2/21/15 - Stevens Pass, Secret Stashes

"A gentleman never asks and a lady never tells" - well I'm neither of those, so here goes...

In a normal year with normal coverage, there would be more options on a day like today. But things being what they are, today was quite okay. A skiff of new at pass level deepened to 4-6" above 5k and the bright, morning sun quickly went to work softening solar aspects. The groomed runs were in superb shape, which is a bummer because the first thing we did was climb away from them to the top of Tye Stick for a lap down Hollywood Bowl. We followed a pair of bootprints to the end of the groomed path up the ridge where we encountered a pair of skiers who simply turned and skied back down next to their footsteps ??? So forward we pushed, battling one of life's great conflicts, hangover vs. fresh snow, to the top where we took in the views of the foggy valleys and surrounding peaks - from Stuart to Glacier - dressed in a fresh coat of white. Our sightseeing was short-lived as another fellow topped-out after following our steps and down we dropped into the smooth, untracked snow. There were no faceshots nor a single trip to the whiteroom, but the feeling of new snow underfoot was enough to put a smile on our faces. Dropping-in to the backside we were pleased to discover the groomers had softened to buttery corn perfection.

Interested in evaluating the conditions on north-facing aspects, we followed our own footsteps just shy of their terminus and dropped into the soft snow beneath the cliffs atop Tye Stick down the frontside. The snow was markedly lighter which, alas, was not ideal as the crust beneath was substantially firmer. After making some fun turns on the mellow angled bench we dropped into a survival slide to the exit, after whence we had to dodge both boulders and skiers alike. After a brief lunch break at the car, we headed back out to lap the groomers, which was quite pleasant in the warm, sunny weather. Unable to resist temptation, we caved into hiking one more lap up Tye Stick, this time from about 1/3 of the way to the top then down through the trees to the saddle between Rooster and Hollywood. Those turns were the best - offering the deepest, fluffiest new of the day on a firm but friendly crust - if you choose to explore this area, watch out for the cliff at the end of the ridge directly above the power line tower. After a few more groomer laps we said our goodbyes as the sun dipped below the ridgelines and headed home westward down 2.






Bony.