March 26-27, 2003, Alpental

I skied the lifts and lift accessed backcountry at Alpental Wednesday and Thursday.  A surprising amount of new snow waited each morning, 6"+ Wednesday and 8"+ Thursday.  The skiing Wednesday was very good above 4000ft and good below where a crust had formed sometime after the weekend.  The new snow wasn't deep enough to completely bury it and it could be felt while turning.  The backcountry gate was opened in the afternoon guarenteeing some very nice freshies for all.

Yesterday more new snow had fallen, but the temperatures also went up.  The skiing was very thick below 4500ft, with now a foot or more new heavy snow overlaying the old crust.  Still mighty enjoyable, it just took a little more work.  Up high the skiing was still very good.  The sun made brief appearences warming things up quickly and the temperature at 5400ft felt above freezing in the afternoon.  The new snow started sluffing off cliffs, enough to be a concern even in bounds.  With the lengthening days, the diurnal cycle is becoming more and more pronounced even on cloudy days with very pronounced daytime warming.  It is helping to stabilize each day's snowfall somewhat rapidly though.  With this weekend's predicted warmer temperatures and possibility of rain, I'd expect wet, heavy, and somewhat deep snow.