BnT Escapades: Weekend at Mt. Shasta

Presidents weekend couldn't have come at a better time.

The week before I was skiing at Mt. Bachelor (near Bend, OR) on, what was then the best snow in five weeks, 5 inches. During that same stretch of poor precip, Mt. Shasta had dwindled to a dismal base of 20 inches or so. I didn't think we were going to be able to ski on Presidents weekend, but it was too late to back out of our rented cabin. Little did I know how big a treat we were in for.

On Friday, I had a hard time getting out of work at a decent hour. Beth and I didn't get on the road until 7PM. It was raining hard on the coast and within 20 miles, it was snowing. Highway 299 is not a friendly highway in snow conditions. We went slow.

We pulled into Mt. Shasta City at 1AM or so (usually a 4 hour drive) to find mounds of snow around our rented cabin. We went in to find a warm fire and to met some new friends.

The weekend was put together by our friend Greg. He had invited a few high school friends who we hadn't met. Neal and Bren were there too, our friends that now live in Davis. In all there were ten: Greg and Teresa, Neal and Bren, Spencer and Veronica, George and Sarah, and me and Beth.

The next morning we woke and got dressed for snow. I wanted to demo a randonee ski set up (alpine like boot and binding that allows a free heal for climbing) so we first stopped by The Fifth Season shop. After, we headed for the resort.

Beth and I getting the day underway

Teresa and Greg

Spencer comes out of the trees
to a catrack

I don't know if it is evident from the pictures, but the snow was amazing. It was light and fluffy, which is very uncharacteristic for this area. We had a blast.

After skiing we went back to the cabin for warmth, cocktails, and food. We decided to have some fun and dress up a bit.

Greg's the best dressed deep fryer in the land

Sushi... you can never go wrong with sushi

That night it dumped.

The snow was heavier than the day before and after an hour and a half of digging the cars out, we decided to just ski out from the cabin. So Beth got her hands on some XC skiis (I think it was her second time ever on skiis) and I slipped the skins on my randonee set up. Off we all went.

Next, the Olympics (a bit long, but worth it)

Since it was Beth's birthday the next day and we wouldn't all be together for it, it was party time.