Pacific NW/AK/BC 2023-2024 PNW Ski Resorts/Conditions/Meetups

[dovski]

I never ski on weekends but ALMOST went this last weekend just to see the lil rippers. I skied the same areas they were skiing a couple of days before the contest and it was bulletproof till the sun hit it. Was it ok’ish for the comp, and maybe they shoveled some snow on the rocks that were there Thursday?

So to start with it was a long run that the kids had to ski in a single shot. Flow is important in Freeride and you definitely get bonus points for skiing aggressively top to bottom. First thing in the morning the snow was firm but not bullet proof, bigger issues was the fog, so we had delayed start both mornings, but that let the snow soften up. By the afternoon though it was definitely a little too soft and sticky, but that did not stop the kids.
Here is a partial view of the course top to bottom

Overall the coverage was pretty good, though there were definitely some rocky drops and features that the kids skied through and off of.


On day two of the comp I discovered you actually got the best view from the 2nd floor bar in the lodge, though it was still tough to see the top section. We were however able to get some nice videos that captured the majority of the run. Super impressive how those kids can ski, I certainly was not doing anything close to that when I was their age.

 

[slowrider]

Bachelor right now.

 

[Tom Co.]

Stevens

2 to 4 inches of new helped things out a lot. The groomers were pretty good with hardly any ice. Off piste was good only in a few places. There was just too much uneven frozen stuff underneath the new. The visibility came and went but for about half of our runs it was pretty good. There were a few fog banks and snow squalls that came and went. There was no rain at all, it stayed cool. No lines anywhere. 7th Heaven was open but Double Diamond/Southern Cross were closed. Everything else was open. It wasn't a great day but it was a decent day. We both rated it slightly better than the typical day this season.

 

[tomahawkins]

Baker storm day. Started with 4" over ice. Ended with about 8". Got on some eTitans (177) for the first time today. Ringer and Sammy soon retiring -- I was told today they are 16 and 18 years old.

 

[tomahawkins]

Sunny day at Baker. 5" of fresh (not light) snow.

 

[Tom Co.]

Crystal today
Big crowd, A, B, C, D, E, and most of H lots were full. This was the most people we've skied with all season. The lines really weren't all that bad, with a little bobbing and weaving and knowing where to go at what time, the longest we waited was probably five minutes. The only bummer we had was the top of chair six. It was a rock pile. My buddy actually took off his skis and walked down to better snow. I took a different route and found a snowy path but I had to ski up hill a bit. We reached a consensus that this was one and done, even though the Powder Bowl side skied pretty well. Nothing off piste was great but there were some good spots. The groomers and the edges of the groomers skied well. The best thing about the day was the gorgeous sunshine. We did get a few afternoon high clouds but they didn't affect the visibility any. It never did get so hot that it got sticky, however it was a windshell, ball cap, sunglasses day. It wasn't hot enough to break out the Hawaiian shirt. At least eight elk were seen at Crystal Village on the way home. Nice beer was enjoyed by both of us at the Naches Tavern. A very good day.

Silver king, part of Crystal Mountain's hike to back country

 

[Dislogical]

It was an absolutely beautiful weekend at Stevens! Not a cloud in the sky either day, and no crowds to speak of. The morning corduroy was cold and firm, and it softened up very nicely as the sun warmed it up. I don’t know whose idea the patio grilled cheese & beer stand was but they deserve a huge raise.

Equipment wise, I spent most of the weekend pairing my new RC4 Pro MV boots with my RC4 CTs (175cm) and they complement each other exceptionally, performance wise and visually (obviously very important). I did get some boot-outs as we got into the afternoons, but they were less frequent than I expected. I also got some runs in on my yellow e-Speed Pros (180cm), which made for a fun comparison.

 

[Even_Stevens]

Bluebird Easter at Alpental. First time up Chair 2 ever. Skied one run down Edelweiss Bowl that was very spicy with hard moguls, and a later run where it was nice and soft. The huge bumps under the lift line called for zero defect skiing as to not get on Jerry of the Day.

