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Female 19 & male 24. Sad day at our small mt.
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Pacific NW/AK/BC 2017-18 PNW Weather, Conditions, and Stoke
Stevens Pass- Mon 3/5
I woke up to the Stevens Pass telemetry reporting 6 inches of new. Well I just couldn't pass that up. It seems like everybody else did though. No crowds anywhere. Even though I got out there kind of late, I found a lot of untracked places to ski. There was a firm crusty layer under the new snow and it did factor in. The backside in the exposed areas was not a lot of fun as that crusty layer was too uneven and you got bounced around a lot. There were some areas in the trees and on the flater spots where it was better. The front side had some sneaky spots that were sweet. The usual edges off of the groomers we're good. The run of the day was Tye Bowl. It has now filled in and was a legitimate powder run. It was snowing lightly in the morning and became snow showers in the afternoon. Visibility was pretty good.
Rating- [prorated for the season] 2.75/3
I woke up to the Stevens Pass telemetry reporting 6 inches of new. Well I just couldn't pass that up. It seems like everybody else did though. No crowds anywhere. Even though I got out there kind of late, I found a lot of untracked places to ski. There was a firm crusty layer under the new snow and it did factor in. The backside in the exposed areas was not a lot of fun as that crusty layer was too uneven and you got bounced around a lot. There were some areas in the trees and on the flater spots where it was better. The front side had some sneaky spots that were sweet. The usual edges off of the groomers we're good. The run of the day was Tye Bowl. It has now filled in and was a legitimate powder run. It was snowing lightly in the morning and became snow showers in the afternoon. Visibility was pretty good.
Rating- [prorated for the season] 2.75/3
Mt Hood Meadows fantastic day today. I've been 15 times to MHM this year and today was the best. New snow. Sunshine. No crowds. All lifts and areas open. Just a wonderful time.
I've not been posting all of the times I've been to Baker lately, but every day for the last two weeks has been amazing. Soft snow, a bit of new every day, cool temps. decent to great weather. Today we had cold powder (the real stuff), no crowd, and blue skies. It was the best skiing of the season for me. We burned ourselves out on fresh lines.
Heading to Stevens for a few days tomorrow. I hope it's even half as good as what we've been experiencing at Baker.
Heading to Stevens for a few days tomorrow. I hope it's even half as good as what we've been experiencing at Baker.
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Whistler has been pretty decent as well. Funny after a while you almost get tired of all that fresh snow.
Yesterday was a little different. Sunny no new snow for 2 days and spent the day lapping some of my favorite routes Peak to Creekside base
no lines on any chairs and snow conditions were exactly the same alpine to valley floor,
now its time for a road trip.
Yesterday was a little different. Sunny no new snow for 2 days and spent the day lapping some of my favorite routes Peak to Creekside base
no lines on any chairs and snow conditions were exactly the same alpine to valley floor,
now its time for a road trip.
Spent 3/5 - 3/7 at Red. It was amazing! Snow was soft crud everywhere with a few great powder bump lines. South facing a little heavier than north but not by much. It started to warm up right after we left so conditions could have changed by now.
At 49* North today.
And the Lord God Jehovah said; "Let's ski us some crud toay".
And it was good.
Probably my last day skiing in the PNW today. Work is calling, and I must go. Don't feel too bad for me though; work is takeing me to Denver until they tell me to go away. See you at the Beach in A Basin.
And the Lord God Jehovah said; "Let's ski us some crud toay".
And it was good.
Probably my last day skiing in the PNW today. Work is calling, and I must go. Don't feel too bad for me though; work is takeing me to Denver until they tell me to go away. See you at the Beach in A Basin.
Nobody has posted from the PNW for awhile so here goes,
Crystal Mt. Tues 3/20
Beautiful Sunny day with great snow and empty
We got there after 11:00, just in time for the go off. A warm up on Deer Fly was good, although it had some bare spots. Green Valley, shady side, to West Face was sweet. Snort Elk bowl was just OK. The sunny side faces off of Snort Elk were better. The edges of Middle Ferks skied well, and the new groomer skiers right was good. Kelly's Gap was fun, although lower Exterminator is getting some bare spots. The chair 6 traverse was fast but not icey. We made it out to the end without poling. Hamberger had good winter snow, but we only did it one time. Powder Bowl was also winter snow and was worth repeats. We skied until they closed, then had a beer on the sun deck. That tasted so good that we had another at the Natches Tavern.
