Winter arrives

At least in terms of temperatures, winter is making up for it's late arrival. On Friday, a blustery, cold storm blew in, dumping 12-30+ inches of snow in the mountains, and even a little bit at our house.

There was enough snow for Crystal Mountain to open some lifts Saturday, so I rode there on about a foot of powder over a crusty, thin base...when there was any base at all. With superfat skis and staying light on one's feet, I was able to stay above the worst of the rocks/stumps and had a great day.

My new, huge skis were incredibly fun. Can't wait for a better snowpack to really open them up.

After much discussion, friends and I decided against driving to Mt. Baker on Sunday for their opening day, fearing a slow crawl due to snow and ice, which coated I-5 Saturday night. The consolation prize was a leisurely skin up the closed Summit West ski area at Snoqualmie Pass.

Despite what the photo looks like, they really need another 10-12 inches to open even that. We did three laps in the bitter (by NW standards) cold. It was 10-15 degrees with some strong winds.

Took a drive over to Alpental afterwards, which got 17+ inches in the Friday storm. Still needs a lot more to open, but it's starting to look promising!