DECEMBER To REMEMBER

From the Crystal Post:  Dec 17, BEST DAY ever sort of day.
It's snowing and snowing and snowing and cold.
Stuart and I went Sunday the 15th, fantastic day.  Ended down Gate 8 to the bottom and it was exceptional. Photo's to follow.

Overnight	6"
24 Hour	8"
48 Hour	30"	and  59" in 72 hours.
72 Ho		We've picked up almost 6 feet of snow in the past 7 days! It began snowing heavily Sunday and it hasn't let up since. High winds kept upper mountain closed on Monday but it was an epic powder feast on Tuesday with the best conditions many of us have ever skied. It was deep, light and bottomless. Upper mountain was open along with High Campbell and short-Northway even opened towards the end of the day. Smiles were large, high fives were in abundance and the words "best day ever" were heard as skiers and boarders gathered at the end of the day. We woke up to more new snow Wednesday but the winds were gusting into the high 60's forcing us to close upper mountain.

2 Days in by December 3

Julia and I went on November 25 to Crystal and had really nice bowder day.  Beautiful weather and quite a bit of new snow.  We skied sunnyside for about 2 hours in beautiful corn snow.  It was more spring than winter and we had a blast.  Come back and we can do it again Honey.

That's my Bunny!

On Dec 3, Dan Ogborn, Ken Dayton and I went up and had a great day , at least a 7 on the scale.
It had snowed at least 15" over the previous 3 days, and while it was raining in the city, the sun came out for us!  We skied our legs off and had to work to stay out till 11:30.  Photo of the day attached:

Left knee is holding up, conditioning isn't bad but you cannot have enough fitness.  I'm just glad i was able to make it all day.

June 9, 2012. Crystal Still open.

This mornings report: 25 at the top, 33 at the base with 3" of new this week. The report: Good news! We’re going to be able to keep Rainier Express open one more weekend! JUNE 9-10 (SATURDAY & SUNDAY) JUNE 16 & BEYOND IS STILL T.B.D. – CONDITIONS PERMITTING Lifts: Mt. Rainier Gondola & Green Valley I went May 12 and had a wonderful corn day. No other ski buddies to be found...Am I nuts?

Jane and I in Kona last week

Spent the week at the Mauna Lani on the Kohala Coast. What a great property. Here we are having dinner @ Hugo's on the Rocks. Margret and Dave Kearns showed us a great time there. http://huggos.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/jane-and-dave.huggos.jpg And then April 28 @ Alpental. By myself. 4" new on Thursday. I got there Saturday and it was pretty good. Got into Elavator Shaft. Right side. Coming down what I think is Rocks' Off, when I suddenly come upon a yawning crack of about 8FT of exposed rock where the snow had slid off. I can huck or walk up and around it to find a way. I choose the later. Spring time is different, the fangs of the mountain come back out. Gotta stay awake.

April 28. Alpental Open.

WIND SUMMIT35° F SINCE 5AM 24 HR 48 HR 72 HR BASE 0" 0" 4" 5" 95" 1 MPH ALPENTAL34° F SINCE 5AM 24 HR 48 HR 72 HR BASE 0" 0" 5" 5" 119" 1 MPH ALPENTAL SUMMIT28° F SINCE 5AM 24 HR 48 HR 72 HR BASE 0" 0" 6" 7" 213" 9 MPH SNOW REPORTER'S COMMENTS: TNT here, Alpental, is open today 9AM - 4PM with 4" of new snow at the base and over 6" on top in the last 48 hours! Start your weekend off right, having fun with us on the 2nd deepest snowpack in the USA! All standard runs have been groomed. Don't forget, all Summit season passes are now valid for skiing Alpental this spring. Also, get your Big S passes before May 31st, because they jump up in price the next day! I think I'll check it out!

