Kings Ridge Blewett Area

Busted my ass breaking trail by myself for hours on end...The first 1,000’ was depressing rain on deep new snow. Went very slowly...luckily the snow started, and the wind stayed mostly at bay. Higher on the ridge, the snow was less deep, but on the lee side of the ridge it looked slabby with lots of extra snow. The Elk, lacking in avy training, had put in several trails that were roller balling badly...Being solo, i wasn't skiing that..............

I decided to push further in hopes of finding good powder, in the lower angled and sheltered meadows. The trail breaking got worse and worse as the new snow depth greatly increased. Even the almost flat road was slow because it was so deep and heavy. I kept getting several inches of unwanted lift under my heels, because of the thick snow. The meadow at 4500’ was beautiful and pristine. It was also deeper than I could easily ski with my equipment! I made turns but......Further down the skiing on south facing slopes was possible, but layering made even going straight difficult. I skied the road for a bit, then tried the 25 degree rained on slopes which actually skied like good spring slop. Best skiing of the day...

Low elevation skiing has its challenges! But to have this much snow in Mid November is great.