Even though we sat in line waiting for US2 to open the day before only to be denied any turns, we decided to take a chance that the pass would open on Friday in time to get a full-day of skiing in. US2 opened as we hit Monroe and we had a trouble free ride to the ski area.
We arrived about 9:15 to vacant parking lots, no ticket lines, empty lifts and tons of fresh snow (1+ foot). The back side was open right from the start and we spent most of the day riding Southern Cross and Jupiter. We got run after run of soft powder with intermittent face shots. There was not a bad line anywhere on the moutain. It was a bit windy at the peak (20+ mph sustained with 30+ gusts) which helped to fill in the tracks pretty quickly.
By the afternoon things were getting pretty tracked out on the main runs and the cold temps (mid-teens) combined with the wind resulted in firm / variable conditions that proved more challenging than the morning. No matter, our legs were spent by 3:00 anyway and we headed to the bar via Big Chief bowl (which still had plenty of untracked lines).
It was one of my better days at Stevens, although I will say that the conditions weren't as good as I remember from some of the big dumps last year.
