Okay, I have to admit that October wasn't too bad -- especially compared to last October and the one before that, when we had about six inches of snow on Oct. 4.
According to data posted by The Weather Channel, there were six days on which the thermometer (just barely) rose into the 70s and 15 days on which it hit 60 or above, making a total of 21 days that ranked as either comfortable or tolerable. Although not warm enough to qualify as a true Indian summer, it was pretty damn nice.
However, all that changed on Nov. 1, when The Bitch (La Nina) brought us a chilling blast of winter. So far this month we've had only two days with a high above 50 -- 63 on Nov. 2 and 52 yesterday. The average high for the first eight days of the month was 48.13 degrees. That's almost a degree and a half below the average daily high for November -- and we haven't gotten to the really cold part of the month yet.
What will The Bitch do to us in future weeks? Three feet of snow on the ground by Thanksgiving? A "snowicane" for Christmas? Woolly mammoths and saber-toothed tigers in the downtown streets?
Nobody can say. But one thing's for sure: It's gonna suck.
Totals for November:
Comfortable Days: 6
Tolerable Days: 15
Cold Days: 10
Totals YTD:
Comfortable Days: 98
Tolerable Days: 55
Cold Days: 32
39 comments:
I just put up a post headlined "The Bitch Arrives, Bringing the Suck" and they dropped in an ad advertising an opportunity to "view hundreds of profiles of single girls." Any connection? Hmm ...
Minds out of the gutter shall we Blogads..? Then again the post could've been about hammering and nailing.
Looking at the YTD Tally, you'd almost conclude it wasn't a half bad place to live! You sure that's accurate? Objective?
Oh well, it is what is. Keg-stands for everyone!
Sounds like a great ski season ahead. This week has been fantastic mountain biking on Phil's trails.
It's accurate -- but remember, the tally started in May. I don't think we'll be experiencing many -- if any -- 70-degree days between now and the end of April.
"What will The Bitch do to us in future weeks? Three feet of snow on the ground by Thanksgiving?"
That would be kick ass! Remember, a lot of people live here for the skiing. Only fools moved here thinking it was anything but a long, cold winter. Most of the folks I know can hardly hold still waiting for the mountain to open. I know I'll be hiking for turns as soon as we've got 18 inches in the hills.
"A "snowicane" for Christmas? Woolly mammoths and saber-toothed tigers in the downtown streets?
That brought a smile to my face after a crazy day at work. Bring on the snowicane!!!!!!
I can't wait for the next winter when they get about 20" of snow on the mountain all season and you ski-obsessed idiots are pulling your hair out in frustration. Remember, there are El Ninos as well as La Ninas.
And I've known many a "promising" snow season to turn into a total bust. I'll be rooting for that to happen this year, just to hear you snow addicts moan.
Yes, I am a spiteful son of a bitch.
That's what keeps me here...even the bust years are awful good. I've only known one season in the last 20 years that we bitched...and bachelor stayed open while the rest of the west coast was shut down. Certainly some are better than others but we always get to slide down the mountain for 5-6 months. I'm never one to count chickens before they hatch...I'll be happy with whatever winter brings.
Keep reaching for that rainbow HBM!
I wish no ill will on the ski community. Granted, I'd be a HELL of a lot more enthusiastic about 'skiing' if they had an 18-30 "All Female Thong Class".
My general experience, even among 'avid' skiers, it's such an expensive sport, they're lucky to go a few times a year. Total. Regardless of conditions. Whatever their remaining credit bal. allows.
By way of comparison, ice-skating is essentially free. Hand me down skates and a frozen lake, pond, river, puddle or fire hydrant.
It was also a great social equalizer. Even kids from the poorest of families rose to top dog if they were good skaters!
Now at an age where it's all about the kids, are there any non-profits that donate time, equipt. and expertise to kids that can't afford it? Never know when there could be some Olympic hopefuls in there..?
I've got to ask you ski addicts a question: Don't you get bored with sliding down the same mountain every year for 20 or 30 years?
