Dec. 26, 2015 - Alpental, Opening Day: Take 2

bobby said it best while waiting at the bottom of Armstrong this morning, "It's like opening day all over again!" He wasn't wrong, and while the crowd was much larger this go-around, today was the day things really got going at Alpental. Where there were bony entrances and sporty exits just a week ago, there are smooth ramps and flowing finishes. Both the load and unload ramps for the padded seats are in mid-season condition and while there's still lots of snow to consolidate, folks were getting after it and sending everything in sight. At its worst, the line for 2 backed-up to the unload ramp from Armstrong, but it moved with relative alacrity as it was only one to two seats wide for its entire distance. I think I waited a maximum of 15 minutes around 11am and then Snake Dance opened and afforded a superb top-to-bottom run for lunch. Bailed at noon when I heard East was opening within the hour, which it did, and lapped the trees at Hyak until closing bell.

good 2nd round but lacked the gift of the 1st.
first lap first thing from first chairs made a huge difference imo
the tractor buried like a prehistoric creature was awesome!

If you thought the Pettigrew Tractor Pull was exciting, you should've seen the red coats putting the tower pads out on the other end of the pass. At some point they got frustrated enough that they held skier traffic and let them loose then had to go fish them out of inconvenient places. Speaking of traffic... it took me a full 45 mins to get from Lot 2 -> the lower lot @ East... even with hopping on 90 between Acres and Hyak. Would've been faster to go west down to Denny Creek from Alp and then back east to Hyak for sure. Then lots of folks unable to navigate the slippery hill to the lower lot - seemed like most of those parked at East were just there to sled and play in the snow since the sno-park was full.

Good seeing everyone today. 'Nuff said already, let's have a vid:

vimeo.com/150088484

After spending the morning at Alpy, I was turned away at East by a lot attendant around noon. He said that they weren't planning to open at all. Wtf?