January 12, 2009, Alpental skinning

1/12/09

WA Snoqualmie Pass

3062

4

Posted by silaswild on 1/12/09 10:11am

Went up to Alpental in search of the sunny 60 degree weather forecast by Cliff Mass, too early to see the weather on the web cams. Guess we were a day or two early, found mist and 30s temps. First we took a nap to wait for the clearing weather, and an hour later started skinning up the pistes in the middle of a cloud. Took a couple of 1000 ft laps, had a tiny sunbreak at noon. Better than the indooor stairmaster, saw major snowdepth loss. Phantom still seems continuous (barely.) Beware of twisting falls in heavy cascade cement, keep your DIN setting appropriate.

I found a pair of poles at the base, picked them up before tomorrows crowds could. Anybody forget their poles when leaving Alpental yesterday?

1/12/09 12:03pm

don-heath

Just curious, did you check in with anybody? Was Alpental open, or are they closed on Monday?

1/12/09 1:53pm

silaswild

Nobody to check in with, the place was a ghost town. Alpental and Summit West (aka Snoqualmie Summit) are closed on non holiday Mondays. Only Summit Central (aka Ski Acres) is open on Monday at the pass. Later in the week with sun during the day and freezing at night, one hopes the corn will happen.

1/12/09 2:19pm

moscawulff

author=silaswild link=topic=11875.msg49559#msg49559 date=1231826009]
Later in the week with sun during the day and freezing at night, one hopes the corn will happen.

We didn't harvest corn until summer Solstice last year, I feel torn about having excitement for spring conditions in January. But I do love the whooping cowboy turns only possible in that loose granular...I suppose the snorkel can come out of my pack and go back in the gear stash for a couple weeks.

1/12/09 3:47pm

charlie-hagedorn

Yep. Hero snow for breakfast can be pretty fun, but I'm still craving powder.

Thanks for the update, Silas! This whole week looks corny, especially after Wednesday or so.

Reply to this TR

Please login first: