May 16, 2004, Last call for Alpental?
5/16/04
WA Snoqualmie Pass
2417
2
We (me, son Zach, his friend Preston) couldn't leave town til after 11, so we decided on a last gasp for Alpental. Hoped that cool weather would have firmed up the mush and not allowed too much more melting.
Only snow patches left at the base, but we found continuous snow just at the top of the first pitch (top of Sessel chair). As soon as we reached continuous snow, the boys lost interest in climbing and spent the rest of the afternoon building jumps and "organic rails" out of downed limbs. I did a couple of laps up through the trees to the base of the cliff. The chute that runs through the trees from the cliff down to the cat track was actually very nice. 2-4 inches of soft over a plenty firm base. I could get in several hundred feet of vertical and still keep an eye on the boys down below.
Most fun of the day was seeing how far we could ski back down before starting to walk. We found some interesting little nooks and crannies to squeeze through. Ended up on the wrong side of the creek and had to wade across - but that just made the adventure more amusing. And the rain held off - not a drop on us the whole time.
It was surprisingly fun. But I think it's pretty close to the last call.
Only snow patches left at the base, but we found continuous snow just at the top of the first pitch (top of Sessel chair). As soon as we reached continuous snow, the boys lost interest in climbing and spent the rest of the afternoon building jumps and "organic rails" out of downed limbs. I did a couple of laps up through the trees to the base of the cliff. The chute that runs through the trees from the cliff down to the cat track was actually very nice. 2-4 inches of soft over a plenty firm base. I could get in several hundred feet of vertical and still keep an eye on the boys down below.
Most fun of the day was seeing how far we could ski back down before starting to walk. We found some interesting little nooks and crannies to squeeze through. Ended up on the wrong side of the creek and had to wade across - but that just made the adventure more amusing. And the rain held off - not a drop on us the whole time.
It was surprisingly fun. But I think it's pretty close to the last call.
Have been skiing Alpental the past few Thursdays, great snow around 8pm when it's cooling off. Last week you could ski down from Upper International to the lodge with only one bare patch (about 15 yards); though we ascended like you, hiking to the top of Sessel. This week will probably be even sketchier, but it's still a fun place to go.
drC
drC
May 28th, 2004 and there was 3-4" of new snow on Upper International with about one 1" on Lower I. You can still manage to ski a solid 1300 vertical feet before having to take the skis off. Alpental will be good for another week or so.
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