Tye Mill top the Backside

I expected a large group of skiers/boarders in the Stevens Pass parking lot. It was 9am and only nine cars in the lot. It took a while to get dressed in the campervan and I saw 4 hikers arrive.  Another hiker was waiting for his “group” in the lot. Another skier arrived by himself and took off. I was solo and got on the snow at the base.  I think it was unusual for a sunny morning and few folks.

 

It was 9:40am when I put on skis in the base area.  I skied up the Learning Terrain to the top of the Daisy chair, then on 76 Road to the base of the Tye Mill chair.  I saw 3 hikers in a class of some sort.  Again, great coverage on Wall St with a view of Cowboy Mtn. Skid Road had 2 skier tracks from earlier in the day. I got to Tye Mill chair and stopped at the Juniper Express. The fun part was the cloud coverage for the first hour that made it cooler for the skin-up.  Still great snow coverage on the Southdivide and the upper part of Aquarius Face. I did see a track this morning climbing up Gemini trail.  When I started down I saw 2 boarders just arriving.

 

Skid Road was in great shape. At the base of Tye Mill I saw 3 skiers in climbing mode. I then skied 76 Road to Daisy and the Lodge area. Another skier arrived as I was removing my gear. He had a big smile when I asked which route he'd skied -- “The top of Cowboy Mtn. and then Cloud 9 area.”  He said the coverage was great and that he avoided the rocky terrain with the potential of low snowpack near the large rocks.

 

At the base it was a Tourist area with folks getting pictures of “snow” near their family.  A couple asked “what was I doing”, and with a smile  I said "just skiing". 😊