Debbie’s Gold was quite hard and very fast. Made me regret not just getting a pair of Kendos or E-Titans after demoing last weekend. Those skis would have really enjoyed a hard piste.

Celebrated hitting Chair 2 with Alpental’s amazing Bloody Caesar.

 

[dovski]

So we had to cancel our week in Banff this year. Daughter just had ACL surgery so that killed our annual family pilgrimage to the Canadian Rockies. As a consolation I am taking my son to Bend after school today and will squeeze 3 days of skiing at Bachelor. Looks like they have good snow and cooler temps so we timed it well

 

[Vestirse]

So we had to cancel our week in Banff this year. Daughter just had ACL surgery so that killed our annual family pilgrimage to the Canadian Rockies. As a consolation I am taking my son to Bend after school today and will squeeze 3 days of skiing at Bachelor. Looks like they have good snow and cooler temps so we timed it well

Well wishes to her and a speedy recovery!

 

[Even_Stevens]

Just got home from an afternoon of skiing Crystal with a very good friend from college days…which are somehow 20 years behind us now?!

The mountain report implied that there would be just dust on crust; however when I arrived at noon a light snow was coming down. Took the gondola up and took a run down Lucky Shot which always seems to attract people who should be on more benign terrain while they learn (like the greens off Chinook?), and then took Rex back up and lapped Green Valley for a while which was extremely fun. A bit of heavy wet snow on top of a firm crust which doesn’t sound great but was pretty fun to rip down.

We went over to Forest Queen for a couple laps after Green Valley closed. Witnessed a skier try to put the bar down on Forest Queen and a snowboarder start whining about the bar coming down. Never witnessed actual conflict about this before today…I always thought bar up vs down was an Internet ski forum argument? Anyway it was interesting. Great half day of skiing.

 

[pchewn]

Just finished 3 days at Timberline Lodge with my son and grandsons. The grandsons decided to rent snowboards one day and they had a great time. It snowed every day and the temperatures were low enough to keep the snow in good shape. Winter returned. Unfortunately the prediction is for it to warm up in a few days.

 

[Bad Bob]

Wow, those boys have grown.

 

[pchewn]

Wow, those boys have grown.

Oh yes. Archer (the older) is so proud of his mustache that caught 3 snowflakes. He's 13

 

[Tom Co.]

Stevens - maybe the last shot of winter snow

We got there a little after nine and it was plenty cold. The warm up groomers were a little on the firm side but you could still get edge in. Things softened up as the day progressed. The visibility was OK to pretty good with lots of variability. We also saw the partial eclipse when the clouds were just right. The snow cover is hanging in there. There were just a few thin spots here and there. Off piste was again mostly unskiable for us. There were a few spots on the main runs that hadn't been groomed in the last couple of days that skied OK. Double diamond/Southern Cross is pretty much done for the season but all the other lifts including Seventh Heaven were running. I skied on my SKITALK demo Blossom N 1 RC which was definitely the ski for the conditions. Even though it was just bombing groomers, it was still a fun day.

 

[chris_the_wrench]

It’s been a blast at Whitepass the past couple of weeks. Alternating between winter weather and spring skiing. Yesterday was basically a private mountain. I skied till 3 and it never really got sticky. So much fun was had by the 30-40 people who were there! Hopefully get a few more days in before they pull the plug.

This was my first full season as Whitepass being my home hill. Took abit to figure it out. There are some fun steeps, but they are short and several end in totally flat spots, where ya need to carry some speed to ski out of.

 

[markojp]

Meadows yesterday... Heather Canyon was almost as perfect as it gets spring skiing. The runout to the chair was sticky, but well worth the trouble.

 

[slowrider]

Canfood skiday @ the dew. Fun conditions. Off piste & groom.

 

[tomahawkins]

Canfood skiday @ the dew. Fun conditions. Off piste & groom.
View attachment 233254 View attachment 233255

Wow, you're good! The only way to make those arcs (top ones) are on SnowBlades doing hockey crossovers!

 

[slowrider]

Wow, you're good! The only way to make those arcs (top ones) are on SnowBlades doing hockey crossovers!

I didn't say those were mine.