Backcountry Film Festival at EOU

When: Thursday, January 19th @ 7pm

Where: EOU Campus, Badgley Hall, Huber Auditorium

All Students FREE Admission - Non-students $5 at the door - Raffle prizes include backcountry guidebooks, shovels, probes, magazine subscriptions and more. Raffle tickets are 1 for $2 or 3 for $5.

The Mountaineers Books are a sponsor of the Backcountry Film Festival and are giving away two copies of the latest backcountry ski & snowboard guidebook. Click here to enter to win the Mountaineers Book Backcountry Ski & Snowboard Routes Oregon (2011) by Christopher Van Tilburg.

Wallowa Avalanche Center presents pre-film Avalanche Awareness Program @5pm

The seventh annual world tour of the Winter Wildlands Alliance Backcountry Film Festival highlights the beauty and fun of the winter backcountry experience. Submissions come from renowned filmmakers who travel every corner of the globe to submit their best backcountry work, and from grassroots filmmakers who take a video camera out on their weekend excursions and submit their best film short. The films are juried by a select panel of judges and the top films are assembled into a 90 minute program.

The festival was created to highlight Winter Wildlands Alliance’s efforts to preserve and conserve winter landscapes for quiet users. The festival travels to more than 75 communities throughout the United States, and then overseas to Antarctica, Europe Australia and Asia. Funds raised stay in local communities to support local human-powered recreation efforts and to raise awareness of winter management issues, avalanche training/ safety and winter education programs.

This year’s program includes nine different films including festival award winners “Solitaire” (festival cut) from Sweetgrass Productions, voted Best of Festival. Two years in the making, this film from the wilderness of South America is worth the wait. The Best Short award goes to “Chalk and Ski.” Produced by Chris Dicky and Purple Orange LLC, it’s a chalk-in-hand daydream about skiing and winter. And the Best of the Backcountry award goes to a “Breaking Trail” (festival cut) from Powderwhore Productions. Known for their amazing ability to capture deep powder and fresh lines, brothers Noah and Jonah Howell remind us why we venture into the backcountry.

Avalanche Awareness Education Program

Yesterday I (Jerry Isaak, Outdoor Program Coordinator) went up to First Basin on Wing Ridge in the Wallowa Mountains, with Keith Stebbings, Director of the Wallowa Avalanche Center to gather some early season weather and snowpack information. You can read a summary of our field observations on the Wallowa Avalanche Center website. We encountered full winter conditions, with strong winds and increasingly heavy snowfall as the day progressed.

As the snowpack deepens in northeast Oregon the likelihood of avalanches also increases. The recent avalanche fatality in Utah highlights the potential hazards of traveling in avalanche terrain. However, travelling in the mountains during winter (whether skiing, snowboarding, snowshoeing, snowmobiling, climbing, dog sledding or some other mode of travel) can be one of the most rewarding outdoor experiences. Avalanche awareness and education, along with good decision making, can help to mitigate some of the risks of traveling in avalanche terrain.

The Wallowa Avalanche Center has developed an Avalanche Awareness Education Program that will be presented at Eastern Oregon University on December 7th in the Outdoor Program (Hoke Union Building, Room 102). This free presentation focuses on the fundamentals of traveling safely in the winter environment where avalanche hazards exist.  The presentation addresses avalanche hazard awareness, tour planning, familiarity with avalanche center bulletins, basic equipment considerations, and the need for skill in companion rescue.  The presentation will begin at 7PM and will last until around 8:30PM.

Contact gisaak@eou.edu for more information.

Ski Bus from La Grande during Winter!

Anthony Lakes Ski Area has arranged transportation from La Grande to Anthony Lakes during the ski season! Saturday and Sunday transportation will leave from La Grande at 7:30AM and return at 5:00PM.

There are no more excuses for students who haven't bought a season's pass (only $199). Come out on Thusday evening to Huber Auditorium at 6PM (movie 'The Art of Flight' starts at 7PM) to buy your season pass and get stoked for snow!

Transportation Logistics:

Saturday, Beginning December 3rd. The bus will leave from The west side Community Bank at 7:30. Cost $5.

Sunday, beginning December 4th. Transportaion will be provided and leave from Legacy Ford at 7:30. Riders will need to call at at least 2 days in advance either Legacy ford at 541-963-2161 or Anthony Lakes at 541-856-3277. Cost is free.