I am happy to MTB ride or ski, what ever the conditions dictate. Been here just about 10 years and never had a year where I could not enjoy both activities.
Oh, I love to boat the Wil. if only to see how it's changed from years previous? For me that's half the fun.
Where the ski-bum crowd is concerned, I don't believe things are ever that simple. Every skier I've ever known ( not unlike surfers ) seem to be the discontented bunch.
Last year, the North Shore/Vail/Stowe/Perth, time of year, conditions, wrong equipt., too many 'tourists', too early/too LATE in the day, crowded!?!?
Resort operators are a little more practical. ( They buy Weather Futures in case the season is a BUST ) Resorts are constantly going under. Not unlike the SoCal "beach culture", it's an anomaly that thrives best in movies. As Americans we want so badly for that to transition over into real life. I know 'I' do.
Ice skating? Roger that dude... It's neat and all but there's a reason it's a side show rather than the main event. It's just not that popular even if they give it away.
No doubt about it, skiing is very expensive but so is golf and a few other hobbies I can think of but people will pay if that's what they're into. I made the choice a long time ago that skiing was more important than making tons of money, eating fancy food, driving a fancy car or drinking fine wine. I think the average hard core skier skis 10 days or less per year. Most people I ski with are 40 days or more per year. We all made that choice and we're extremely happy with it. I'd put in 100+ days a year if my schedule allowed but it doesn't at the moment. It's a lifestyle choice plain and simple. It's not for everyone but it's certainly for me.
Don't you get bored with sliding down the same mountain every year for 20 or 30 years?
The canvas is clean after every storm and I still travel when times allows. If you're going to make it a lifestyle, you have to settle at one mountain or another. Out of all the places I've skied, this is where I wanted to be due to lack of lift lines and consistent snow. This mountain lacks in other areas but the bottom line is we get plenty of snow and you don't have to share it with Tahoe like crowds.
"The canvas is clean after every storm"
So what? It's still the same mountain, there's a finite amount of terrain, and expert skiers say most of the terrain is not very challenging. Frankly I would get bored shitless skiing 100 days a year for 20 years -- 2,000 days of skiing -- at Mount Bachelor.
"I made the choice a long time ago that skiing was more important than making tons of money, eating fancy food, driving a fancy car or drinking fine wine."
I can understand the first four. The last one, not so much.
"Frankly I would get bored shitless skiing 100 days a year"
Not the way I'm doing it but like I said, it's not for everyone.
The last one, not so much.
And maybe that's what it is for me. I'm not much of a drinker. I mastered that shit before I turned 21 and never saw the need to keep riding down that mountain. It's boring as fuck if you ask me.
Having grown up in the Corn-Belt, IL's "highest point" is Charles 'Mound' at a towering 1,235'! Galena, IL, birthplace of Gen. Grant.
'Skiing' ( such as it is ) done primarily on heaps of trash vented for methane gas relief. Mounds such as the one not shown on the map Stevie Ray Vaughn's helo crashed into enroute from Mil. WI to Chicago.
Skiing, not skating, the sideshow in the upper midwest. While it doesn't have the upscale appeal of skiing, like no other sport save for Polo, the team approach better suits MW's than solitary quests. The skating season pretty much a guarantee from Nov. to March. God forbid something be affordable to FAMILIES.
Geography aside, any HOBBY done but 1-40 times a YEAR, with 'runs' as short as 3 to 5 minutes ( followed by a 45 min. WAIT in the Liftline ) is more likely to deliver injury than a level of fitness. Ask any ER Doc ( as they cringe ) Particularly for the 50+ crowd.
While inquiring, ask avid FIT runners how they feel a scant handful of jogs over the course of 12 mos. might contribute to an overall healthy lifestyle?
So busted.
It would be boring as fuck to devote one's whole life to drinking, just as it would be boring as fuck for a (normal) person to devote his whole life to skiing. I've known many people who are as compulsive about their skiing / fishing / golf / running / whatever as any alcoholic is about his drinking. (Especially in Bend -- the disease is endemic here.)
