PNW Conditions

It's been a decent couple of weeks out here.... Lots of weather... some good, some bad.  It's the time of year when you really need to pay attention to the forecast at a more granular level.  With the Solar effect, when new snow falls, it may only be good for a couple hours before it gets overcooked.

The WA snowpack is very healthy, while it is a bit thin is some regions in OR:


If the pattern stays normal... we'll probably have a few more powder days, and hopefully a longer than average corn harvest.  If you want to get some corn under your feet, I suspect Stevens will stay open into May, while Crystal will probably go even later.  In 2011, my wife an I rode Crystal on July 4th.  Down in OR, Bachelor usually goes late also

Here are some shots from the weekend

Mission on Sunday

I farmed over here for about 2 hours before anyone else showed up


Backside @ Stevens Yesterday

Nice!  

Anyone who can make it to Southback at Crystal later today when they open it is going to have a gooooood time.  It's been closed since Friday afternoon.....and they've had 30 inches with cold temps since then.  Go get the blower before the temps warm.  While I couldn't ski Southback on Saturday I found plenty of lower angle untracked trees and a few fun other spots.  

Coming from the east coast, it's amazing actually seeing how much snow you guys get out there.  Enjoy the winter conditions while you still have them, then the loooong spring harvest.

You ever get up high on Rainier for some skiing come springtime?

JTG4eva! wrote

You ever get up high on Rainier for some skiing come springtime?

Yup.  Me and my old lady try to get up on a volcano every summer.  Here are the shots from last year.

Spring has sprung.  The harvest has begun.  This week was warm everywhere... Mid 70's down low.  50's up high.  It's that time of year again.  Ski up high in the morning... #insert warm weather activity here# down low in the afternoon.  There will be lift service across the region into May.  There are also year round options.

The snow is still pretty deep:


Mission Ridge from Badger Mtn


The Enchantments




Saddle Rock


Changing Seasons at the confluence of the Wenatchee & Columbia Rivers


Chair 4 view up river


North Bomber

Season Ending signature straight line POV video from darkside eccentric Donnelly M... gives a pretty good idea of closing weekend coverage on the East side.

I read about him on the Padded seats thread on TGR. I checked out the trampoline vid too. I feel bad for the guy but he is definitely a weirdo.

Someone should do a documentary film on him. I think it has potential.

the skiing looks like fun still!

raisingarizona wrote

Someone should do a documentary film on him. I think it has potential.

 Agree

Cool up high with lots of precipitation over the past few days... some snow at the Ridge this morning... Snowmaking starts at the end of the month.

Nothing lift serviced yet. Snow up above 8k on the volcanoes. Typically we get going with lift service at most of the areas around the first week of December. Mission Ridge may open on the 25th, but at this point, it still appears to be a toss up.

This was the discussion for next week:

Snow levels will lower down to 3500-4500 feet along the East Slopes of the Cascades and near the Canadian border Monday night and Tuesday and then down to 2000-3000 feet on Wednesday...while closer to the Oregon border into the Central Panhandle Mountains snow levels will gradually lower to 3500-5000 feet on Wednesday. This is low enough to bring an increase threat of snow showers for the mountain passes.

Not too exciting yet...so here's some WA state ski fluff.

Recently, I had a chance to spend some time at one of my favorite community areas. We have 3 (Leavenworth, Badger, and Echo Valley) within an hour of Wenatchee.

Leavenworth is by far the most interesting.

Leavenworth is a very small community (<2k population). It's the quintessential WA state "mountain town." Kids that grow up here are stoked. It's about equidistant to both Stevens Pass and Mission Ridge. The town itself has its roots in Bavaria... they put on a kick-ass Oktoberfest

It's a bit of a surreal atmosphere... downtown is kind of like Epcot Center in the 80's (haven't been there since I was a kid). This is their tourism video from a few years ago:

The facility is open to year round muscle powered recreation. It's got a really cool vibe. Not so much for the skiing, but more for the history.

The thing I love about this place is the jump

Not a terrain park snow sculpture, but an old school piece of wood!

Think Snow!

Starting to get fired up... first in a series... next week looks awesome.


HEAVY MOUNTAIN SNOW WILL PUMMEL THE CASCADES...THE MOUNTAINS OF
NORTHEAST WASHINGTON...AND THE HIGH ELEVATIONS OF FAR NORTH IDAHO
THURSDAY INTO FRIDAY MORNING. SNOW ACCUMULATIONS IN THE MOUNTAINS
WILL CAUSE SIGNIFICANT TRAVEL DIFFICULTY OVER MOUNTAIN PASSES LIKE
STEVENS PASS ON INTERSTATE 90...SHERMAN PASS ON HIGHWAY 20...AND
BLEWETT PASS ON HIGHWAY 97.



It's time to give Thanks...  Happy Thanksgiving Eve NYSB Crew!!

Looks like a good cycle setting up through the weekend......4, 5, 6....feet?

That should help resorts expand quickly!  When does the BC come into play?

jeez..i just looked at the GFS...Someone in PNW is gonna come in with sick numbers...should be interesting how this plays out...
this cycle could run for 10 days

JTG4eva! wrote

When does the BC come into play?

Depends on where you are.  On the East side (closer to my house), the it's still pretty boney below 5K.  A bit farther to the west, around Stevens, and Crystal, coverage should be pretty good every where.  14 inches at Stevens last night.  Another handful expected tonight.  They opened today.  Headed over there tomorrow.  Will let you know how it is.

JasonWx wrote

jeez..i just looked at the GFS...Someone in PNW is gonna come in with sick numbers...should be interesting how this plays out...
this cycle could run for 10 days

Yup... and it looks like were actually going to get some cold air with this group.  It's been pretty warm down low.

Chair 6 at Crystal is opening on Saturday, so things must be filling in nicely.  Not sure if Southback will be open yet, but it would seem that (and the BC) can't be far behind, especially if they get several feet and more over the next 10 days.  Might need to think about booking a January weekend!

Opened my season at Stevens today.  Lift service is slowly coming online throughout the region now.  I think we'll have lifts running everywhere by next weekend.  In general we've had a warm November with below average snow fall in many locations.  Things are looking better.... colder air will move in this weekend, bringing snow levels down to valley floors in many locations.  We have had no shortage of moisture... there has been a fair amount of volcano snow, but it's been a bit warm below 5k.  Typically, there is a thin low elevation (3-4k) snowpack by early December.  Currently, it's still very boney down low.

That said, Stevens was a blast.  A few inches over night, with 6 slightly dense inches during the day made for a great first day on snow.  3 lifts with 9 runs advertised... very few ropes so there were lots of ways down.  With typical Stevens shitty visibility the Creek holes were quite hazardous... It's a 2ft natural base, but they really need about 4ft to fill everything in.  

No crowds.    Stevens is the WA state version of Hunter... it usually feels crowded to me.  Not today... I rolled up to the pass at 8:30 and nearly shit myself to find a dozen other cars in the lot.  When I left around 2, it was still pretty dead.

A few pics from the day:


Snow bridges in some areas, but in others you had to get creative

No crowds


Need a bit more snow to fill it all in...

 

  Looks good to me.

Looks good..I am free to travel from Jan7 thru the 13th..Might just pop out there..

JasonWx wrote

Looks good..I am free to travel from Jan7 thru the 13th..Might just pop out there..

Let me know if you do... I have plenty of free time... maybe we can meet-up and take a few runs somewhere.

Southback at Crystal opened today, Northway opening tomorrow, should be close to 100% soon.  Some potential big snows in the forecast toward the end of next week, on top of what they get tonight.

There's a glimmer of an idea of a quick trip next weekend......