January 22, 2013, Summit at Snoqualmie

What a mix of weather today!   Around 10 degrees at Central this morning with cold fog that I had hoped to escape by leaving Seattle.  Great groomers.  Finally the chill forced me to head for sunny Alpental where the temperature was 35 degrees warmer at the top of Chair 2.  Unfortunately the sun was filtered, not blazing like the past week, so the south facing slopes were crunchy.  Now praying for low enough freezing level for fresh powder, tho it might not be bad to have the precipitation come in warm first.

Whatever we get, it is about time for more new snow!

I was at Alpental from 7:30 - 9:30 this evening -- firm, but edgable, fast and for the most part smooth. I only hit occational icy patches and there were few death cookies in the moguls off the groomed runs. About 17 degrees at the base, felt about the same at top of the express -- but windy -- high clouds moving in later in the evening.

New Snow