That's not my idea of how life should be lived. The world offers countless pleasures, physical, emotional and intellectual; I like to sample many of them instead of restricting myself to just one or two. Being compulsive about doing one activity is like having a glorious banquet spread before you and tasting only one dish.
A big part of my whoooole problem w/ nationalized healthcare was that in no WAY factored in personal accountability. Having skin in the game.
If you're an otherwise more than reasonably fit person, skiing 2 to 10 times a year certainly can't 'hurt' one's overall fitness level and state of health. Had it been up to me, the HC 'Program' would look more like boot camp than some x-post-facto, morbidly OBESE triage?
Unless you're on the bunny slopes ( where most of us belong ) forces greater than myself say the risks out WEIGH any potential 'benefits'. Whether or not you foot the bill for your health ins., studies consistently show sports best left to professionals are not only discouraged by the military ( to wit; the taxpayer's dime ) but you just might find yourself picking up the tab?
'Friendly' games of basketball had produced so many torn rotator cuffs, displaced hips and torn ligaments they finally pulled the plug. Simply landing wrong coming down w/ a rebound can put you on crutches for months! Others forced to pick up your slack.
If you want to ski hey fine great go for it. But a lot of these snowboarders etc. don't have a driver's license, let alone insurance.
Longtime posters know I'm no fan of extreme sports. If hang gliding finds you stuck and immobilized atop Mult. Falls, I'll send up a razor. Sorry. All I ask is people stop worrying so much about what is 'fun' or 'rad' and START worrying about what is right.
Everyone loves to talk about being 'globally interconnected'. Fine. Whatever. Then we totally discount how we're connected -within- our own borders. Try to picture our ancestors condoning bungee jumping when every able-bodied male was an absolute essential!? Are we really that BORED? Are we really that expendable?
If people want to engage in dangerous "extreme" sports that's okay with me -- as long as I don't have to pick up the tab, as you say.
What annoys me, though, is that when some asshole kills himself falling off a mountain or crashing his hang glider, he's universally treated like a hero. "He died doing what he loved," everybody says admiringly.
To my mind, such people are no more admirable than idiots who drink themselves or drug themselves to death; they merely have chosen a more strenuous path to suicide. Yet when a heroin addict ODs we never hear his friends say, "He died doing what he loved -- shooting smack."
Or as Mick & The Boys were fond of saying:
"Plug 'in' Flush -out- and FIRE the f@ckin' feed!"
I really, really WANT to rubber stamp a lot of these various activities w/ the seal of approval but; saying "You will have a nice time using our recreational products" doesn't SCREAM merchandise flying off shelves.
Nice doesn't cut it. I'm waiting to see an "Extreme Croquet" or Combat Bocci Ball set. No, we're not phobic about lawn darts, imagining the -worst- at every turn!
And I take exception the Art of Drinking could be mastered in so short a time. I've been shoulder to the wheel for nigh on 4 decades and feel I've barely scratched the surface?
Seldom heard of serious injury bowling and having a few beers? Alcohol and 'activity' are by no means mutually exclusive. Just keep it out of the gutter.
"And I take exception the Art of Drinking could be mastered in so short a time. I've been shoulder to the wheel for nigh on 4 decades and feel I've barely scratched the surface?"
LOL!
"I am still learning." -- Michelangelo, at age 87
"And I take exception the Art of Drinking could be mastered in so short a time. I've been shoulder to the wheel for nigh on 4 decades and feel I've barely scratched the surface?"
LOL!
"I am still learning." -- Michelangelo, at age 87
We all have our issues. Mine just happen to be skiing, cycling, hunting, and fishing.
Wine and cheese just doesn't do it for me. Beats Dancing with the Stars though...
Skiing, not skating, the sideshow in the upper midwest
Again, I've never heard anyone say "I want to move to the midwest".
Seldom heard of serious injury bowling and having a few beers?
