April 23, 2017 - Stevens Pass, Closing Day

Haven't missed a closer @ Stevens in a decade, so I decided to subject myself to additional drive time to bump that count to 11. This year it happened to coincide w/ Springfest and for a day with an iffy forecast, turnout was high and even a little liquid pow by last chair couldn't turn all the smiles upside down (evening traffic between Index & Sultan, OTOH, might have converted a few into ). Legitimately nice turns in fresh snow this AM on 7th Heaven and bottomless, unconsolidated mank below 5k made things forgiving. Intermittent snow showers in the morning gave way to a nice break in the afternoon before the white turned completely to wet for the tail end of the pond skim. Speaking of which... lots of folks made it across this year, way more than I expected. I guess the threat of going for an icy swim in 37F temperatures provides the necessary motivation to avoid the splash!

Didn't count my laps, vert, or number of beverages consumed - but let's just say at no point did I need to retreat to Daisy

My first Stevens closer; some of the best slush skiing ever! Well, since last weekend on the backside, anyway.