February 17, 2020 Bluewood 9" fresh, free ticket

Jill and I have planned to ski at Bluewood for years but the temperature and timing was not good. Today was the DAY. We spent the night in Dayton and spoke with a local who was skiing there yesterday in a storm and was going back today, the 17th. The 4:43am ski report said there was 9" of fresh powder and clearing skies. Dayton is at 1500' and 21 miles away, Bluewood is at 4,545' with the top elevation of 5,670. With 2 triple chairs and 2 kids' teaching "lifts".

Yes, being in the mid-70 plus age bracket, our lift tickets were free. The drive up to the ski area was plowed and with curves along the route and no hairpin turns like at Baker, Paradise or other higher elevation resorts. So going up was easy. Coming down was a bit icy for the top third of the road, but they'd graveled that part.

We rode the Skyline Express Triple chair which was relatively fast but not really an express lift. There was powder on all the trails. The steep slopes were groomed on one lane and the rest was untracked powder. We skied off the Tamarack trail looker right of the chair and then Country Road looker left of the chair. The best part was you get to see the beginning of wonderful tree slots. I like the trails with names of Champagne, Green Giant, Stump Farm, Rated R, Alderon, and Vintner's Ridge. These are big treed areas with some wide and some narrow lines. We also rode Triple Nickel Triple chair where they were building the "Park" and where short untracked slopes were the fun part.

If you get a chance to stop at the ski hill, you could enjoy a powder day. Plus bring you backcountry gear for a second day.