December 3, 2017 Summit West

Rob and I arrived just as the lifts started and enjoyed the first runs before the masses arrived. There was a slight fog that came and went and came back during our 2 hours there. We stayed on the groomers which were enjoyable. Yes, there were folks moving through the untracked area - some had nice runs but there were numerous skis without skiers attached and a few skiers digging out of holes. At 10:45am we decided that it was getting crowded and was time to head out. 

We headed east from the parking lot and saw folks walking to the West lifts, having parked along the road all the way down from past the Rest Stop - one long walk! The Summit had a nice day. We stopped at Central and from the Silver Fir lift we could see folks climbing with their skins on and other folks building jumps. Summit East also had a large group of backcountry folks heading up with more arriving by the minute.

It was a nice start to the season.

Nice. I was there from noon to 3. Snow was very nice above 3200. Below that there was more ice content. Off the groomers was pretty fun, but keep a sharp eye out for holes. Almost landed in a creek crossing from Pacific Crest to Wildside.

Conditions on Sunday were certainly better than Saturday and while it was hard to get going in the morning, I'm glad I battled through the soreness and got out in the morning. Visibility was much improved and the light snow in the morning gave way to breaks of blue sky in the afternoon. The groomers were in much better shape, but the "off piste" terrain did become more challenging as the day wore on.

The touring crowd was out in force this weekend - driving through the pass this morning, it looked like there were moguls forming on Triple 60. Hyak face was absolutely slayed and I'm sure there were even more tracks on the northern side of the freeway.