Feb 27, 2016 - Snoqualmie, Across the Board

Dunno if it's some hidden masochism poking through or I was just bored, but I spent what was a sunny day in Seattle slopping around in the fog and rain at The Summit (and to be honest, it was quite fun). Started out this morning at Silver Fir where the drizzle turned into sunshine within the first few laps, although the top of the chair was in the clouds. When the drizzle returned I headed over to East where filtered sunshine poked through and the visibility improved to the point where you could actually see the bottom from the top. Around noon a rain shower chased me back to Silver Fir, lasting approx. the duration it took to enjoy a beer.

Back on the slopes as the Powder Pigs headed to lunch, I made my way over to West via Golden Nugget, Alpine and Triple 60, all of which had grown nice, big grains of raincorn during the morning's intermittent drizzle. I did a few laps on Wildside, where the visibility was top-to-bottom, before another rain shower moved in at 2 and chased me back to my tailgate. A quick check of the telemetry confirmed my sense that the temperature was lowering, possibly cold enough to be snowing on chair 2, so I zipped over to lot 4 and caught a break in the rain just as I loaded Armstrong at quarter 'til 3. The mountain was deserted - with only the (fool)hardiest of souls hammering laps, but the snow was, again, surprisingly good. Yes it was schmoo and yes visibility was bad, but it was soft underfoot and fast enough in the right places to make a few laps up top fun. Plus, it was snowing hard up top and the snow level continued to lower from the top of the Fan all the way down to the first tower on 2 by the time last chair loaded. Nash side skied great, but Elevator was a poor choice as the pockets of untouched snow were grabby and the terrain down low has substantially melted out after last week's warm weather (and before that, the rain).

40F and misting in lot 4 when I left a little after 4 o'clock, fingers crossed tomorrow's falling snow level and increasing precipitation coincide at the right time

The rain corn at central dried out a bit during the very nice weather gap from about 5 to 7, becoming really nice fast corn such that we kept saying "one more lap?" for well over an hour. Hunger and tired legs finally drive is home. It was well worth enduring the "gear test" portion of the afternoon.

Why were there no lift lines today??

Why were there no lift lines today?? 

I'd guess the newer folks to town haven't yet figured-out that if you don't ski in the rain, you're not going to ski at Snoqualmie very often

More of the same today... started out the morning in a snow shower at Silver Fir, filtered sunshine briefly materialized then at 11 on the dot the sky opened up and poured rain. Bailed to Alpental to do some beacon practice with folks in the early afternoon - fortunately they had a pop-up tent to keep us sheltered while we BBQ'd and took turns searching for beepers. Caught a break in the precip. in the early afternoon and used it to get up to 2 and lap the padded seats until they shut down for the day. But when I got to the bottom at quarter 'til 4, it was snowing all the way down. The snow increased in intensity, so I lapped until ops said it was time to go home. 3" new atop Armstrong by closing time, easily 6-8" up top with a strong SW wind filling-in Nash.



But remember, it only rains at Alpental

Just wondering which Alpental lot is #4? What's the name of the lot the pic of the magic carpet tube was taken from?

Was up on Saturday night with my daughter from 4-8pm. Loved the no wait lines all night.

Lot 1 is the lot across the bridge. Lot 2 is the lot next to the bathroom, directly below the magic carpet (sometimes called "Shot 10"). Lot 2.5 is the lot across the road from Lot 2. Lot 3 is the overnight/RV lot and Lot 4 is the one at the very end of the road. The first lot you encounter on the way up is typically the "overflow" lot, but I've heard it called Lot 0 from time to time by the techie folks who smash around the place.

That picture from closing time yesterday was taken from Lot 2, which is my preferred lot when the back bowl gates are closed.

FYI - The rubber-tipped probes usually at the beacon park have vanished - BYO until further notice, just be a little gentle with your probing as not to damage the pads.

I skate skied Mt Catherine a couple of times during the day then was on patrol at Alpental for night shift. It was a ghost town but the snow until 8:30 was really fun and it was clear and dry. That clear part meant it froze over around 8:30 and sent me to the patrol barn until closing but all in all, a great fun evening!