January 6, 2004, Stevens Pass

I admit it was a toss-up, stay in town and watch the snow fall or drive to Stevens and ride the lifts. As my better half is a Alpiner she won and we drove. Windy and snowy conditions were the norm for the drive and we were glad to pull into the lot. It was a cool 1 above with wind on the ridge and plenty of fresh and hit a sizzing 7-8 above by about 3. Stevens was empty even for a weekday so we took advantage and stayed on the backside for most of the day. At one point on the backside we could not see a soul, on the chairs, on the runs, above or below, right or left. The conifers were covered in snow, some almost hidden [snowghost?] with some holding more snow then others. At the end of the day we thought we could ID the trees by the amount and the way they held the snow. The true firs with thier tiered habit and upright leader seemed to hold more snow then the Hemlocks with thier drooping leader and downward arching limbs which seemed to shed snow rather then hold it at least at the top. All and all another excellent day which Stevens has had an abundance of this year! ;D A fair number of freeheel skiers on telly tuesday were in attendance.