November 13, 2011, Stevens Pass first turns

My first trip report is for an easy one: a lap up and down Stevens Pass on Sunday. Got out to the pass around 11 AM and the there were a good number of cars in the parking lot. There were a few groups of kids sledding, and some dog walkers and snowshoers enjoying the first real snow of the year. A couple groups of skiers were skinning up, and a few different areas where snowboarders were building kickers and practicing their jumps.

There was about 12" of snow at the base with all the rocks covered but various bushes sticking up through the snow. The bottom snow was frozen with a breakable crust on the top. We skinned/hiked up past Daisy to the top of Hogsback where the snow was over 2 ft deep. At that point the snowboarders with me decided they had enough post-holing so we decided to ski down. We went down Rock N' Blue which was fun with heavy but enjoyable powder. It was snowing the entire time we were on the mountain, with 3+ inches accumulating in a couple of hours.