Jan 30, 2008, Snoqualmie Night Ski

I got to a) ski heaps and heaps of powder and b) drive down the wrong side of the freeway; all in all a good evening. Driving up this afternoon I learned that I-90 was yet again closed, but only for westbound traffic coming from Cle Elum. Theoretically, one could still drive up from Seattle to ski the pass. I arrived at 4:30 and skied the completely untracked Summit West, which is just too flat to be a decent powder hill. I moved over to Central, which still had some pockets scattered about. The untracked was so deep that you really needed a 50 degree cliff face caked with snow to make any decent turns. I literally had to pole just to make it down some slopes. If you were a snowboarder you might as well just unstrap and start swimming.

I was having fun but then around 6 I heard rumblings the pass was going to close in both directions. I quickly raced down to my car to see what all the fuss was about. Sure enough, chaos ensued. Parked cars were scattered throughout the road. You could barely squeeze through to get from Summit to Alpental. I went into guest services to see if they had any beta. An angry father of three was screaming at the adolecent employees, who were telling him he's SOL and he better have a full tank of gas to keep the truck warm for the night. The employees explained their manager had gone home, there was no way to reach him/her, and they were instructed to kick everyone out at 10 to go sleep in their cars (all overnight accommodations were fully booked). I realize the three pimply faced desk monkeys didn't have the authority to pull any strings but the least they could do is let the concerned father huddle up with kids in the corner of the lodge for the night. C'est la vie.

Radio and internet both were reporting the pass would be closed until at least Thursday morning. However, rumors were swirling that they were going to escort the stranded motorists down at some point in the evening. I parked my rig in line and waited with the masses. After sitting for only about a half hour, they allowed us to drive westbound down the eastbound side of 1-90. Semis were still moving down the westbound side, which is weird since I heard an avalanche had crossed the road. Relieved that I wasn't going to have to sleep in my ski gear in my backseat, I made it home in one piece.

2 to 4 more feet is supposed to fall before Friday. I never thought I'd say there can be too much snow but this might be it.

TOO MUCH SNOW??!! hard to imagine coming from an Alta Snob... they just go interlodge and block the road off too! I think that to go up to snoqualmie pass yesterday was a risk if you were concerned about getting stranded up there then don't go without being prepared. Everyone knows it was being closed repeatedly so get a grip on reality and plan accordingly, I say to the irrate father. This is winter in the NW on a la nina, anything can happen! I'm tossing a sleeping bag in my car today, JIC (optimistically). What I would give to be stuck up there with all the lifties so they can still spin the lifts but the roads up and down are closed to others trying to steal my goods... ohhhh the pprecious...

Skiing at Alpental was somewhat lame by the time I got there...4:30. Really skied out, chopped up and chunky. Still fun....but only in a sick way. Only took 5 runs, then decided we should try to get a hotel room....forgot the damned sleeping bags..But then we heard about the escorted convoys...so got in line to get out of there. Glad I'm not still up there...since alpental is currently closed...could be skinning hyak I guess...

Well this is probably more of a traffic report with a little ski description, and at times the thought crossed my mind that there was "too much snow" !

After watching the pass cam all morning, I made a break for the pass from Redmond at 2pm. I brought a sleeping bag, Coleman and dry clothes just in case…. after reading TAY reports from Tuesday. There was barely any traffic on the road and eastbound I-90 was plowed nicely with a little packed powder and ice, no problem for my front wheel drive Eurovan.

Unfortunately, I forgot that Chair 2 at Alpental usually closes at 3-3:30pm… I got off the Armstrong lift, was waived through by the lift attendant who was installing the “lift closed” fence only to miss the “last chair” by seconds… oh well. Probably better from a safety standpoint since I was skiing solo and the snow was bottomless. The boarders and skiers that had just descended, mentioned how there were still plenty of fresh tracks for future indulgence.

The lower mountain had pockets of knee deep powder, truly “gnar” ( just a joke…  from earlier threads). After adjusting my “deep” powder tele-technique it was just too much fun. There were plenty of pitches where high speed carves provided plenty of  . The roll-on glide wax I applied earlier worked as advertised. I actually thought it worked too well....

Around 6 or so, the word had spread that the pass was closed. So I figured that I was going to spend the night. Took a few more runs, stopped at the lodge and had a beer and burger, met a few other tele skiers, talked tele talk, inherited a pitcher of beer, donated a ¼ pitcher of beer to some college kids, then went off for another run.

Before venturing out around 7:30 or so, I dialed 511 to get the up to date DOT pass report which reported “State Trooper escorted convoys”, westbound down the eastbound lanes. Luckily the customer service folks at Alpental informed the beer drinking populous as well as posted additional signage at the Armstrong lift which said “ if you want to get off the pass, now is the time”…. I then proceeded over to I-90 waited 20 minutes then proceeded convoy style the “wrong way” down the pass. 

I would have to hand it to the WADOT folks, State Troopers and Alpental Customer Service for handling an epic storm with professionalism. I think that they do a great job!

we were released from exit 34 at 11am. i got on the lift at alpy at 12 and heard that a slide had buried alpental road just after i went through. as a result, no one else showed up till about 2:30. i lapped rollen-breakover-shot six over and over. the place was vacant. shot six was waist deep perfection. i felt terrible for those who waited in north bend and got stopped on alpental road. can't say i'm not glad it happened though. pays to get in line early... i too was ready to sleep in the truck and almost turned down the escort home to be ready for more snorkeling this morning. it was the right choice though as lifts are closed today and the road might not open till saturday.

Yee-haw!!!!!

Thanks for all the good info on skinning from North Bend to Hyak, but it wasn't necessary (a dash of truth+a ton of sarcasm=humor ).

I drove up yesterday, in record time, with no back-ups or slow-downs, skied face shot, waist deep, light powder in good visibility and heavy snow with a small crowd, who all got tired, or worried about getting home, and left the mountain to me and maybe a dozen other powder frenzied, perma-grinned, lunatics from about 7-close (9:15), drank beer, chatted with some locals, and found a place to crash.

Reconnaissance gathered from friendly Summit employees fostered hopes of being one of the "unlucky" ??? people stuck on the pass skiing the Alpental lifts with other "unlucky" people. Alas, a slide on Alpy road this morning was the energy bar that broke the Sherpa's back. No lift ops today :'(

Escorted off the mountain by State Patrol caravan westbound on eastbound lanes through a winter wonderland, safe at home posting a trip report with sore thighs and smelly polyester.

Status: SIW-SIC: socks in washer, skis in car. C'mon WSDOT, clear that road! Another new foot of fresh is waiting for tomorrow afternoon!