New Year's - December 1999/January 2000

Pictures from the 1999 New Years Eve trip.

Introduction
29th and 30th
The 31st
The 1st and 2nd
Comments

Introduction

It was the question that has plagued mankind since the early 1990's: what to do for the 1999/2000 New Year's Eve? After months (years) of procrastination on my part, Vicki McHale settled it for everyone by announcing another Sun River expedition. Who could say no to four days in the snow around Mt. Bachelor?

29th and 30th

I showed up in Sun River on the 29th, crashed at Rob + Laura's house (sorry, no pictures) that night, and Rob and I tried a few icy runs on Mt. Bachelor on the 30th. Later we headed into Bend to get food.

Later on the 30th, I checked into our rooms at the Lodge. The McHales and Kristi showed up almost at the same time, with Steve and John not far behind.

The [links to a larger image]')" onmouseout="resetHover()" /> [links to a larger image]')" onmouseout="resetHover()" >The "before" photograph. Notice how clean and unspoilt the room looks.

We had a great meal at the Pine Room in Bend, although Steve's only method of communication seemed to be to swear loudly. We didn't care, nor did anyone else seem to mind. Anyway, we got a good night's sleep for the next day.

The 31st

About to head off to Mt. Bachelor for the first day of skiing and boarding.

Steve, Kristi, John and I hit the slopes for another fairly icy day. We stayed until the mountain closed (or until the bar closed, which was rather later). Not bad conditions, but Steven's Pass is usually better.

After returning to the lodge, it was time to prepare for the New Year's Eve celebrations.

John modelling his New Year's cardigan.

Y2K paraphernalia (John forbid that I show his ass on the web).

L'essence de swank.

The Kings of the Millenium.

A typical view of Steve.

We checked out the lodge, but it was entirely booked with parties (one asking $150 each!). Other bars in the area were also asking at least $10 cover, and these were pretty average bars. We were hitting a crisis point (almost out of alcohol), so we made a decision: back to our rooms for the celebration, while Kristin, Sydney and I made a run to Bend for beer.

The [links to a larger image]')" onmouseout="resetHover()" /> [links to a larger image]')" onmouseout="resetHover()" >The "after" photograph. Not so clean.

John at 3 in the morning.

The 1st and 2nd

John at 10 in the morning. Note the new snow.

Steve and I decided to try the mountain one more time. At 11 in the morning, Bachelor was reporting only one new inch of snowfall. Chris and Vicki drove us to the mountain, and MAN were we glad we had tried it. There were six inches of new powder there, and more kept falling. Steve and I only had around 4 hours, but we made the most of it. Some of the best snowboarding I've ever done. Chris and Vicki met us in the bar at the lodge at 4.

We had a much quieter night on the 1st. Sadly, I don't have any pictures of the hot tub. It was a surreal experience--we were sitting in water almost too hot to stand, while fresh snow was falling on us. When we finally got out of the hot tub, our towels were frozen.

We drove into Bend for Thai food, then crashed at the rooms at the lodge. In the morning we had to make our way through the snow back to Seattle.

Following John and Kristin's cars back to Bend.

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