Pacific NW/AK/BC Currently Stevens

[Varmintmist]

With some help from the TSA (not) my trip got wacked short. The family got a good day in to day and we will get a partial tomorrow. I will have to call it short as there are places I wanted to show the kids and I am not going to probably ever be able to get the clan together anytime like this in the future.
So, stuff I forgot about western skiing. Its slower, its harder, but it is easier. It is much easier to make a turn in fluff than it is on east coast hardpack, it is a bit tougher on your legs to keep making those turns. It is a different deal.The son and I have been battering the blues. I felt good enough to try a black this afternoon, until I started the run. Then I realized that the legs were tired and if I did that I was going to hurt something, so I bagged it. We are headed out tommorow again and I plan on going over the top after a warm up run. Likely to be a 1/2 day at best so we will see what we can make happen.

 

[Posaune]

Tomorrow will be nice. Go directly to the back side. Take Hogsback to Tye Mill to get there. From your description of yourself I guess that Jupiter will be just what you like.

 

[Varmintmist]

Will do.

We ran Promenade back yesterday, ya know, I remember that run. I hated it 30 years ago. It should be renamed "Miserable walk"

 

[Varmintmist]

Hit the backside this morning. we were the first car in lot 1 on the right hand side.

The weather was beautiful and I did my fair share in the time I had.

 

[Posaune]

Will do.

We ran Promenade back yesterday, ya know, I remember that run. I hated it 30 years ago. It should be renamed "Miserable walk"

There is a different way back to the base from the bottom of Tye Mill. Instead of going straight ahead to the base on Promenade, bear left on the other available trail, it takes you to the top of Daisy and back to the base and does not require the big walk/skate.

 

[Varmintmist]

Checking the map was first priority

 

[Varmintmist]

Ok, update w/pic. Day 2 was great although only 1/2 a day, with no playing around I was feelin the Burn by lunch. We did one hog heaven and then went over the top to one of the prettiest days in WA.

 

[dbostedo]

Ok, update w/pic. Day 2 was great although only 1/2 a day, with no playing around I was feelin the Burn by lunch. We did one hog heaven and then went over the top to one of the prettiest days in WA.

View attachment 41596

Wow... I never picture WA skiing as that .... colorful.

 

[Varmintmist]

Overall it was a good trip. Sorry for the broken report, but life just wanted to happen all week.

Day one the whole family was there and I have one daughter who is not a skier, so we stayed on the frontside while she had her lesson then made a few more after lunch. It was a lot of fun with the two older kids. The son got the hang of it quick the older daughter.... well.... she said it was nice to fall in. I did avalanche her once. She went down and there was a nice pile of poof uphill of her and downhill of me. I added a hockey stop and the furrow I rolled was classic in depth, speed and coverage. I couldnt help it. I'm a mean dad.
When we hit the backside day 2, we ran Gemini, About right for the son, a little harder for the wife, and a bit much for the daughter but she was making it happen. I was lovin it. I cut off and hit a couple lower blacks on the Mill valley side (shooting star and Borealis (and maybe the other one ??). The wife had suggested that I stay with the group. We didnt have words over it because I was headed over the hill. The son was skiing blue for real. I am kinda proud of him. If he can get some more separation and get his paws out in front, he will start getting good. He was trying at least and he told me he felt the gravity come on and off in and out of a few turns, so he knows what to look for now. I am glad I brought my boots and left my skis. My East coast hardpack boards would have been OK on the second day. But the snow on the first was better suited to the shorter rental (175) and they worked fine on the groomed hard(er) pack on day two.
The flight wasnt really that bad, a bit long but I didnt get straight throughs at any point so there was a break in Chicago on the way back and Denver on the way there. I rented a Ford Expedition because I wanted to and 5 adults with checked bags and a small carry on fit OK even after we stopped at Safeway for groceries. I really want one of these. It is the second time I have rented one and I still like them. +18MPG at turn in. That was up and down the mountain and a loop through Whidbey Island. The ride to Skykomish from the airport is under 2 hours. At 0100 when we got in it was an hour and a half to, and with weekday traffic it was a hour 50+ back to SEATAC. If you can rent a cabin in Skykomish, its like 22 min to the parking lot. Day one we were car 4, day 2 we were car 3.

Downside, I wont recommend the Green Door Cabin on Airbnb. House itself is OK. Beds were good and it was pretty clean.
The hot tub was dirty. Even after the cleaners were called, came and went.it was still dirty. The before and after pics look the same.
I grew up in the Poconos and have lived in snow for about 48-49 winters. The driveway had been untouched for a while and I stuck the Expedition in the snowplows winrow. Do I understand that it is a pain to get rid of? Yes, yes I do, thats how I fill the black ops fund, I go plow driveways in the cold and dark. It was funny that every other drive there was down to ground patches yet this one was a foot of hardpack once you got past the winrow. https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/13397495

 

[Varmintmist]

Wow... I never picture WA skiing as that .... colorful.

When the sun comes out, she is pretty. That stupid phone takes OK pics to. Kind of annoying to a guy who used to shoot SLR