Mauna Kea hot laps

@nlsiipola snaked my line last week so not much to add by way of beta, plus I was solo and thus not able to capture any shots of others skiing.

My wife and I made it out of SeaTac on Friday night by the skin of our teeth -- not too often the plane has to be deiced around here. Another winter storm rolled through Mauna Kea over the weekend just as Seattle was getting hammered and refreshed the snow surface. The road stayed closed until Monday, but I couldn't abandon my lady on her birthday (and pregnant women are not recommended to ascend to 14,000' anyway) so I had to wait until Tuesday. Fortunately, the weather cooperated for bluebird conditions with temps in the 30s. A family from Oahu drove up so the kids could see snow for the first time. They were pretty stoked to see someone skiing. I found a 275' patch with decent pitch. A quick booter for hot laps. Some tracks either from Monday or earlier in the day.

Back in Hilo to pick up my wife at the cafe where I had deposited her and grabbed a ginger kombucha to calm the altitude-addled system. The barista confirmed the local stoke: She had been up there snowboarding but only made it half an hour before altitude sickness sent her packing for sea level.

I rented a Jeep Wrangler and although the rental car agency warned me not to take it up Mauna Kea, the drive seemed fine as long as you were careful and I didn't seem to encounter any issues once I returned the vehicle.

I thanked Pele at the summit but later learned there is a Hawaiian snow goddess, Poli'ahu. Classic haole mistake.

http://www.ifa.hawaii.edu/info/vis/culture/poliahu.html#:~:text=Poli%C2%B4ahu%2C%20covered%20in,restlessly%20away%20on%20Mauna%20Loa.