May 12-13, 2018, Summit West Mothers Day

May 12. The day started with a look at Hyak - a walker for the snow. Central had a big reduction from last Saturday and was a walker to get to the snow. West had snow and you can park 10 feet to get on snow and start climbing. I got the gear out of the car, and another old guy arrives – Jim Heber and his wife, Judy, plus the 2 dogs they're "watching" for family. We started chatting and I watched him attach 2 ropes to the dogs while they were skinning. This was a rare "happening"; it was different. The dogs just needed room to run. I had to start skinning to get home in time for a Mother's Day get together with our son & family for a lacrosse game and dinner. There was enough snow to climb to the top of the Wildside lift and the vacant "lodge". The Main Chute had good coverage and the climb is short but nice. Jim arrived at the top with the one dog that listened to the boss. At the base of Main Chute we met Judy and the second dog. I skied on down to the car, and Jim went back up to ski down to Beaver Lake.

May 13. Being Mister Wonderful, I suggested that Jill and I go back to West and climb/ski for Mother's Day. We did so and send the boys in WA and NH a couple of photos of Mom on Mother's Day. We parked at the western end of the parking lot and again had a 10 feet walk to put on the skins. We started near Julie's lift and headed toward Pacific Crest lift at the top. We skinned to the treed area just above the Dodge Ridge lift and finally found some shade. The coverage of this side of the hill is still good, but it is diminishing quickly. A local joined us in the shade and got a couple of pictures of us. It was fun to post pictures on Mother's Day with our skinning gear and a great background.