Anthony Lakes Ski Area Season Pass Party

EOU Outdoor Program & Anthony Lakes Ski Area

Present:

November 10, 7 PM in Huber Auditorium

2011/12 EOU Ski Season Pass Party

Featuring:

$199 Season Pass 

EOU Student Price available for a limted time only

The Art of Flight

@7PM award winning film

by Red Bull  

Raffle: Prizes include an Anthony Lakes Ski Area Season Pass, EOU Mountaineer clothing and more.

Raffle Tickets are $2 (3 for $5)

Come watch an incredible film, get stoked for Winter and maybe win a Seasons Pass!

Anthony Lakes Ski Area operates under a special-use permit from the
Wallowa-Whitman National Forest and is an Equal Opportunity Provider and
Employer.

 Entrance is FREE for all.

EOU Students Join Volunteers at Anthony Lakes Ski Area

Several EOU students participated in a volunteer day at Anthony Lakes Ski Area this past weekened. The volunteers mounted new bindings on rental ski's, unwrapped and stacked the new boots, helped organize the rental shop gear, and hung out with coffee and donuts! Great people and a beautiful morning.

The lakes and streams are beginning to freeze over, the trees at the ridge tops were all covered in ice, the larch trees are turning and dotted the whole landscape, and it was bluebird all day!

Thanks to all those who took part. Let the snow fly!

Winter Break Ski/Snowboard Trip Oregon

 

Take a break during winter break; come on a ski/snowboard trip with the Outdoor Program to three of Oregon’s best ski areas.

We will leave La Grande on the morning of Saturday, Dec. 10, and drive to our accommodation on Mt. Hood, the Mazamas Lodge. That night we will ski at Mt. Hood Skibowl, America’s largest night skiing area featuring 34 fully light runs.  A Scandinavian themed celebration with live music back at the Mazama Lodge will cap the night.

The following day we will ski at the Timberline Ski area high on the glaciers of Mt. Hood. Timberline is America’s only ski area that is open 12 months of the year; it provides excellent views, the historic ambiance of Timberline Lodge, and 3,690 vertical feet of skiable terrain. We will spend that evening and night at Mazama Lodge.

After enjoying Mt. Hood we will move on to the Cascade Mountains largest ski area, Mt. Bachelor for two days of skiing and snowboarding. Operating entirely on the Deschutes National Forest, Mt. Bachelor has offered a unique wilderness skiing experience for over 50 years. Eleven lifts, seven of which are high speed quads, whisk skiers and snowboarders up a total vertical drop of 3,365 feet.  Our accommodation for the last two nights will be at the Seventh Mountain Resort.

We will return to La Grande on Wednesday, Dec. 14.

The trip will be led by EOU Outdoor Program Coordinator Jerry Isaak. Jerry is a professionally certified ski instructor (CSIA) and American Mountain Guides Association Ski Guide. He has taught skiing in Europe and throughout North America. Optional one-hour ski lessons each day will be provided free of charge for all levels of skiers.

Itinerary

Saturday, Dec. 10 – Drive from La Grande to Mt Hood. Night ski at Mt. Hood Skibowl.

Sunday, Dec. 11 – Ski all day at Timberline Ski Area (Mt. Hood).

Monday, Dec. 12 – Drive to Mt. Bachelor. Ski half-day at Mt Bachelor.

Tuesday, Dec. 13 – Ski full-day at Mt. Bachelor.

Wednesday, Dec. 14 – Drive from Mt. Bachelor to La Grande.

Cost: $565 per person (7 persons max)

Includes: Transportation, lift tickets, accommodation, and optional 1 hour ski lesson per day (all levels).

Not included: Equipment rental (available locally through Anthony Lakes Ski Area), meals

A $100 deposit must be received by Wednesday, Nov. 16 to reserve a spot on the trip. Full payment is due no later than Friday, Nov. 25.

Contact gisaak@eou.edu for more information (541-962-3621) or to reserve you place.

Space is limited, so book soon!

Smith Rock State Park Climbing Weekend - Nov. 4-6

Video of Smith Rock climbing by Greg Garretson and hosted on VIMEO

Though the temps are dropping there's no skiable snow yet in eastern Oregon, so it's a perfect time to go climbing at Smith Rock. The EOU Outdoor Program is organizing a climbing weekend at Smith Rock on Nov. 4-6 (Friday - Sunday).

We will be meeting at EOU on Friday and carpooling to Smith where we will be camping ($5 per-night) at the State Park. There will be a pre-trip meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 1 in the Outdoor Program at 4:30PM. All levels of climbing abilities are welcome on this trip however we will need to know who is coming, and what gear we will need to bring.

If you would like to come on this weekend of rock climbing in a world-class location, show up at the pre-trip meeting or RSVP in the Outdoor Program or by emailing: gisaak@eou.edu.