Monday, December 29 etal, 2008 Schweitzer

My wife, son, and I woke in Sandpoint yesterday morning to fast falling snow making for a challenging drive up the step, hairpin turned Schweitzer Mountain Road.

The powder was deep and, though there was little moisture, it was curiously heavy. Though visibility was an issue, it was easily mitigated by staying in the wonderful glades and thinned trees. Fresh tracks all day. Only waited in a lift line for over 5 minutes twice and then for under 10 minutes.

It snowed every minute of the day. Avalanche danger has kept some parts of the mountain closed.

By 3:30 it was a full blown blizzard. The weather was too bad to take pictures but great for skiing. Maybe I'll get some pictures today as visibility is predicted to be better.

Hope everyone's having fun back in Washington.

Today, Tuesday, December 30 at Schweitzer was clear, very cold (teens) and no wind. Unfortunately the snow was wind scoured from the big winds of the night before and while ok, was not the dry fluff that I'm hoping tomorrow brings and is forecast. Even the snow in the tress was impacted. The packed powder was delightful.

Some long lines on the backside, Outback Bowl, (Stella and Snow Ghost chairs) especially as the ropes dropped for north ridge. More terrain to open soon.

Here's a picture from the top of The Great Escape Quad looking out on Lake Pend Oreille

I have only one thing to say TOOOO SWEEET
That is all.

Wednesday, December 31. Due to high winds, Schweitzer opened one chair at 11:30 and hoped to open the rest at 12:30. With the additional report that visibility is "limited", I bagged it for today.

Hoping for better tomorrow.

Thankfully I'm staying at a motel only a couple hundred feet from a starbucks.

Thursday, January 1, 2008 was an epic day at Schweitzer. When I awoke at 5 AM it was snowing hard and it did not stop all day. All lifts were running and there was hardly anyone there in the morning.

Every run all day long involved fresh or mostly fresh powder. I  stayed in the Outback Bowl until 3 PM which was especially deep since it had not opened up yesterday.

Returning to Puyallup tomorrow--if the passes are open!

A run down through Phinea's Forest