Vis =1+ Crowd = 1+ snow = 1+ so a 3+++ out of 3 day
Crystal Mt. Tues 3/20
Beautiful Sunny day with great snow and empty
We got there after 11:00, just in time for the go off. A warm up on Deer Fly was good, although it had some bare spots. Green Valley, shady side, to West Face was sweet. Snort Elk bowl was just OK. The sunny side faces off of Snort Elk were better. The edges of Middle Ferks skied well, and the new groomer skiers right was good. Kelly's Gap was fun, although lower Exterminator is getting some bare spots. The chair 6 traverse was fast but not icey. We made it out to the end without poling. Hamberger had good winter snow, but we only did it one time. Powder Bowl was also winter snow and was worth repeats. We skied until they closed, then had a beer on the sun deck. That tasted so good that we had another at the Natches Tavern.
Vis =1+ Crowd = 1+ snow = 1+ so a 3+++ out of 3 day
First day of spring at Mt. Baker.
It was overcast and just above freezing when I arrived, just as they opened. There was NOBODY there. When I looked up the lifts usually I couldn't see anyone riding and nobody was visible on the runs a lot of the time. It was really empty for the first two hours. The snow was hard but the grooming was pretty good and they had groomed about as much as they ever will. Even the Canyon was well groomed, and with as much snow as Baker has right now it was very well filled in.
With nobody there I could release the brakes and put it in high. I had to go home and fix a dishwasher, so I left at noon, just about the time things were beginning to soften up.
It was overcast and just above freezing when I arrived, just as they opened. There was NOBODY there. When I looked up the lifts usually I couldn't see anyone riding and nobody was visible on the runs a lot of the time. It was really empty for the first two hours. The snow was hard but the grooming was pretty good and they had groomed about as much as they ever will. Even the Canyon was well groomed, and with as much snow as Baker has right now it was very well filled in.
With nobody there I could release the brakes and put it in high. I had to go home and fix a dishwasher, so I left at noon, just about the time things were beginning to soften up.
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just back from a short trip to Revy Louise and Kicking Horse,
it's not PNW but likely a few of you will be heading there.
our timing was not perfect but there is plenty of snow at all of them so I expect it should be decent well into April for those headed there. might make another trip.
conditions were fairly typical for what i know of the three hills although the temperature was higher than normal while we were there.
Was spring like in the sun in valleys,
Louise, coverage is as good as i have seen it (only hit a few rocks) backside was winter but fresh was a bit heavier than I expected
Kicking Horse had no fresh to speak of but good chalky conditions all the way to base - great hill
Revy fresh in bowls and laps off Stoke were nice, the lower hill was best to stay on high speed groomers, corn snow by base.
Despite it being BC spring break when crowds can be an issue we had no lines anywhere.
it's not PNW but likely a few of you will be heading there.
our timing was not perfect but there is plenty of snow at all of them so I expect it should be decent well into April for those headed there. might make another trip.
conditions were fairly typical for what i know of the three hills although the temperature was higher than normal while we were there.
Was spring like in the sun in valleys,
Louise, coverage is as good as i have seen it (only hit a few rocks) backside was winter but fresh was a bit heavier than I expected
Kicking Horse had no fresh to speak of but good chalky conditions all the way to base - great hill
Revy fresh in bowls and laps off Stoke were nice, the lower hill was best to stay on high speed groomers, corn snow by base.
Despite it being BC spring break when crowds can be an issue we had no lines anywhere.
Just got back from Baker and it was a lot like yesterday, but with more sun and less people, possibly fewer than I've ever experienced there. It was more empty than empty. The skiing was good: all spring snow that softened as the day went on so we started on groomers and ended off piste. Nice day.
