New to the NW - Any recs for skiing on monday?

Yello -

Just moved here from Colorado and need some recs for some areas to start exploring.  Lucky to have skied in the BC for the last 15 years in many fantastic places but apart from skiing rainier once my WA experience is nil.  Going out with the wif on Monday.  Any recs out there?  Preferably not too long of a journey from seattle or the babysitter will get cranky.

Thanks for any advice.

   

Check out the recent trip reports for some general areas. We've had enough early season snow that all of the passes will have at least serviceable skiing, and the volcanos are looking good as well. Paradise is always a good area for a day trip to shake things out, but you won't be alone.

Tatoosh/Paradise was pretty decent yesterday and should have a lot of skin tracks still laid in on Monday (if the wind doesn't totally obliterate them..). The drive is a bit further (2+ h each way), but coverage is good and you may be able to approach the good skiing pretty quickly. Depending on the stamina of your sitter, maybe the logistics work even with the long drive.

Snoqualmie is the clear winner on drive time. And the clear loser on coverage. Touring near the edges of Summit East/Hyak or even near Alpental might be a good plan depending on conditions. I think there was a TR from Chair Peak basin which is basically in the Alpental BC. Its a good option for a quick tour, so it may be worth getting to know even if you don't do a ton of skiing. Just keep an eye on conditions since the whole basin is a bit exposed.

Crystal Mtn might also be a decent call. It's closer than Paradise, and there's been a number of pretty good TRs lately. The East Peak and Silver Basin areas are pretty quick options (I think you can buy a single ride ticket on the Quicksliver Lift to help aid the approach to Silver Basin). And the skiing has sounded pretty good.

Hope you guys find some good turns.

If your backcountry experience has been largely with a continental snowpack you'll probably be completely thrown by the sorts of places people tour here in the Cascades. For the most part it's a completely different snowpack, with correspondingly different stability issues. It might help to try and get out with experienced, appropriately cautious locals a few times while you make the adjustments.

If this doesn't apply, apologies for the thread drift.

Mark

All good recomendations.

Edit to add:

If you go on a Monday, you will not likely see another soul once you hit the trail.