You've made it very clear that you're not qualified to comment on this topic...not unlike most topics on this blog. I've been trying really hard to tone it down with you because I feel sorry for you but god dude, you're clearly your own worst enemy. You're a self-proclaimed expert on everything. I chuckled the other day when another post said you are combative and you came back with "Combative? I'm used to Housing Bubble/Economic blogs.and when it comes to $$$, trust me, this is pretty tame.
They’d boil you alive over on zerohedge or any other real financial blog…
Why am I still here?
I'm a career bond/stock trader and regular contributor at Zero Hedge ( the single most lucrative blog on the planet ) as well as Seeking Alpha and PensionTsunami. I've worked for the Bank of New York, Fleet-Boston and BofA along w/ boutique houses and as an independent for over 10 years. Countless hours of *mandatory* Continuing Education & Compliance Regulation Courses.
So yeah, managed millions of dollars for -thousands- of clients. Navigating unprecedented volatility. Collectively, Bubble Bloggers have a Batting Avg. of 1,000% Take it up with Patrick Killea and Ben Jones. Good friends and true pioneers.
Look, it's just a function of age. How many years can one pore over 10-Q's/K's, be knee deep in Unemployment Reports and Earnings season before there's little if -anything- that escapes your scope of understanding?
Moving on. Played full contact am-hockey from age 6 to senior year HS and consistently pass the Guard PT tests w/ flying colors. Try it sometime.
What would be the -point- of attempting to discuss Modern Portfolio Theory and Efficient Frontier w/ someone who's only recently stumbled on Z-Hedge in passing anyway?
But where 'credibility' REALLY suffers is when you portray yourself ( without -ever- identifying your vocation... ) as having miraculously escaping this entire economic debacle without so much as a 'scratch'. Buffet, Gates, Paul Allen along w/ now Jon Corzine, have taken mortal hits and serious setbacks. Yet you're 'busy as ever!' and unscathed. Try a new tack. Try honesty.
Gentlemen, gentlemen ...
To quote an old New Yorker cartoon caption, "On the Internet, nobody knows you're a dog." Which is not to dispute any of your claims of expertise, but merely to point out that on the Web anybody can make virtually any claim about himself and there's no way to check it out (if he's anonymous or using an alias, that is).
So there's really no point in arguing here about credentials or comparing curriculum vitae. And I won't accept posts of that type anymore.
This is what I was talking about:
"Extreme skier Jamie Pierre died in Utah Sunday afternoon when he triggered an avalanche near Snowbird Ski Resort and was swept 'hundreds of feet' through rocky terrain. According to news reports, Pierre, 38, was snowboarding out of bounds in the South Chute area, a section of backcountry at Snowbird, after having traversed from nearby Alta Ski Area. Both mountains plan to open to the public within the next several weeks but have not yet begun avalanche control for the season. On Sunday, the Utah Avalanche Center warned that a recent snowfall on top of a degraded early season base posed significant avalanche risk. 'Make no doubt,' the Center wrote early yesterday, 'conditions are ripe for someone to get caught in an avalanche.' At least 12 slides were record in Utah on Sunday. Pierre, who lived in Montana, frequently appeared in major ski films from Warren Miller, Teton Gravity Research, and Matchstick Productions. He set a world record for biggest cliff jump in 2006 when he skied off a 255-foot face at Wyoming's Grand Targee. He is the first avalanche fatality in the United States this season."
I'm sure some idiot has already said, "He died doing what he loved."
He died being an asshole, folks.
No doubt. Guess my question is, who FUNDS the Utah Avalanche Center? Probably paid for by taking a $1 off each lift ticket right? Doubt it...
Used to ponder that every time we'd fire up the Guard Search & Rescue helos in Portland to look for dead a-holes. Counting pilots, and this was awhile ago but I think it was approx. $60k roundtrip.
This guy -ignored- every reasonable warning and conceivable regulation. Must be the nature of Extreme. Never doing anything twice. Booooring. In fairness, millions take to the slopes ( follow the rules ) and make it home just fine! But...?!?!?
"In fairness, millions take to the slopes ( follow the rules ) and make it home just fine!"
