Snoqualmie Pass Snow?

Has anyone been skiing around Snoq pass recently? I'm thinking about going out to Commonwealth basin area, but don't want to go if there isn't really enough snow to do anything. Any info? <br><br>

I predict you will find very little snow up there...maybe just patches in the shade. My wife and I went XC skiing from the Cabin Creek snow park two weeks ago on a base of 3" to nothing. Since then it has rained a little and been generally warm. You can check the various webcams on the "Weather Links" page to see for yourself. Hiking may be a better bet. A friend of mine hiked Mt. Si on Saturday and didn't even see any mud, much less snow.<br><br>

I haven't been up there in a while, but I bet you could find decent snowpack up around Chair Peak or Snow Lake, on slopes that don't get sun. 2 weeks ago there was <br>more than sufficient snow there:<br><br>

I skinned up the main Summit West slope last Saturday afternoon as a reward for doing housework and found very spotty cover. The top half was Ok, but it was dodgerock the rest of the lame way. At least is was sunny and empty.

I hiked (boots, no snowshoes, no skis, almost no postholing on the firmly packed trail "high center") in Commonwealth Basin a month or so ago, up to the saddle between Red and Lundin. You could almost eke out some skiing on the basin floor if you just wanted to travel and didn't mind dealing with lots of obstacles (some dirt, logs, etc). Once the summer trail left the basin floor to head up toward the saddle, the cover got quite spotty, and I don't think turning on the slopes would have been any fun back then, and I'm guessing it's no better now. For more data, check out a report from last week on this Snoqualmie tour that is in the usual guidebook: www.wta.org/~wta/cgi-bin/wtaweb.pl?7+df+2005022703+time+trails+ .<br><br>I think Phil has a line on where the skiing might be found w/o a huge approach/turns ratio.

I took this picture yesterday at Hyak. Coverage is very thin..<br><br>

&gt;<br>Time to change your handle?

And to think, this photo was taken on 2/27/99. It is a friend of mine helping to dig out my parking spot. The area is normally flat, that is all snow behind him. Yesterday there was just a couple bumps of snow on each side of my parking spot not more then 6" deep at the most..... <br><br>Well, the shoveling was pretty easy this winter that's for sure.<br><br>