January 22, 2010, Stevens Pass, Blue ice warning

I had a fine day mostly skiing with my wife on Hogsback. The longest line on Stevens busiest chair was only a couple of minutes and only because people did not quad up. The snow was firm but very skiable. Just don’t take any big falls. We skied all the normal blue runs together. When I got my chance to take a solo run, I headed for 7th Heaven. It was also in the firm category but a pleasant change of pace. The Cloud 9 area even had some soft stuff in places. Ended up at the top of Hogsback and tried one of the side hills under the chair near the top. Not very pleasant. After lunch it was more Hogsback blue runs and a couple of Tye Mills. The snow was slightly better on Tye on the main blue run back to the chair. For my afternoon solo time I started for Corona Bowl. It was starting very firm and not very nice but I noticed a line to skiers left that I don’t think I have ever seen before. It is a little narrow but shaded from the sun so the snow was well preserved and soft, at least for a bit. The next run was Aquarius face that was decent but a bit of a struggle. Then a run under Southern Cross chair that was, uh, challenging. Hard, lumpy, bumpy, and a real workout. Finally back to the frontside. Double Diamond start was icy in spots but the real treat was getting into Big Chief bowl. The corner before, and in, the entry had blue ice that I have only seen before when East Coast skiing. I could not stop before hitting the traverse into the bowl. I was lucky to maintain my balance and slide into the traverse without incident. The bowl was actually very pleasant with several inches of soft on top of the firm with old avalanche debris thrown in for fun. All in all a nice day and way better than going to work!