January 3rd, 2014, Stevens Pass

Had originally planned to pay Crystal a visit, using the Summit freebie deal going on presently. But, all the metrics and 1st-hand reports indicated Stevens would be the place to be, so I paid for the $40 "other passholder" deal. That worked out to be about $10 an inch - for the extra 4" of fresh that Stevens got over Crystal.

Executive summary: great conditions, but thin coverage in a lot of places. Tracked up quickly.

More details...

Arrived at the parking lot at about 0800, got a great spot in the "coach class" lot. Light snow and mid twenties. The lots all quickly filled to bananas crazy full...

Went straight to the backside and found relatively light, high quality powder with significant wind distribution: bottomless drifts in places, but scoured ice or bare ground in others. 8" seemed about right, but definitely spread out unevenly.

No crust or slabbiness observed anywhere, just reasonably well-bonded right-side-up powder on hardpack or ice. A few dry sloughs.

The temps stayed cool, the light precip came and went, the sun checked in a few times, and there was a light breeze. The cool temps and occasional winds kept the snow quality high, in spite of being tracked out pretty rapidly.

If you're thinking of heading there over the weekend, look in the extreme outskirts of the backside for pockets of fresh, mostly in the open trees. Or do a little hiking - it's worth it.

Stay out of the thick trees though; very little snow accumulated there.

Also, watch for land sharks; we kept our eyes peeled and remained alert, and came away without a scratch.

All in all, a great day. It was nice to ride a lift and a solid board for the first time this season. But powder leg was out of shape!

Great write up.

I also thought it was a pretty stellar day of easy resort turns.  I arrived around 10am and somehow snagged a great parking place and only skied for about 3 hrs before calling it while still in one piece. 

This should help the rest of the backcountry, still need a lot more, though. 

Getting out from Grace Lakes was unusual because doesn't seem like WSDOT has pushed in their minicat road yet this season. It was sorta disorienting not to have the road as handrail when cutting the switchbacks. And getting out from Highland Trees was a real PITA. Threeway combo of open creeks, slide alder, jackstraw logs on forest floor preventing the necessary sideways progress. But even with these speedbumps well worth the effort for the snow found on upper parts. Ended up exiting higher up to avoid trouble.

First time I have tried the new gladed area (South Park). It's pretty nice, gives people something new to do if riding Jupiter.

Finally some new snow and cooler temps! Like the new chair, will look for new glades when there is a bit more snow. First time I had my fat boards out this year. Skyline chutes are getting enjoyable.
I ran into Silas at Granite Peaks; he was giving lessons to Our Esteemed TAY Founder Charles's daughter, so we never caught up with him. Way to pass the torch....

Thanks for your report r1de. Conditions today ( saturday the 4th) were even better than you predicted thanks to the glorious sun and early arrival. We avoided the crowds ( that indeed were heavy on the front side) by sticking to the back, and hiking out here and there. We also especially enjoyed the glades of south park. Even the shady side of Corona skied well with the new snow holding up well. Telemack, wishing you a good return to the classroom. Ski ya.

Thanks a bunch all....Dint hear enough how good (or not) things are at Stevens. I got some discount coupons to use before the 15th and you all are getting me pretty interested.