Worst Ski Season Ever?

Jim,<br><br>I agree, bounty we have. And I expect next year to be fun.<br><br>Actually, my reference to New England, was referring to someone's comment on drives to British Columbia. I feel the Chic Chocs was an appropriate comparison.<br><br>I also did those 3.5 hr drives up to Pinkham Notch, etc. I would not be a happy puppy if the only spot I had for spring skiing was Tuckerman's or the Gulf of Slides. Also, wouldn't trade the nice warm tree skiing we CAN have here for those -10 degree nights out on the Wilderness Trail.<br><br>Speaking of people in the area moving to Colorado because ot the snow. I think after this thread, they will be moving to Glacier, or Bellingham! ( I have thought of this many times myself)<br><br>I will ski the Baker area, have done every year and will do this year. Just can't do the other things I want to.<br><br>Alan

New England isn't looking so bad at all right now...<br>And unlike every other NE ex-pat here, I have an awful lot of powder filled memories on the flanks of the Apps. Skiing here is different, not necessarily better. Access, at least this season, is by most perspectives, a lot worse. They're skiing powder in VT right now, through "penetrable" forest, and they aren't grunting through 4000+ vert of slide alder to get to it. <br><br>Anyway, as you can probably tell, I'm not at all upset that I'll be on a red-eye to NH in 2 days. <br>

I guess what I really wanted to know is best found just by looking at the SNOTEL data, and realizing that WA is at 15% of normal snowpack for this season-not by asking people to rank the snow this season.

<br><br>The weather report on last night's news offered this:<br><br>Baker - 23% of snowpack<br>Steven's Pass - 30%<br>Snoqualmie Pass - 19%<br>White Pass - 0%

Ok, Juan, I won't debate about whether it's YOUR worst ski season ever. Bummer for you.<br><br>It's just not mine. <br><br>But as I noted in one of my replies, it certainly is the worst I've experienced since moving to WA. But your original post speaks of not skiing in 30 days, of pretty much bagging it for the season. You find my references to the NE amusing - I find giving up when there's still decent skiing to be had somewhat perplexing, but don't worry, I'll stop sunning on your parade.<br><br>edited to add - New England is a little more interesting for skiing than Nebraska - get out of town more often...

Straight from the horse's mouth <br><br>

<br>CLIMATOLOGICAL SNOWDEPTH INFORMATION<br>NORTHWEST WEATHER AND AVALANCHE CENTER SEATTLE WASHINGTON<br>DAY 1 MONTH 3 YEAR 2005 <br>WAZ012-017-018-019-025-042-ORZ011-<br><br>DATA IN INCHES, -99 DENOTES MISSING DATA<br><br> CURRENT CLIMATE PER CENT LAST THRU 2004 THRU 2004<br> DEPTH AVERAGE OF NORMAL YEAR MAX/YEAR MIN/YEAR<br><br>HURRICANE 20 86 23 93 163/1982 32/1981<br>MT BAKER 34 151 23 152 296/1999 48/1981<br>STEVENS 30 99 30 87 196/1956 30/1981<br>SNOQUALMIE 17 90 19 79 198/1956 20/1981<br>STAMPEDE 8 100 8 92 195/1969 21/1981<br>MISSION 13 46 28 53 85/1999 22/1991<br>CRYSTAL 18 65 28 84 133/1999 13/1981<br>PARADISE 43 158 27 176 276/1999 67/1977<br>WHITE PASS 0 57 0 68 115/1999 11/1977<br>TIMBERLINE 43 142 30 195 244/1999 37/1977<br>MEADOWS 30 120 25 135 245/1974 38/1981<br><br>SPECIAL NOTE : THE CRYSTAL STATION WAS MOVED FROM THE ORIGINAL SITE<br>TO THE PRESENT SITE AFTER THE 1980/81 SEASON. THE TIMBERLINE STATION<br>WAS MOVED FROM THE ORIGINAL SITE TO THE PRESENT SITE IN THE EARLY<br>1990'S. BOTH PRESENT SITES RECEIVE MORE SNOW THAN THE ORIGINAL SITES.<br>THEREFORE NEW RECORD MININMUMS ARE LIKELY AT NEARLY ALL SITES.<br><br>THIS TABLE PRODUCED ON THE 1ST AND 15TH BETWEEN 15 NOVEMBER AND 1 MAY.<br><br>AVERAGES, MAXIMUMS AND MINIMUMS EARLY IN THE SEASON MAY BE INACCURATE<br>DUE TO LIMITED DATA.<br><br>RECORDS BEGIN: HURRICANE 1979, MT BAKER 1926, STEVENS 1939,<br>SNOQUALMIE 1929, STAMPEDE 1943, MISSION RIDGE 1970,<br>CRYSTAL 1967, PARADISE 1926, WHITE PASS 1976,<br>TIMBERLINE 1973, MT HOOD MEADOWS 1974.<br>

<br><br>Yes, this season has sucked snowfall wise. Yes, I've skied some nice powder. I don't particularly like driving all the way up to Baker to do it, but I have several weekends this season after not skiing there the last two. My favorite place to ski in Washington during the winter is Snoqualmie Pass when there is snow, and I haven't done a single tour there this winter. That hurts. I can appreciate Sky's sentiment 'just climb higher and work harder', and I can appreciate Alan's 'some of us don't have that option'. I have been busier with work than I ever have, trying to finish my PhD, so the extra time required to get to good snow has been particularly troublesome, for me. YMMV.

hey, we're catching up. nice! 75% to go!