Because we needed another seasonal thread and I've relocated to the hillside of Summit East...
12/26/17: Opening Day
Zipper freezing rain crust on top of thigh-deep, rightside-up snow made for a typical opening day at East. Walked-in to Rampart and caught first chair with two others - it was very nice to see the coverage beneath the chair before sending down it. Whole neighborhood was out and many fun laps were had. Afternoon offered packed powder of considerably high quality for being below 3000'. Was still finding powder pockets after last chair @ 3.
12/27/17: Round Two
The packed powder settled overnight but was still enjoyable in the morning. I headed over to the other end of the pass in the afternoon to get some back bowl laps in before the next storm closed the gates.
12/28/17: Reverse Pow Day
Snowed all day and the easterly flow kept temps in the upper 20s. Turns became increasingly better as the day wore on and I, once again, was making quality powder turns after last chair @ 3.
12/29/17: RAIN DELAY
Summit East was closed after receiving multiple inches of rain overnight and all day. The rain turned to snow in the late afternoon.
12/30/17: True Hyak Sat
No crowds, heavy snow, & nuking wet flakes all day. Showed a friend around who'd never ridden East before and had a lot of fun pushing the heavy stuff around. Upper 1/3rd was very crusty, middle 1/3rd fortunately breakable, bottom 1/3rd slurpee consistency. Damp but fun.
12/31/17: Ice Age
Yesterday's wet snow set-up overnight as the skies cleared and temps plummeted. Sure the sun came out and the visibility was great, but it was a groomer-only kind of day. A big turnout left most of the groomed runs icy by midday. Family came by for lunch on their way back over the pass so I hung-up the boots mid-day and watched the last Hawks game.
1/1/18: Happy New Year!
Stayed-out way too late and didn't make it on the hill until 11. Met-up with some friends on a similar schedule and had a lazy, line-free day of lapping the tilled groomers and dabbling in the icy bumps a bit for variety. Top few hundred feet starting to facet, but not great conditions. Hidden Valley was in the sun all day and offered softer snow than the frontside.
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