April 26-27, 2014, Stevens Pass, Last Call

Saw the chairlifts of the northern pass to their final stop of the 13-14 season this weekend. Arrived both days ~10:30 and rode until the lifts stopped spinning each day. Got a taste of the course for the annual Rhythm-n-Bruise on Sat. PM. Trained through the bumps and berms with friends I hadn't crossed paths with since early Feb. until they kicked us off at 3:30 for course maintenance. Finished-up the day with a few groomer laps where the snow was soft but not at all sticky or grabby.

The weather on Sunday went from mostly cloudy with snow showers in the morning to mostly snowy with sun showers in the afternoon. We snagged one of the few laps from the top of Cowboy ridge at noon during the brief window in which the hiking route was open. Otherwise, we mostly kept it on the groomed, where the new, wet snow made for soft turns. A little slow late in the afternoon, but not bad for late April. Snagged the 5th-to-last chair of the season up Skyline and soared through the park one last time until the fall. Post-final bell social kept us in the parking lot / mud bog until an hour after last chair.

Sat. PM


Great Sunday BBQ weather


Sun. PM

Cool! We did two days the 19th-20th, planned back before the season was extended another weekend. The wet spring meant we had some freshies almost every day I went up the last 3 months.