Mt Ashland . Not that Far (from California)
BY RICK LYONS PSIA-NW TECHNICAL TEAM

I recently had the opportunity to go to Mt. Ashland, Oregon and work with the Learning Center Staff, what a great experience! As stated on the Mt. Ashland website “The Mt. Ashland Ski Area is nestled in the magnificent Siskiyou Mountains, the alpine gateway to the Pacific Northwest. Mount Ashland is conveniently located halfway between San Francisco and Portland; just 8 miles off Interstate 5. Mount Ashland receives over 300 inches of annual snowfall; plenty of snow for powder hounds and plenty of sun all winter long. Mount Ashland has 23 trails in addition to chute skiing in a glacial cirque called the ‘bowl’. The mountain, the people, and the quaint City of Ashland make a winning combination.” I was not mislead.

I arrived in Ashland the evening before and was greeted with a breathtaking picture postcard as I drove through the downtown area. Ashland is known for The Oregon Shakespeare Festival but it should also be known for its “Festival of Lights.” The town was lit with over 1 million lights on all the downtown buildings and trees.

Mt. Ashland was not officially open yet, but I was informed by Rick Saul (Mt Ashland Marketing Director & former PSIA-NW Tech Team Member) that the Patrol was doing some training and we would be able to ride one of the lifts so we could get some turns in. Rick took me to breakfast where we met with Kim Clark (Mt. Ashland Director of Operations) and Chris Van Ness (Mt. Ashland Learning Center Manager). Over the week prior to my arrival Mt. Ashland had received over 30 inches of that fluffy white stuff and no one had skied it. After finishing a hearty breakfast in Ashland, we headed up to the mountain and arrived in a quiet winter wonderland. The sun was out, the sky was mostly clear and the temperature was a perfect powder 20 degrees! There was no wind and everything had a blanket of snow on it. We met with other Learning Center Staff, booted up and went out to see what we could find.

The patrol was preparing to run the Windsor chair in order to transport loads of bamboo, which needed to be deployed for all those unmarked obstacles. Only about 15 of the chairs on the lift were equipped with seat pads, so our timing would determine how cold our backsides would be during the ride up. During the lift ride you could see nothing but uncut powder, there were a few hardcore skinners working their way up to get the first turns but there was plenty of room for all. We got to the top and Chris recommended the first run, Bottom, and we dove in. The snow was perfect, 20 plus inches of cold snow that was nothing like typical Cascade snow. You could make turns and not have to be skiing a cliff to keep your speed up. We skied non-stop to the bottom of Bottom and upon arrival I looked around and saw nothing but ear to ear grins! We continued skiing and every run was fresh tracks, wow our own personal lift, new snow and local guides what more could you ask for, well maybe some bamboo for those unmarked obstacles!

Mt. Ashland is PSIA/AASI-NW’s southern most member school and being so far south they actually had more snow than the rest of us last season. So if you are ever in the neighborhood and want to ride at a nice community ski area with sweet terrain and super nice folks, bring your current PSIA/AASI-NW card, season pass from your area and a letter from your director and Mt. Ashland will comp you a ticket. You might even find a local guide for some fun steep terrain. If you would like further information on Mt Ashland go to their web site www.mtashland.com or you can contact Chris Van Ness at cvanness@mtashland.com , Rick Saul at rsaul@mtasland.com or Kim Clark at kclark@mtashland.com .

Mt Ashland is not California but you can see it from there.

Mountain Stats Summit Elevation 7533 ft Vertical 1150 ft Skiable Acres 200 Avg. Annual Snowfall 300 inches