I’m a little ashamed to admit this but I only got two days of skiing in this April.

I spent a day at Crystal Mountain and another at White Pass. Below is a picture from what’s left of one of my ski poles. Wish I had a good story to go with the snapped pole, but I just accidentally busted it while goofing off with some friends. Didn’t even fall.

So just two days in April. Well, La Nina has made May the new April for skiers and boarders this year

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From the Bureay of Lane Management:

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Oregon State Office announced today that it has decided to move forward with the "No Action" alternative in the March 2007 Environmental Assessment (EA), and reject the hardrock lease application.

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Somebody placed what appears to be a snowboard-toting lawn gnome in front of the Johnston Ridge Observatory Web cam at Mount St. Helens.

The sign to the gnome’s right says “I will get the snow.” The sign is getting attention from media outlets around the Northwest. This morning a second sign was added to the gnome.

It reads “No headway on the snow, but could use some hot chocolate.”

The National Weather Service recently told The News Tribune that snow levels in the Cascades are 150 percent

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One of the primary concerns for athletes as they train for this summer’s Olympics in Beijing is the air quality.

The International Olympic Committee has even warned that endurance events could be postponed if air pollution is at a dangerous level.

Pat McDonough, director of athletics for USA Cycling, says preparing for Beijing is a bit tricky.

"We have air purifiers for the rooms," McDonough said. "But there is not a lot we can do on the course."

McDonough says athletes can’t really acclimatize to pollution.

"Some athletes have tried and the only thing that

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A local mountaineering company is facing more than the usual challenges as it tries to get 24 climbers to the summit of 29,035-foot Mount Everest.

Nepal has imposed a near-blackout on communication on the south side of Mount Everest, Eric Simonson of Ashford-based International Mountain Guides said Tuesday.

The communication limitations come as Nepal, not wanting to hurt relations with Beijing, tries to enforce a strict ban on protests during China’s upcoming Olympic torch relay to the summit of the world’s highest mountain. Dozens of armed Nepalese soldiers have been posted at Mount Everest’s base camp and at

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I got e-mail from reader M. Mullins recently asking the whereabouts of the new trail in Milton. The paved 2.5-mile multipurpose trail was dedicated Tuesday.

We were unable to run a map of the trail because the City of Milton could not provide us one. Making matters more confusing we accidently left out a box with additional info the trail from Thursday’s section.

This prompted many phone calls from readers like M. Mullins. Thanks for pointing it out.

My bad. Here’s what we meant to say:

Milton Interurban Trail
Miles: 2.5
South terminus: 70th Avenue East
North terminus: South 380th Place
Surface: Asphalt
Parking: A community baseball park at 700 Kent Street offers ample parking along the trail.
The future: Trail planners hope to connect the Milton trail to future sections in Edgewood and Fife.
What’s next? Edgewood Trail Community Meeting, May 1, 6:30 p.m., Mountain View Lutheran Church.

Diane Kerlin doesn’t live in Milton, but she was as happy as anybody Tuesday morning when the city dedicated a new 2.5-mile multiuse trail.

"This is a great day," said Kerlin, an Edgewood resident who helped plan the trail. "… A lot of hard work went into this."

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Just got back from a quick trip to the ocean. Considering the unrelenting snow dumps in the mountains I expected the weather to be nasty. In fact, I’d heard it was snowing on the coast in Oregon earlier this week so I was hoping to see some white beaches.

However, with the exception of a stiff wind, the weather in Westport was quite pleasant. At least for the hour I spent there. Surprisingly I saw only one surfer at the jetty riding some fairly sweet waves.

While I didn’t see any snow on the beach, by dinner time

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I got back a while ago from Paradise Inn, a beehive of activity as the May 16 reopening of the inn fast approaches.

Contractors and subcontractors were racing to finish the final work of the two-season renovation. In the meantime, crews from Guest Services Inc. and Olympic Moving were busy bringing in room furnishings and setting up the tables and chairs in the dining room. Finally, a group from Mount Rainier National Park were checking out the lobby to see where they could hang art work.

Some of the changes are remarkable. The Douglas fir woodwork and floor

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