2014 Oregon Splitfest
Having a Splitboard festival on Mt. Hood in April can go two ways. It could be stormy the whole time and change your riding objectives to drinking objectives. Or you could get a high pressure system and get perfect corn from the summit. Our 3rd Annual Oregon Splitfest got a bit of both.
Chris Benelli and Joe Frost and I got a late start, leaving Next Adventure at 6 o' clock. After a few stops in Hood River and a nice drive under clear skies, we were hiking from the Tilly Jane Trailhead by 9:30. The packs were pretty brutal with the skis on the back for the mile and a half of dirt, but we made short work of the trail and was at the A-frame cabin by 11:30.
GEARING UP FOR THE HIKE UP THE DIRT PATH TO A SKINNABLE PATH
CHRIS BENELLI ON THE COOPER SPUR
RYAN IRVIN CLIMBING THE ICEFLOW ON THE ELLIOT GLACIER
MY GROUP DROPPING DOWN ONTO THE COE GLACIER
THIS SLOPE WAS BEGGING TO BE SHREDED. BUT DUE TO NOT HAVING A PARTNER AROUND,
I DECIDED TO RIDE A SLOPE FURTHER UP THE SPUR THAT WASN'T QUITE SO WIND DEPOSITED.
JOE FROST: A TRUE AMERICAN HERO
GEARING UP FOR THE HIKE UP THE DIRT PATH TO A SKINNABLE PATH
We awoke to clear skies on Saturday but a storm in the forecast. Since the snow wouldn't get warm enough to soften up, we decided we should use all the heavy climbing gear we carried up from the trailhead. So we dropped down onto the Elliot Glacier to climb the icefall on the side of the Cooper Spur. I led up a line and built an anchor so that we could get a few toperope laps.
CHRIS BENELLI ON THE COOPER SPUR
RYAN IRVIN CLIMBING THE ICEFLOW ON THE ELLIOT GLACIER
On Saturday night, things got crazy including a moonwalk race (putting skins on backwards and racing down a course and back. Then things got really weird when a two guys tried a shirtless tandem moonwalk.
WHAT HAPPENS ON THE NORTH SIDE OF HOOD, STAYS ON THE NORTH SIDE OF HOOD
PHOTO C/O GEOFF GUILLORY
Sunday morning we woke up to great weather and headed up the glacier. Chris and Joe hiked up the Snowdome with Geoff Guillory to work on his new film "Split Life". I headed over to Barrett Spur with a group of 5.
MY GROUP DROPPING DOWN ONTO THE COE GLACIER
We got down onto the Coe Glacier, right at the end of Barrett Spur. From there, I split off and hiking up the Spur alone. It took longer than expected, but the view from the top was awesome! There was a ton of fresh, wind deposited snow and perfect skies!
THIS SLOPE WAS BEGGING TO BE SHREDED. BUT DUE TO NOT HAVING A PARTNER AROUND,
I DECIDED TO RIDE A SLOPE FURTHER UP THE SPUR THAT WASN'T QUITE SO WIND DEPOSITED.
I rode down the spur and back onto the Coe Glacier and met up with the rest of the group touring out the other side. We hiked up together, and got to see all the other guys drop into the Snow Dome. The snow looked so good up there! We all pow wowed back at the guard station and packed up camp. We hit the trail down to the trailhead and out to the raffle.
JOE FROST: A TRUE AMERICAN HERO
We started the raffle at 7:00 at Charlies Mountain View in Government Camp. We had a ton of great prizes from Venture Snowboards, Spark R&D, Trew Clothing, Osprey Packs, Deeluxe Boots, Center Punch Splitboards, and Voke Tab. Huge thanks to all the companies who donated prizes and to all the people who stayed strong and made it out to the raffle!