We arrived to blue skies and 22 degrees at 8:30. It was a great day because of a combination of factors: a couple of inches of fresh and basically really nice snow; LIGHT crowds (basically ski-on lifts all day), and great weather. Clouds moved in around 10:30 to preserve the snow nicely, but visibility never deteriorated. Raining in earnest by Skykomish at 5 PM on the way down. I forgot how nice Stevens can be on a non-crowded day. People get really spread out and there is good snow all day. There was no bad snow anywhere on the mountain. Explored the side country to the skiers right of the power lines on the descent from Jupiter. The tree tracks spill out nicely onto the road; no need to panic about being South of the gully through there. The base is really good and if gets refreshed and stays cold it should be great on the weekend. First day on castor oil green tele boots.
