January 18, 2011, Summit West Exercise

These are desperate times!  ::) Seeing it was actually snowing at Snoqualmie late Tuesday morning, I admitted I needed some exercise.  After cancelling our Mission and White Pass trip, I was running out of easy home projects. Plus I had some boot work done and I needed to test them before teaching on Wednesday evening. I started skinning at West around noon and there was about an inch of new heavy snow, 31 degrees.  The area was deserted €“ absolutely no one was around.  It snowed during the few hours I was cycling the slopes.  Probably received another inch during my visit.  The slopes still had great coverage.  I noticed a couple of openings which were easily avoided even in the constant snow squalls.  The slopes had not been groomed since the last day they were open.  I was pleasantly surprised that I did NOT encounter any rain runnels. The heavy snow skied nicely and the base surface was not icy.  I keep reading that it will be sunny on Wednesday.  With the few inches of new, it should smooth the ski area surfaces nicely.