May 27, 2018, Alpental 5-27-18

Had a couple of buddies give fill me in on their tour up to Silver Peak on Saturday. The indicated that the trek down to Lake Annette was toast but managed to get down with 3 separate ski removals and said it would be gone by Sunday. Have skied Annette almost exclusively in the spring for the run to Lake Annette is very good with often times excellent corn. Still recovering from multiple fractures of the ankle in March decided to give Alpental a go for I had not skinned inbounds in the spring for many years. There is little snow on Sessel so hiked up to the top of the chair 3. My route took me up Icefallen to the top if 1 then directly up Edelweiss Bowl. There is excellent coverage from the top of Sessel to the top. Boot packed the last steep section of the bowl as the sun was baking it. Saw one other skier at the base but I was the only one to go up one through the bowl for a number of days. The view was spectacular (Mt Rainer spectacular) at the top. Took my traditonal beer picture and ENJOYED IT when complete. The entrance to Nash is toast and required ski removal. Nash skied as good if not better than our November tour before they opened. The snow was smooth and very good and if I had hit it a couple hours early would have been the best corn in I had skied at Alpy in decades. Still it was excellent from top to bottom. Only saw a couple of tracks on the way down. Thought that Lower I would have been a bit sticky but it was not. Was able to ski down below the top of Sessel then hike to the base. Coverage below the cat track on I is fading fast and will be gone soon. If you cut over to Icefallen the coverage is much better and expect it to hold for a little longer. The coverage on 2 and down International is excellent and expect it will last a few more weeks if you want to hike to get it.