December 18, 2008 Stevens Pass

Jill and I arrived early for the opening of the frontside of Stevens.  The usual 1.5 hour drive was 2.5 hours and was enhanced by the snow from Bellevue to Monroe.  Highway 2 was in nice shape early.  We cruised Hogsback and Skyline quads for a couple hours until the traffic arrived and we departed.  Sounds like they are hoping to open Big Chief for the weekend.  They reported 23" in 24 hours so the coverage on the groomed runs was excellent.  Off-piste was deep and required steep terrain plus "brushy". Temperature in low teens but no wind made things rather pleasant for a couple of hours.   The hot tub will feel great tonight. 

I spent the whole day at Stevens too. I generally agree with Zap's assessment. Here are a few more tidbits.

There was about two feet of fresh snow. The back country near Steven's is probably pretty epic right now.

There were only four lifts running today - Skyline, Hogsback, Daisy and Brooks. Despite long lines at Skyline and Hogsback for most of the day no additional lifts were opened. Talked to one of the lift-ops and he said Big Chief would open as soon as they can run the groomer over it a few times (sigh). He expected that would happen in the next day or so.

The Skyline lift broke down at around noon. People were saying that there was a fire in the machinery loft on the lift (I can't confirm this). Skyline resumed operation about 30 mins later under very noisy diesel power.

Today was also the debut of the new RFID ticket system at Stevens. I sure hope that itwas a day of working the kinks out of the system and that performance will improve over time. To use the RFID card you have to place it in your upper left pocket. Lift ops were warning people to not put cell phones or iPods in the same pocket since it may block the signal. Getting the RFID reader to recognize the tag was painful. It took multiple tries and it was really tough to get through the gates as a group (I was riding with two friends). Also, the RFID gate setup effectively ruins the singles line. I can't remember seeing more partial chairs going up than I saw today. My take is that the RFID tickets may help Stevens to assure people are paying for their lift ride but it sure won't help me get on the lifts more quickly.

Yes, conditions up there were good...

Coverage up there was good for opening day, but with the low density snow received (20+ inches), it won't pack into much.

We stayed on Skyline until about noon, then grabbed the gear and skinned up Big Chief to have a closer look at DD or to go to the backside behind Dudly's. Not super sketchy avy conditions, but did notice some hoar underneath the new snow. Low coverage on trees and shrubs, with the constant threat of rocks on slopes greater than 30 degrees. Lapped the bottomless on Chief for the afternoon (which was so deep, no turns were required... more like slowly wading downhill) and went home with a smile.

Any steeper slopes and/or backcountry in the area will need some time and more snow to be possible.

P.S. saw a group later in the afternoon drop Double Diamond.... looked like fun...