Storm Day.
Skied Baker on Friday and it was really different. A bunch of powder (8" or so) on top of the frozen junk from the freeze-thaw of the last few days. After looking around and finding a lot of wind scoured ice we discovered great conditions on the Chair 1 side of the mountain and worked that for the rest of the day. Even though there were a LOT of people there for a weekday we didn't have problems finding fresh lines all day. It snowed really hard the whole time we were there, building a couple more inches of new on top of everything. A very nice day.
Skied Baker on Friday and it was really different. A bunch of powder (8" or so) on top of the frozen junk from the freeze-thaw of the last few days. After looking around and finding a lot of wind scoured ice we discovered great conditions on the Chair 1 side of the mountain and worked that for the rest of the day. Even though there were a LOT of people there for a weekday we didn't have problems finding fresh lines all day. It snowed really hard the whole time we were there, building a couple more inches of new on top of everything. A very nice day.
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Friday was also quite the storm day at Whistler,
during the morning drive the wind was so strong the Ferry from Horseshoe Bay was cancelled.
Those winds along with the new delayed the opening of Peak and Harmony so over to Blackcomb, happily surprised Peak to Peak could run in that wind.
On the positive side winter's returned, quite a bit of fresh. When the alpine opened there were even enough breaks to see where you were headed.
Today visibility was fine but not nearly as much new
Again the crowd seems to be from other than Vancouver, also saw a lot of Mountain Collective Pass people in the Rockies last week.
during the morning drive the wind was so strong the Ferry from Horseshoe Bay was cancelled.
Those winds along with the new delayed the opening of Peak and Harmony so over to Blackcomb, happily surprised Peak to Peak could run in that wind.
On the positive side winter's returned, quite a bit of fresh. When the alpine opened there were even enough breaks to see where you were headed.
Today visibility was fine but not nearly as much new
Again the crowd seems to be from other than Vancouver, also saw a lot of Mountain Collective Pass people in the Rockies last week.
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Skied Crystal Friday and Saturday. Friday was Amazing!!! Fresh light pow that kept coming down. Boot top and higher. Light crowd, no lines. Saturday was busy and it got skied out pretty quick unless you went off the beaten track. Even then, the snow was soft and very skiable. Freeride tour was going on, as was a demo special. Was gonna do the demo deal, bu the sign up line in the Bullwheel was as long as the Gondola line, so I skipped it. Great couple of days. Really bummed that Crystal isn't on any of the big passes next year.
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The demo line WAS really long and I was sure everything would be gone by the time I finally got on skis, but I actually got to demo everything I wanted.
It's my nightmare that Crystal gets on a multi resort pass.
It's my nightmare that Crystal gets on a multi resort pass.
Baker, March 26, Storm Day
It was really going off today. It started with a few inches but kept piling up all day. Some problems with wind blown snow and exposed ice in places, but after looking around I found some places where the wind didn't get and nobody else had noticed. Pan Dome was really bothered by the wind, but Shuksan Arm was mostly not affected. Hardly anyone was there.
It was really going off today. It started with a few inches but kept piling up all day. Some problems with wind blown snow and exposed ice in places, but after looking around I found some places where the wind didn't get and nobody else had noticed. Pan Dome was really bothered by the wind, but Shuksan Arm was mostly not affected. Hardly anyone was there.
A Fox Day at Stevens
Riding up Skyline for the first run of the day, there was a fox running across from the terrain park to the trees on the opposite side of the groomer. It was gray and white and silver. Just a beautiful animal. None of us have ever seen a fox at Stevens Pass before. This was definitely the highlight of the day.
It was 31° and snowing lightly when we arrived. There was a pretty strong wind blowing, but not enough to affect the lifts. The upper mountain was socked in especially the top of skyline. The snow came and went, and at times, turned to grapple. The visibility was on again off again from suckerholes to fog. Off piste was frozen rain crust that was worth your life to try to ski it, so we were stuck on the groomers. The groomers varied from kind of soft to pretty darn icy with higher elevations, such as Tye Mill, being better. About 12 o'clock it warmed up enough so that the groomers softened a bit. As the day went on, the suckerholes got bigger and bigger. The temperature was about 35° when we left.
