April 10, 2007 Stevens Pass

It's always a pleasant sight to round the hairpin turn on highway 2 and begin climbing towards the pass and have to engage 4wd especially in mid April.  The ski resort was operating all their lifts , except Brooks.  The report was 3-5" new and with a brisk wind and temps in the mid 20's it was enjoyable.  The lifts were deserted. Jill and I made 4 runs on Big Chief and we saw less than 6 other skiers during those 4 runs.

The backside had variable conditions. Nice powder in the wind protected terrain and frozen "death cookies" in the wind affected areas.  Numerous tree protected slots had boot deep powder.  The weather was a mix of light snow flurries, clouds, sun and  changing conditions every few minutes.  The temperatures began to warm around 11 am and we were leaving about noon.  The coverage is still excellent on the trails and the open treed terrain.  A nice powder morning in April.