Feb 24, Alpental, Chair Two Blues

After making impressive time up the west side of the pass this morning (32 mins from eastgate to lot 4), we found ourselves in great shape to get in the pack headed for the top ASAP. Things moved early considering the dump that came down late yesterday and despite a very light crust from this morning's freezing fog/mist, the snow was deep enough to send just about everything, esp. in the trees up high. Lower gate was open from the start and hoping for an upper gate drop, we cycled the top, not wanting to drop into the chaos unfolding below (ski school + powder fever + weekend crowds). On our third ride up the padded seats, the chaos found us and the lift ground to a halt for an agonizing 45 minutes. Parked right on top of the Fan, we were in prime condition to watch a swarm of maintenance workers and patrollers work at getting 'er going again while the line swelled to oblivion behind them. Fearing the worst (no, not having to be evac'd, but rather that Chair 2 would be down for the day) we consoled ourselves with the thought that iif we did get roped-down, we'd at least be able to hit Shot Six on the way out. Eventually the backup motor came alive and we began the punishing crawl towards the top. We considered abandoning ship above Rollen but decided to hold tight only to have the chair stop for another handful of minutes as we were right above Schluct, wind howling around us, as they transitioned back over to regular operation.

That pretty much put the brakes on any chance of getting the upper gate open, but at least it kept the crowds at bay and rewarded us with a phenomenal lap down the far side of the lower "back bowls". Arriving back at Armstrong we were greeted by the longest line I've seen for Chair 1 in recent history which fed some burly lines up top, though the worst was the 15+ min wait after lunch. Still, we managed to get 7-8 laps in, half of them through the lower gate. Fun was had, disaster was averted (for another day), faceshots were plentiful and smiles were all around. Time to lower the blood-Alpental content for a day before getting back on it bright and early Tues. morning!


If you stare at this image for 45 mins while sitting in front of a cold fan blowing mist into your face, you'd have this morning's experience all over again

the back-up gen., though slower, is much more reliable imo
gizmos have been in that elec. panel or years.
glad that jason and adams first day shift crew got her back on line!
had about 50 nervous vollys wondering if they were really going to have to help.
bF

Nervous? No. Damn excited? Yes. Lots of training this year for that situation, including most of Saturday night.

That pretty much put the brakes on any chance of getting the upper gate open

Nash gate not opening is a matter of snow pack instability relative to a faceted layer that formed Wednesday just prior to the most recent accumulation.

Nervous? No.  Damn excited? Yes.  Lots of training this year for that situation, including most of Saturday night.

well you just keep on carrying your rope because it will happen again.
when? why? but it will happen when you least expect it that's for sure.
lot of folks sitting there swinging were nervous indeed.
b

well you just keep on carrying your rope because it will happen again.
when? why? but it will happen when you least expect it that's for sure.
lot of folks sitting there swinging were nervous indeed.
b

Speaking from experience, strictly speaking...