All the rain in the world was falling on Portland. Darting down Broadway then east on Sandy, as the tires of our VW Touareg threw waves on the sidewalk, we might as well have been a world away from the mountains. It probably didn't occur to the bone-soaked pedestrians of the City of Roses that somewhere this water was falling as snow. That somewhere was Lake Tahoe. Knowing that we'd arrive in the early hours of the morning did not deter us. We'd make the 15-hour push, cause it's powder and dammit we're skiers. We do these things.

Fresh up from three hours of sleep, we awoke at the foot of Donner Pass. The cathedral ceiling of the swankest vacation rental ever, courtesy of Red Bull, housed the windows that framed the mountains perfectly. A foot was on the deck railing and a warm solar glow was lighting up the cloudless sky. Photographer Christian Pondella stumbled into the kitchen and announced that this was the day. Whether he meant the last powder day of the season, the best powder day of the season, or was just greeting the dawn with cheery optimism didn't matter. It was go time.

Officially we were at Sugar Bowl for the Red Bull Silverbelt event. It was a variation on the event, which began in the early 1900s and hasn't been run for some 30 years. The new race would be a natural terrain skiercross. No groomed racecourse, just the gnarly chutes and flutes of the Silverbelt area at Sugarbowl that six fearless competitors would bomb down at once. Nearly the whole peak was roped off for the event and while the competitors inspected the course we followed Pondella through numerous laps of "photographic vantage point" inspections. Photographers must have quick eyes, because Pondella didn't even stop once to look around.

Having a media pass is the best thing in the world. We skied to the left of the course, just to the right of the Palisades, in 12 inches of buttery pow all day long. Little did we envy the racers who, during qualifying that day, navigated what can only be described as a death traverse with airplane turns. We managed to find our own trouble and Gabe even did his best impression of a wounded duck off a hidden ice dam.

Powder turned to slush, turned to corn. Spring hit the lake with all cylinders firing and we found ourselves at our last official stop, the King of Spring: Squaw Valley, California. We spent the first day with Joe Stumpf, from 4FRNT. Joe knew all the spots and we found ourselves some soft snow under Dead Tree, on Red Dog Ridge and on the 18-foot walls of the Superpipe. Later we explored the area under Granite Chief. Drops and chutes were everywhere and we were having so much fun in the corn it was difficult to imagine how much better it would be on a blower day.

The sundeck underneath the Gondola was in full effect. Finding a chair to enjoy an afternoon beer was difficult, but the PTTP Tour made it easy to get schwagged out. Posters, stickers, POWDER Magazines, key chains, church keys, chapsticks and more were given to the crowd in large quantities. We were just warming them up for the grand give away later that evening at Bar One.

The Powder Video Awards were shown as they were intended to be on one of the largest screens yet on the tour. The crowd was amped and pitched in generously for our charity cause: Wilderness Opportunities. Smith T-Shirts were slung, North Face beanies were tossed and tons of other gear including Red Hook Brewery schwag was raffled off. Kent Kreitler made a courageous guest appearance on his still recovering right knee. The final PTTP Tour party ended things with a bang.

We drove off into the sunset knowing that the Tahoe heat would be magnified significantly on the coast. It was time to head back to home base. Palms and convertibles would replace the pines and pickups, and "the ultimate ski trip" would end. With heads held high, we did not despair. Next year the tour will be back and better then ever.

To the reader: Thanks for checking in on the tour all winter. Keep on truckin' and keep on dreaming. Clear some landings in the summer and stare at those lines you didn't get to this season. The POWDER to the People Tour is all about powder, but more about people. Thanks to all those we met along the way in 2004 and to those we didn't: come see us next year and we'll take a few runs. POWDER to the People!