November 20, 2011, Summit Central

I originally planned to ski at Hyak but I looked at the front face of Hyak and it loooked like they held a "figure 8" competition on the visible slopes.  Also there were numerous tourers on the slopes and in the parking area.  Went to Central and it was a quiet and lonely scene.  I did see a few folks on touring gear but there were more ski patrollers near their building.  The snowcats have been grooming the slopes and the terrain park. They were also running a snowmaking machine in the lower terrain park along the eastern slopes.  There were numerous untracked sections in the entire area which provided 6-8" of powder turns.  The temperatures remained cold and the sun was visible until early afternoon.  These early season ski area tours highlight the numerous creeks and terrain features that eventually disappear as the snow pack increases. There's still a lot of unfriendly terrain features visible. The quality of the snow was excellent.