Summit Central - Dec. 23, 2015

Power still out. Crowd smaller than Tues. Weather nastier, too... what started out as <30F snow in the morning turned into fat 33F flakes by noon before the wind picked-up and the temp backed off. Standard issue limited operation shenanigans again today. I drove up to Alpental first thing in the morning to assess the s(h)ituation, only to receive a tirade from a patroller in the parking lot about how I wasn't supposed to have turned left to begin with (I guess there was a sign? I sure didn't see it). Headed-over to Silver Fir to claim a prime parking spot and was surprised when the lift operators showed-up at 8:30. Seemed late but that's been the way things have gone this week, so I asked what the status was and got told no earlier than 930, likely not until after 10 and if I wanted fresh turns to head over to Central Express. CEX was spinning when I'd driven to the Fir but was immobile when I joined the lineup around 845. By the time the chair loaded ~930, both sides of the maze were full.

First lap down Golden Nugget was glorious - they'd only groomed a single swath down the middle of the run, leaving knee-to-waist deep, albeit heavy, snow for us to slash on the sides. Line ebbed and flowed as folks poked around the available terrain. Silver Fir did eventually open, sometime between 10 & 1030, but the engine overheated within an hour, leaving a hundred-ish folks stranded at the bottom, myself included. Classic Summit customer service entailed - you could either wait an indefinite time for the undersized shuttle back to the main base of Central or hoof it uphill to the crossover and work your way back. You can guess which option I opted for... knowing the lift line would swell considerably once everyone made it back from SF, I took the opportunity to extend the existing bootpack along Top Traverse up to the top of Triple 60 and lay the first tracks of the day down Parachute. The snow was belly-button deep which made turning all but impossible and the negative visibility meant you could barely see the hoard on Holiday and Gallery until you were right on top of them.

Broke for a liquid lunch @ Whiskey Pete's (food orders were astronomically slow), grabbed a park pass from Guest Services on my way back out, and went for a few "park" laps now that the park was open. Ended the day with a few more laps from Triple 60 down the skier's right and under the chair. Still good but starting to get cut up. As I was riding back to the car I noticed all the trail lights came on but the electronic sign boards were still dark. Night skiing had begun and I had no interest in staying as the snow was really stacking up and I wanted to beat the crowd down the highway. Took 45 mins to get to North Bend as it was snowing and blowing hard all the way down to MM 40, with slush on the road to Exit 34. Fortunately rush hour traffic was light and I was home within 90 mins of departing Acres, not bad for a stormy, low vis, backup power kinda day.

On 12-24 at 6am, the Snoqualmie Pass with the Pass being closed for a "while" and only CEX and Holiday open. I decided to checkout the Stevens Pass report and it was planning to open the road to the  Pass at 10am. OK, keep an open mind.  Checkout Crystal which is open but a friend sent me a road report of a big tree hitting a vehicle and all passengers injured.  At 7:30am, I recheck the Snoqualmie update and the management have decided to not open Central. I tell Jill that our powder day is "off".  I still can not believe that she was ready to go.  I think this a great day to pack a couple of packages and go to a party. There will always be another powder day.   

There will always be another powder day.   

Now here's a man with perspective.

(and the patience to wait until a huge storm cycle to sell a pair of powder skis, presently in the Gear Swap)

There will always be another powder day.   

WOW. I need some of Zap's patience. Thank you for that my friend.

I am so glad I went to Crystal yesterday. I couldn't take a 2nd day of the Pass customer service. We all laugh at it but its really not funny sometimes. Yet like you, I will be back because I love the skiing.

How can one company operate such widely disparate areas?

This week's operations so far in a nutshell:

https://scontent.fsnc1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xfa1/v/t1.0-9/10351896_10104719244298498_1276970492377599693_n.jpg?oh=c2593fe55ba990a3097c956779b6d901&oe=56DACAE2

With 90 closed today and 2 not opening until the afternoon, I decided to stay home and take care of the few remaining things I need to get done before the new year. Hopefully there'll be open roads, no traffic and maybe even Alpental tomorrow.

Now here's a man with perspective.

(and the patience to wait until a huge storm cycle to sell a pair of powder skis, presently in the Gear Swap)

Charlie,

I am selling my Icelantic Shaman powder skis, BUT at 11am my new, LONGER Icelantic Shamans arrived via UPS.  I'm heading to Sturtevants to get the bindings mounted.