Feb. 24, Tiger Mt. Off the Grid

More mountain biking:  Couple of rides at Grand Ridge, Tokul, and even rode to the top of the ridge above Roslyn, where we found Jake with a trail tool raking out the trails.  Weird year, it felt wrong to be riding Roslyn so early in the year. 




Don enjoys primo conditions on off-the-grid at Tiger Mt.

Francine

February 12, Alpental Side Country - tour

Dan gets a hop in his turn,  Chip's Couloir - top of Sharon Bowl

Well, I missed the final day of lift served skiing at Alpental yesterday.   Well, maybe they will re-open?  Unfortunately, the snow is definitely gone.  I was amazed at the difference in snowpack, since I skied 5 days ago.  It seemed like almost another foot had melted away.   You can still link turns, top to bottom, but there is no way they could run the chairlifts.   I hooked up with Dan Larson and Francine for our tour today.  The snow was springlike and skied quite well.   We managed to ascend up through snake dance, just outside the rope boundary.   We climbed up into the zone adjacent to Nash, just further North, outside the ropelines.  We worked this area over back in December, and it was kind of depressing to see that it actually had less snow now.   Anyhow it was a beautiful day and the turns were good, as well as the company.

Francine digging her new skis

Dan

 

Francine and Kevin

Kevin

Feb. 10, Rocky Top, Yakima

Francine headed higher in Yakima.

Had to escape the rain at the pass, so headed to Yakima hoping to find dry dirt.   Dirt was barely dry enough to ride without causing too much trail damage.   The main loop is about 11 miles and gets more fun as the ride goes on.  On a more negative note, Alpental has shut down operations until they get more snow, effective after today.   Bummer.

Feb 6, Day 26 - Alpy

Rain was the story of the day.  Rained all day long.  Word was they had about 5 inches of mank, yesterday, up top.  Anyone hoping for a little more snow at the top of Alpy, sorry.  Nash opened up today and skied very well.   By the end of the day the soft slide debri was pretty smoothed out.  Once again, have to say, I have never seen Alpental so low on snow.  Left side of lower I was quite rocked out.  If they run lessons this weekend, I would imagine the lower slopes to be virtually unskiable after Saturday.  Sessel was fine today, but the snowpack is just too thin.  Get Nash tomorrow, it's going , going , gone.  Rode the snowboard from 10-2:30.  Everyone out, maybe twenty people, enjoyed the good skiing, despite the rain.

Feb. 2/3 Whistler

Annual Rick trip.  Probably one of the lowest snow years in a longtime at Whistler, but thanks to snowmaking all the main runs were in good shape.  Good times.

Jan 30, Alpy Shot

Rob and Bill, Chair 2 Alpental

Bill and Rob stopped by the house and motivated me out onto the ski slopes.  Lowest coverage I have ever seen up top at Alpental.   Spring skiing was fun, just watch out for obstacles.

Jan 28/29 Schweitzer

With Scott Sumner scheduled for rotary cuff surgery on Feb 2, he was running out of ski days.   He had been trying to make it to Schweitzer to visit his buddy Carl.   We loaded up the truck and made two days of skiing.  Perfect spring conditions, with firm groomers in the morning, and getting just warm enough later in the days to enjoy soft bumps on the frontside.  Ground was barely covered in snow, but as long as you stayed out of the trees you were okay.

Sunshine ;)

Scott and Dianne

Francine and Heather H.

Dianne - smooth