Alpental, January 10

The forecast was calling for 2 feet of new snow. Sounds like an epic<br>day! <br><br>I sent out a flurry of emails, trying to stir up some interest. No<br>one replied, but hey, they couldn't possibly know something I didn't. It was<br>going to be deep!<br><br>I got started packing first thing in the am:<br><br>FatBob powder board. check<br><br>shovel, probe, and beacon. I wasn't planning on hitting the BC, but<br>just in case I saw someone get buried on the slopes, or just off<br>trail. It was going to be deep! Check.<br><br>My wife cautioned me to be careful on the drive up. The road might be windy,<br>covered with snow, or reduced to one lane. Chains? check.<br><br>No wind on the way up. No snow, either. Seems odd, but OK.<br><br>The highway radio update stated clear wet roads, 40 degrees at the<br>pass, maybe some slush. That was not part of the plan.<br><br>Temp at the exit ramp: 40 degrees. Indeed.<br><br>Ran into someone swapping out boards in the parking lot. How is it at<br>the top? "chair 2 isn't open" "yeah, it's s***ty up there". Roger<br>that.<br><br>It was indeed deep. Deep and wet and sloppy, and still lots of fun! Not more than a couple of dozen diehards, so it took a while for everything to get tracked up. <br>