Dec 8 - Stevens, EPIC or what?

Wow! Best powder ever in the cascades! 41" in the last 24hrs. Lifts didn't open until 10AM, due to avi bombing; after that it was nothing but powder. Never heard so many hoops and hollers in Washington before.

Despite the snow all the way up from Monroe, just barely missing the cutoff for getting parking up top and having to hike up the pass from Yodelin, and the mega crowds ... yeah, today was great! Had bottomless turns down Double Diamond for lunch, took Big Chief bowl's "cherry" for the season and got absolutely pitted in the trees on the backside.

Tomorrow will be ripe for stash hunting in the AM and hiking to the super goods!

Epic traffic for sure. 3 1/2 hours from woodinville to the "already full" yodelin parking lot. Glad we were going touring and that there was still parking at smithbrook. Enjoyed watching people walking the 2 miles from yodelin to stevens. It made smithbrook road seem pleasant.

...just barely missing the cutoff for getting parking up top and having to hike up the pass from Yodelin...

At least you didn't have to park at the Nordic Center!  What an adventure.  Despite that, still great skiing once we eventually managed to get ON the mountain. 

I was expecting much longer lift lines given the ABYSMAL parking/traffic situation (2.5 hours extra to deal with traffic/parking/shuttling up from Nordic Center - that teaches me to think about leaving at anything but an appallingly early hour on a powder day, even if I don't care about being the first on the hill).  Heard some talk that some of the parking issues were due in part to the lots not being plowed well (not surprising given the rapidity of the fall overnight).  Did anyone who actually got to park in a real lot see any evidence of this? 

Wow! Best powder ever in the cascades! 41" in the last 24hrs. Lifts didn't open until 10AM, due to avi bombing; after that it was nothing but powder. Never heard so many hoops and hollers in Washington before.

It was quite an exceptional day.   I'll let the video and photo give you the general idea.

Davep, that is Powderwhore worthy video. Thanks for posting, phew what a day you had! I think that would ease the pain of the parking nightmare.