Went up to the mountain yesterday with some friends

"AMGtech - now with more recalls!" (amgtech) 10/23/2016 at 13:04 • Filed to: None

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There were 7 of us total. It was awesome. One guy broke his fork. Two of us rented fancy new full suspension 29ers. 3 Mercedes (third being a new GLC) vehicles to get all of us and our gear there (and only two of us work for Mercedes!). I crashed, will post bloody pics later, with a safety image and warning of course. More pics and stuff below!

That is my rental bike. Salsa horse thief. It was awesome. So much lighter and faster and better in every way than my old hardtail trek. Only $60 for the weekend. If I wasn’t spending today with the kid I would take it out again today. Very confidence inspiring, excellent climber and descender. Rather than being at the back of the pack I was now towards the front despite having less experience than the two guys who took turns leading, and there was usually a big gap between me and the next guy back.

The bike is leaning up against the third Mercedes. GLC300. I couldn’t fit it in my car and the other two vehicles were full already, so I borrowed a loaner from work. The wife had the R500 and was out of town so I couldn’t use that either. This was the first time I’ve driven a GLC for more than a couple miles at a time. Very nice ride, plenty of power, super smooth transmission (9 speed). Normally I couldn’t just jumped in the sprinter with the others but the four guys in it went split boarding in the morning so we’re meeting us from the opposite direction and had all of that gear in it as well.

TrustMeImAnEngineer, but I'd rather be an InternationalArtThief > AMGtech - now with more recalls! 10/23/2016 at 15:56

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I like the lifestyle of your friend group... Where are you that there’s enough snow for splitboarding this time of year?

AMGtech - now with more recalls! > TrustMeImAnEngineer, but I'd rather be an InternationalArtThief 10/23/2016 at 16:24

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Thanks, me too! This was at Mt. Hood in Oregon. One of the guys split boarding sent me this before heading back down. My service manager is planning on going with us at some point too, he says he’s pretty good.

TrustMeImAnEngineer, but I'd rather be an InternationalArtThief > AMGtech - now with more recalls! 10/24/2016 at 00:16

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Awesome! The Pacific NW is on my bucket list for biking, and I was able to make it out to Hood to snowboard a few summers ago, that’s got to be really rad to have in your backyard basically!

AMGtech - now with more recalls! > TrustMeImAnEngineer, but I'd rather be an InternationalArtThief 10/24/2016 at 01:41

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Awesome! So you rode the Palmer glacier then?

Yeah! Mt. Hood is why I moved here honestly. I absolutely love everything about this place except for how often it rains from fall to spring. Feels like 9 straight months of drizzle, even though there are nice days too.

TrustMeImAnEngineer, but I'd rather be an InternationalArtThief > AMGtech - now with more recalls! 10/25/2016 at 12:03

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I think we were only technically up on Palmer for 2 days, because weather and visibility had the upper lifts shut down the rest of the week, but we rode mostly right around and below the elevation of Timberline Lodge, and even had an 8 inch pow day while there!

AMGtech - now with more recalls! > TrustMeImAnEngineer, but I'd rather be an InternationalArtThief 10/25/2016 at 12:27

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Oh nice. You said summer so I assumed like July or August when Palmer is the only thing open. Timberline usually only closes around late September into November when weather is too bad on Palmer but there isn’t enough snow on the rest of the mountain, plus they use that time to prep for the upcoming season. It’s pretty impressive. And pow days can be epic! Actually, if you ever make it back out and catch a pow day you need to go to ski bowl, take the chairs to the very top, then hike. They have two bowls up there that no one ever goes to because there are no lifts to them. They are the best runs on the mountain bar none. You can hit them multiple times and get fresh tracks every time, in powder that will swallow you whole, amongst trees with some little cliffs that have pillowy soft pow landings.

TrustMeImAnEngineer, but I'd rather be an InternationalArtThief > AMGtech - now with more recalls! 10/25/2016 at 15:03

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It was mid-June, so I guess not technically summer, but we were supposed to be up on Palmer most if the time, just the snow and rain had it closed. I would love to find time to make it up there in the winter, the way you described those hike-to bowls makes them sound pretty incredible! I’ll bring my avy gear and get some hiking in for sure!

AMGtech - now with more recalls! > TrustMeImAnEngineer, but I'd rather be an InternationalArtThief 10/25/2016 at 16:24

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Ahh yeah, June can be iffy.

Timberline does snowcat rides to the top of Palmer in the winter if weather is nice enough. That can be super cool too.

TrustMeImAnEngineer, but I'd rather be an InternationalArtThief > AMGtech - now with more recalls! 10/25/2016 at 17:47

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My snowcat experiences in the past have been waiting in huge lines for a cat that runs every 20-30 minutes and then the terrain is more skied out compared to what I could hike to, so I’d probably go with your original hiking idea. Although think of the business opportunities if you just got a bunch of buddies, all with some snowmobiles and offered skiers $5 a head to tow them up...

AMGtech - now with more recalls! > TrustMeImAnEngineer, but I'd rather be an InternationalArtThief 10/25/2016 at 18:05

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Huh. Not many people know about or use the Timberline snowcat, despite the fact that it’s free. So the runs are usually clean and waits are minimal (within reason, obviously it will never be the fastest service around), most of the time.

TrustMeImAnEngineer, but I'd rather be an InternationalArtThief > AMGtech - now with more recalls! 10/25/2016 at 23:59

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That sounds like its worth a try then! I guess in Colorado, everyone wants to pretend they ski backcountry, so they like to take the cat wherever possible and convince themselves its the same as doing a 10-day heli trip in Alaska. But throw in a hike and its untouched pow all day!