1 for crowd, .5 for snow, .5 for visibility
A 2 out of 3 day. It beat sitting home.
Riding up Skyline for the first run of the day, there was a fox running across from the terrain park to the trees on the opposite side of the groomer. It was gray and white and silver. Just a beautiful animal. None of us have ever seen a fox at Stevens Pass before. This was definitely the highlight of the day.
It was 31° and snowing lightly when we arrived. There was a pretty strong wind blowing, but not enough to affect the lifts. The upper mountain was socked in especially the top of skyline. The snow came and went, and at times, turned to grapple. The visibility was on again off again from suckerholes to fog. Off piste was frozen rain crust that was worth your life to try to ski it, so we were stuck on the groomers. The groomers varied from kind of soft to pretty darn icy with higher elevations, such as Tye Mill, being better. About 12 o'clock it warmed up enough so that the groomers softened a bit. As the day went on, the suckerholes got bigger and bigger. The temperature was about 35° when we left.
1 for crowd, .5 for snow, .5 for visibility
A 2 out of 3 day. It beat sitting home.
A Chipmunk day at Baker.
We saw one scuttling along in the snow under chair 6. I don't remember ever seeing one while skiing. Not quite as cool as a fox, though.
Anyway, 8" fell in the previous 24 hours with 1" overnight. At 9 the bottom half of the mountain was frozen hard with the 1" layer on top, but by about 11 it had warmed and loosened up, so it was classic spring soft snow. The upper mountain had some great uncut runs and good snow, especially on the Heather Meadows side. We had a blast.
We saw one scuttling along in the snow under chair 6. I don't remember ever seeing one while skiing. Not quite as cool as a fox, though.
Anyway, 8" fell in the previous 24 hours with 1" overnight. At 9 the bottom half of the mountain was frozen hard with the 1" layer on top, but by about 11 it had warmed and loosened up, so it was classic spring soft snow. The upper mountain had some great uncut runs and good snow, especially on the Heather Meadows side. We had a blast.
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took us a lot longer than normal to find the sweet spot at Whistler yesterday. Cloud bands drifted in and out in the morning so we initially avoided the alpine because of variable vis.
but was great skiing when we finally did. Very nice snow on little Whistler face down to Gunbarrels, Still some untracked but often wind blown in many places off Peak in afternoon
mid hill was a mixed bag locating good snow depended on skiing in yesterdays shaded areas
mid hill down was generally crunchy in am but developed to soft and even corn by late afternoon down at base.
lines for a Spring break week seemed light and as it's seemed so unusual this year we always asked those with we shared the chair with where they were from.
New Zealand, Australia, England, Scotland, Italy, France, Austria, Croatia, Germany Russia, Mexico, China, USA, Japan.
on our last ride up the Peak chair we shared it with woman from North Vancouver who said we were also the first Canadians she had shared a chair with.
it seems many locals must be elsewhere.
but was great skiing when we finally did. Very nice snow on little Whistler face down to Gunbarrels, Still some untracked but often wind blown in many places off Peak in afternoon
mid hill was a mixed bag locating good snow depended on skiing in yesterdays shaded areas
mid hill down was generally crunchy in am but developed to soft and even corn by late afternoon down at base.
lines for a Spring break week seemed light and as it's seemed so unusual this year we always asked those with we shared the chair with where they were from.
New Zealand, Australia, England, Scotland, Italy, France, Austria, Croatia, Germany Russia, Mexico, China, USA, Japan.
on our last ride up the Peak chair we shared it with woman from North Vancouver who said we were also the first Canadians she had shared a chair with.
it seems many locals must be elsewhere.
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with all the snow any chance they will extend season at Baker or Crystal ?
I doubt it will at W/B
Current plan is Whistler shuts down April 22 then it's Blackcomb only to May 22
I doubt it will at W/B
Current plan is Whistler shuts down April 22 then it's Blackcomb only to May 22
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