Okay, what are the 5 S's? Shoemakers Ski and Snowboard Spout Springs! A great day on the mountain!
Yeah, the snow was icy and hard but it was still a bunch of fun! Justin, Nate and Paul headed to Spout Springs in Northeast Oregon early in the morning on Saturday. We got there behind a school bus so I was concerned it might be a little crowded. We got to the lodge rental area, Nate and Paul got skis and Justin got a snowboard. The timing worked out great as we rode down to the lift and were among the first ones riding up. This was the second time for both Justin and Nate and they picked right up where they left off last time and did great! After a few runs, we went on the bigger lift. We didn't realize we'd be heading down a very steep black diamond run as the other runs were closed. We slid down and went back to the big lift where we got directions to the "Pendleton" run. On our second time down that run, Paul decided he wanted a visit to the first-aid shack and did a face-plant into the icy snow.
 |
| Paul at the First-aid shack |
After a little cleanup, we were back on the slopes. We put in many runs and the "crowds" we worried about never materialized. The temperature stayed below freezing so the "groomed" snow didn't get slushy. After noon, we got our lunch box and ate in the lodge then headed back to the hill. The clouds moved quickly across the sky throughout the afternoon but there was no precipitation. The boys continued to fine-tune their skills as we faced the challenge of hard, icy slopes. Justin was hoping to land a 360 off a small jump but, after multiple attempts, that will have to wait until next time. We ended up logging over 30 miles, you can see some of our tracks on the GPS Google Earth image. We got to the end of the day and the ski patrol had to shoo us off the hill! We got home safe, tired and a little bit sore! Hope you enjoy the video.
