Halle's Smooooth Words o' Wisdom » powder

First 2011 Tearsheet- Powder Magazine Feb. 2011 issue

Halle — Fri, 04 Feb 2011 05:07:32 +0000

This trip wasn’t what we expected. Blue skies were rare and fleeting. Whiteout conditions were the norm and the oft uttered phrase ‘skiing inside a ping pong ball’ came to mind. Often. We planned on spending 5 days traversing the Wallowas from Halfway to Joseph in NE Oregon. We ended up spending only 3. The third was essentially a 2 for 1 sprint to the finish for we feared being caught in a precarious position with high avalanche conditions. Nonetheless I have to thank mates on the trip CB, JR, Matt, Arthur, Doc from Seattle and Powder Magazine for sending me on this fun assignment.

Trench Foot

Halle — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 23:06:37 +0000

This is an outtake from a bon bon story yours truly shot for Powder Magazine last spring. Thank you Dave Reddick. Not all photographers might consider this a bon bon. Me? Hell yes! I would have done the trip regardless of the assignment. Hence ‘bon bon’, a term I learned from a German DP working on a job for Addidas a few years ago.

Our goal here was a 4-day traverse of the Eagle Cap Wilderness, aka the Wallowas*, in northeastern Oregon from Halfway to Joseph. We succeeded although a tad more quickly than planned. Spring conditions were expected but, as often happens in the mountains, we got spanked. We had no chance to skin laps in the sun and position athletes with radios let alone dry our drawers, boot liners or sleeping bags. ‘My kingdom for a synthetic fill bag,’ was an unspoken refrain by night two.

I don’t recommend this trip when ma nature swings her paddle. Still we managed, had a ton of fun and only one in five came down with the nasty foot predicament.

*Wallowa is a Nez Perce word “used to describe a structure of stakes set in a triangle used to support a network of sticks called lacallas, for catching fish.” -Oregon Geographic Names by Lewis A. McArthur & Lewis L. McArthur

Why I always ski Superbowl Sunday

Halle — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 04:12:37 +0000

For one day this season we were ok with El Niño. Superbowl Sunday. Chris and I had a surprisingly good day skiing der Hood. We ditched the car in Govy, stuck out our thumbs and the first car up Timberline Rd. obliged. The clouds lifted and the snow up high was as good as Hood snow gets.

hoofing it or hooving it

Halle — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 18:16:40 +0000

One of my favorite things about Mt. Hood Ski Bowl besides the lack of lines at the upper bowl chair, the WPA era warming hut and the overall friendly vibe is the proximity of Mirror Lake. Enough said.

Winter’s End Is Near

Halle — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 02:31:28 +0000

AC and I did a half day tour near Mirror Lake Wednesday. Winter’s going down swinging this year.

The end of winter means anything but ski doldrums in the Pacific Northwest. It means the start of something altogether new: volcano corn season.