True. But the culture glorifies and exalts the "extreme" assholes. And many skiers / snowboarders who just don't have the physical skills to do what they do (especially young males) try to do it anyway and end up slamming their heads into trees -- or, worse, slamming into other people on the mountain.
The "extremists" are addicted to adrenaline in the same way that other people are addicted to heroin or cocaine. I can't see that extreme sports addicts are morally superior in any way to the addicts who shoot smack or smoke crack. The only difference is that their preferred method of suicide is legal and requires a lot of effort, whereas the heroin or coke addict's method is illegal and relatively easy.
That's weak you're not publishing my last comment.
I call it like I see it...
I call 'em like I see 'em too, and I saw that comment as veering too far over the line into personal insult. I don't want this thread to turn into a pissing match between you and Marshall.
What makes no sense at all is, Blackdog and myself are in almost complete agreement on the general premise of The Blog, yet I'm the only one that winds up being a target.
1. Bend's weather sucks: Check!
2. The Housing Boom was a Fraud-ridden cesspool and dreadful waste of resources!: Check
3. Extreme 'sports' guys are completely nuts:
4: Non-natives whom have grown tired of 10 mo. winters actively seeking out more inviting climates: Double Check..!
The only difference 'I' see, my not having the authority to Ban someone. So I suppose I'll just have to suffice? It's pretty transparent.
The comments on the recently departed are pretty creepy dude. You did say you're spiteful and I guess you meant it. That's a weird place to be, wishing bad shit on people just because you're not into something they are. "I used to ski but now I don't so I hope that winter sucks for those who still love to ski."
Like I've said all along, there is more to your bitterness than you let on. Hope you're able to find some happiness somewhere HBM.
Must get lonely at the two man pity party... : )
"That's a weird place to be, wishing bad shit on people just because you're not into something they are."
I didn't "wish bad shit" on the dude killed by the avalanche; the bad shit had already happened -- as a result of his own stupidity in going off-piste despite the avalanche warnings.
"I used to ski but now I don't so I hope that winter sucks for those who still love to ski."
You like to ski, so you hope that winter will drag on into July although other people are sick and tired of it. How the hell is that any different?
Well... it made Nat'l news from CNN to MSNBC, FOX and even some of the local stations. LOTS of people are/were TALKING about it.
Not that this individual would strike us as the kind that thought things thru BUT... if I were his life insurance company, I'd be looking for ways to not pay out on the policy.
I've no doubt right now teams of lawyers are poring over everything from autopsy to weather reports to Official Warnings from the Utah Avalanche Center. If this goes to court, the case will be built on whether or not this should be ruled a suicide or not and did the policy have a rider that included that?
Most policies have a 2-Year Exclusion. Basically you can't take out a $ mil. policy and walk out to your car and blow your brains out. "our' level of cynicism isn't what's at stake here?
I didn't "wish bad shit" on the dude killed by the avalanche
no, you wished bad shit on anyone hoping for a good season on the mountain even though you yourself once enjoyed it.
Seems to be a pattern with you...
Look, you like cold snowy weather, so you wish for a long, cold winter. I like warm sunny weather, so I wish for a short, mild winter. That's not "wishing bad shit," it's just wishing for what I like -- as you also do. Why is it okay for you to want a long, cold winter but somehow reprehensible for me to want a short, mild one?
And in any case, what either of us wishes for won't make one damn bit of difference in how the winter's going to be.
That's not "wishing bad shit," it's just wishing for what I like
oh sorry, I must have misinterpreted what you meant by...
"And I've known many a "promising" snow season to turn into a total bust. I'll be rooting for that to happen this year, just to hear you snow addicts moan.
Yes, I am a spiteful son of a bitch."
"And I've known many a "promising" snow season to turn into a total bust."
Nothing malicious, simply another way of observing and expressing Unabashed Bend Cheerleading. Once CL's are painted into a corner over the realities of summers barely more durable than Prom-night sex..?
Yeah but the 'skiing' is AWESOME!
In the end, no more honest about their Winters than they are about their Summers?
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