthy so I'll wrap it up by saying, GO TO BEND. You will not be disappointed. The skiing/riding is fantastic, the people are ultra friendly, and the town is wonderful. I definitely cannot wait to go back. I'm seriously considering putting a trip together for next season. Hopefully some of you will decide to come along.