I spent the weekend with my Denali team up on Mount Hood practicing our winter camping skills. The weather was "perfect" with temperatures around 20 and 35-40 mph winds with gusts to 50 mph. We each hauled about 80 lbs of gear half a mile uphill and directly into the wind then spent most of Saturday building our campsite. At one point the wind was so strong it knocked over our snow wall and partially crushed one of the tents. Lesson learned - don't build a long, high wall without bracing it properly. Around 6pm we finally got the 2 tents and megamid setup and tried out some new recipes we plan to use on Denali. After dinner the wind suddenly disappeared and all became clear and calm, so we decided to take the opportunity to rehydrate at the Timberline day lodge before going to sleep. Sunday morning we awoke to a beautiful sunrise, broke camp and stopped at the Huckleberry Inn in Government Camp on our way for a well deserved breakfast.