Mt. Bachelor Ski Weekend December 2014

Since Mt. Hood has yet to get any snow this year and yet to officially open for the 2014-2015 ski season, I headed to Bend and Mt. Bachelor this weekend to satisfy my skiing fix. The 3+ hour drive was well worth it as the mountain received about a foot of new snow between Friday and Saturday, which made for some excellent powder skiing on the new Volkl One powder skis I bought this summer.

I'm looking forward to having a great ski season this year with a few more trips back to Bend along with weekly skiing at Mt. Hood Meadows, which will soon be getting a heavy dumping of snow and be open for the year.  Plus, there is the hookup deal at Whistler in January via Leonidas's wife along with a few other trips out of state to ski.

Skiing makes the grey and gloomy Oregon winters so much more enjoyable.  If it wasn't for being up on the mountain so much, there's no way in hell that I'd live here.  Well, maybe I would but it wouldn't be as enjoyable to me since I'd be stuck inside complaining about the rain.  Since rain in town usually means snow on the mountain, I cheer on big rain storms as much as possible since I can drive just over an hour and be on Mt. Hood.

Wondering Why I Can't Recall A Leave It To Beaver College Experience At Oregon State

I just happened to be at a U-Haul place this morning getting a truck with my Dad and stumbled across an Oregon State alumni magazine on a chair in the lobby, so I picked it up and started reading some of the feature articles about distinguished alumni.   What caught my attention, just like every time I've read the Oregon Stater alumni magazine, is how Leave It To Beaver-esque the college years come across in print.

Seriously, the writers make it sound like these distinguished alumni had a college experience where everyone acted like Wally and The Beav and mischievous Eddy Haskell-characters never existed.

But for some reason, I cannot recall any point in my college experience at OSU where I ever got that, "Ah gee Wally, that sure is swell," kind of feeling.  Nor a classic Leave It To Beaver virtuous life lesson moment like this ever crossed my mind:

   
But when I read a feature about an OSU alumni who has done well in life (and donated a significant amount of money to the school), I get the feeling that they lived on the set with the fictional Cleavers where their college years were absolutely perfect.  Fraternity boys courted sorority girls, going steady all four years.  And after college, the sweethearts got married and raised above average children.  Sort of a 1950's television fantasy.  

Something tells me the writers for the Oregon State alumni publications won't ever print the most memorable stories that many of the most distinguished alumni created during their college years.  Things like keg stands, streaking down Greek Row, panty raids on Betty Childs, etc.   Instead we readers are stuck with recycled Leave It To Beaver-esque fables from a bygone era that probably never existed even back in the day.