Alpental Part Deux, 2/24/19

Alls I can say is....there’s something seriously wrong with the people out here.  That’s two days after the last 9” storm, which included a busy Saturday.  Traverse out Powder Bowl to the rope line.  Deep and untracked.

I’ll have more for you later, lots of steep untracked inbounds fun.  It was time to head out the Nash gate and the high t to find a lunch spot.

JTG4eva! wrote

Alls I can say is....there’s something seriously wrong with the people out here.  That’s two days after the last 9” storm, which included a busy Saturday.  Traverse out Powder Bowl to the rope line.  Deep and untracked.

Tons of ski-able acreage just beyond the boundary!!

Got some of that in the afternoon beyond Draft Dodger on the shoulder of Great Scott, just outside the back bowls boundary.  I’ve been pretty lucky on my trips.  Hooked up with some locals after my lunch.  Mats, a Seattle-ite by way of Switzerland.  He introduced me to Matt, a local ripper who is one of those guys that skied Shot 8 this weekend, Phil, a legs of steel local who knows everything, and an international friend of theirs whose name escapes me.  It was fun to be with guys who could rip steep lines and keep us from getting cliffed out.



That’s Mats up in an icier chute than it looks, which is a lot steeper than it looks in the pic.  Mostly though it was sometimes knee deep light powder riding the sluff.  What a day.  Time to buy the crew a few beers.  After a big day Friday and more than 4K in the backcountry yesterday it was good to know that I could keep up with the locals until closing bell.  I’ll tell more of the story later.

Wow. Quite a trip. Good for you!!

Not many pics from today.

The Clever



Stokes Bowl



Looking out to some of the backcountry lines below Chair Peak



More powder lines in the Back Bowls.

JTG4eva! wrote

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Is that dude taking a leak by the tree over there?

That’s why that call that spot Piss Pass!  I guess it’s the thing to do.  Lots ‘o yellow snow by that tree.  Me, I prefer a quiet tree by which to leave my yellow.

JTG4eva! wrote

Alls I can say is....there’s something seriously wrong with the people out here.  That’s two days after the last 9” storm, which included a busy Saturday.  Traverse out Powder Bowl to the rope line.  Deep and untracked.

I skied a few days in Crystal about 10 years ago and thought the same thing.  Here's this amazing mountain and the Seattleites dismiss it as some local bunny hill.  Crystal is about 2.5 hours from Seattle while Alpental is what? an hour?   They all seem to drive father to places like Baker and Sun Valley.  

I love that city, and talked to a couple of companies a few years ago about moving out there, but it would have been a pay cut compared to New York, combined with the fact that their housing market has gone insane.

I'm waiting for the big one to wipe out 1/3 of the population and then that's the time to move and buy:  

The community that skis the likes of Crystal and Alpental, and their surrounding backcountry, are pretty dedicated.....but the crowds seem to keep mainly to the lower mountain and groomers.  Chair 2 had maybe a ten minute lift line all day, which was a welcome respite!

A few more pictures from the inbounds morning portion of the day.




Unfortunately the snow in this chute wasn’t as soft as it looked from above.


It was also steeper than it looked from below.  

And a couple more Back Bowls shots...