May 8, 2010, Snoqualmie Pass

Unhappy with the consolidating snowpack, but desperate to ski, I opted to head on an exploratory ramble into new terrain. I got to new places I hadn't been, stayed on safer slopes, and spent much of the afternoon cliffed out and traversing.

Skied all aspects hunting for good snow. Snow was surprisingly skiable, except on steeper southern exposures, which were sloppy, a little slabby, and generally bad. I did find the best corn I've skied since last summer on shallower windswept SW slopes. Corn-'o-clock struck at about noon, with a supportable crust from 3k to 5k, but I was still fully engaged in stupidity at the time. Only the highest elevations skied well at 5:30 pm. Trees, N-facing stuff, and shady bits are still consolidating and are a little soft and hooky. Forests are drippy and sluffed tree-bombs all day.

Watched a whole zoo of cornices today, but none of them dropped. Some of them are the biggest I've seen in their respective locations, and a lot of them are looking droopy.

The alpine looks set for a great corn season, but the access is already getting bony. Continuous snow switched on suddenly at about 3.3k. A quick tour of the entire pass showed Granite holding snow down to where the three main paths combine (~5-700' above the waterfall?). Chickamin looks fat, but Gold Creek is already cooked. Resorts, except Hyak, still have snow to the bottom.