Flew from Salt Lake to grab my forecasted 10 plus inches of decent quality powder at Stevens for Monday morning. Forecast tracked well, but unexpectantly the pass shut down on the west at 6 AM until about 8:30. I was one of the first cars at the closure. I was at the Ski Area by 8:45 and impressed that the old double was running (Not loading), and DD loading patrol. Snow quality was great, BUT as usual, got stuck waiting at Double Diamond until at least 11:30 (Not loading). The excuse was lack of staffing at the chairlifts. Lift attendants starting showing up around 10:30. I am not sure how backed up the road was from the closure. Did it take anyone 2 hours to get there after the road opened? Is it unfair to call this out? I travel to 20-30 resorts per year, all powder days, and with road closures often (Utah, etc.) and have yet to have a normal day at Stevens this season (0/4). on the plus side, it seems that Patrol was doing a great job, and actually, with 10 inches of near blower, all they had to do was ski cut. I don't think any explosives were used on Monday. Any locals want to chime in?
