1/15/12 Stevens Pass

18F when we arrived in the parking lot early to TONS of people.   They were reporting 15" of new and it was certainly deep in places.  However the snow was so light you could feel the ice layer underneath.   The key was to find smooth surfaces (ie. no moguls underneath). The sun came out for a very "un Northwest like" powder and sunshine morning. By the afternoon most terrain in the main area was getting scraped off and icy.  Clouds came in about 1:30 and when we left at 3pm it was DUMPING all the way to Index.    Given how light the snow was and the ice underneath I was surprised that we saw no snow movement, sluffing, sliding etc.

Video can be found here:

Mother Nature timed the break between storms perfectly to give us blue sky, cold temps, and no wind today fom 830-130pm!  We had a great day skiing 18-24" untracked sidecountry thanks to my local friends. Quite a workout despite lift assistance. We did some boot packing. Slopes were surprisingly stable after yesterday's breezy, snowy conditions. Only due south facing slopes were sun damaged, under the trees there was shallower fresh snow and crunchy base.