Final Powder Alert for 2011-12 Ski Season: From Larry Schick. A good synopsis of the season. I had a terrific March and April. Volkyl Shiro's were the ski of the year, I got a new pair of Lange 110's and just ripped it up, gimpy knee notwithstanding. I just wish to hell I had 2 knees! Stuart Silk and I had a very good powder day on April 5, his only day at Crystal this year and first one in at least 5 years. Skied a lot with Dan Ogborn , but missed the Fiorini's this year. Just didn't work out, but I hope we do next year. Ken Dayton was in South America for 5 weeks and had a back injury before that. Jack and I had a cool spring day on April 13. His new boots and skis. Look for the video on it. The kids and I went to Whistler for my 60th celebration in January. I'm not skiing in January much again, or at least no planning any big trips. Too sketchy. Lastly, we had 524+ at Crystal and a bunch at Alpental too. I'll try and download a cool video I made. April 24th, 2012 Hope you are enjoying this warm weather and true spring skiing. Don't forget the sunscreen. It's time to wrap up the powder alert for this season and look ahead to next season. Season Recap: I promised a robust, above normal snowpack and once again La Nina delivered for the Pacific Northwest. As much of the rest of the country suffered from an extreme lack of snow, we sat on a gold mine. It was one of the worst Dec- Jan periods on record for much of ski country. Tahoe, Utah and Colorado were green with envy when looking toward Washington. We were smiling from ear to ear. Ok, there was a certain smug delight about it, but it wasn't completely smooth sailing. We started off nicely, with great dumpage in late November, right on time. The Friday after Thanksgiving was primo. But in December it was cold and very dry. We saw minor improvement in January, right when La Nina should really get cooking. Despite the lackluster January, we still had the best snow of any region in the country. Then, by early to mid February, La Nina drove one storm after another to the Cascades. Powder alerts were stacked up like aircraft on final approach over Seatac, on Christmas eve - unending, one after another. The new snowfall continued, almost without interruption, all the way into early April. Hope you got some great pow - as I did. I took many a weekday off to nail the powder - and mainly to alleviate my FOMA (Fear Of Missing Out). We wound up with the best snow in the country and a well above normal snowpack - especially deep (as a percent above normal) in the Central Cascades: from Stevens to Snoqualmie to Crystal and White. ( Baker is always deep!). The snow was actually deeper in the Central Cascades on April 1st of this year - than last year. You never know how the season will play out - but La Nina did, once again, show a strong and reliable snow affinity for the Pacific NW. Another observation: we've had many of these mid-late season snowfall comebacks since 2005 - perhaps a new normal? Next season:Could be just as good!

Best day of the year at (for me) @ Alpental. Feb 25,2012

Awesome. 27 at the bottom, 22 at the top, with at least 20", more like 30" in the BC. Crowds were bad, but man was it good.
Skied with "Mark" who saved my bacon when I lost a ski in Elevator. We skied it twice. Once down Snake Dance.
See the movie. May there be more.

Huge Day in Cascades and 4 die

Sunday, February 19. It had been dumping. 31' in 48 hrs. It was getting so deep that the pass closed for 11 hours to clean up the roads. As both Alpental and Crystal Mt. had huge crowds that closed the areas and filled the parking lots, 1 boarder on Denny Mtn and 3 skiers at Stephens got caught in slides and died.
I didn't get there until 10;30 and it hadn't been open for all that long, but it was huge crowds of about 45 minutes on chair 2. It was awesome but too crowded and it was impossible, but Dan Ogborn and i took it for what it was worth. Too bad that the 2 parties got caught.

February 18, 2012. Finally snowing again.

Finally, after 3 weeks, it's back. The report is as follows:

Late Afternoon: Snow. High near 25. Southwest wind around 13 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%. Total daytime snow accumulation of 6 to 10 inches possible.
Tonight: Snow showers. Low around 19. West wind between 13 and 17 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New snow accumulation of 3 to 7 inches possible.
Sunday: Snow showers likely. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 22. West wind between 6 and 16 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible.

Jane is 4 days post op now and we are hoping she is getting on top of her med's.

It's still going off..January 19.

Fought our way, Dan and I, to Alpental. Crystal was all but closed again as 410 had so many trees down that it didn't let people get there.
We opted for Alpental. Damn crust layer under 8", and it was tracked pretty well by the time we got there, and the back wasn't open, but it was wonderful. We skied 4 runs, came down, had a picnic with smoked salmon, great jerky and Gerwertz. We are going again Friday just because it isn't like this very often. More then.

Short Video from the Parking lot, 1-17-2012

BIG Day @ Crytal

Dan and I feel we hit it good. Alpental was inaccessible due to an I-90 closure, so no one could get there for at least 4 hours. We headed to Crystal and had a very good day. It snowed all day, at least 6" during the day, and it was in the low 20's. It blowed enough that it was filling in the tracks and then it REALLY blew and our last ride up in the Gondola was sporty. Great runs all over the south side. Right Angle was our favorite, leading down through Kelly's to the base. One down Paradise Bowl when Gate 8 opened and we were there. First ride on the Shiro's and they were Cadillac's! I'm better o these babies, at least on a day like this.

JANUARY 16: THE START OF THE DUMP.

Major League - Powder Alert

Issued at 4:46 -- Monday

by the authority vested in me by the UN International Deep Powder Commission

For Tuesday and Wednesday/Thursday

We've had some fantastic new snow last weekend, but now it's time to turn up the volume.

The snow bases are set up for ultimate powder (say what, better then epic?) Snow levels will stay low as we remain immersed in this cold air mass.

Seattle and Puget Sound lowlands will also see major snow, perhaps the biggest in 15-25 years (1996 or 1985). Tuesday night to Wednesday night 8-16" possible(Seattle) - maybe more - in the lowlands! This is a classic "overriding" situation; freezing air clings to the ground as mild and moist air floats above the dome of surface air. Until the mild air mixes down, it will be guaranteed heavy snow from sea level to the Cascades all of Tuesday and a least the first half of Wednesday for the lowlands, but continuing as snow - no rain - in the mountains. Lowlands could see rain on snow by very late Wed to Thursday - can you say big slushy mess for the commute by Thursday am? Again, the Cascades will remain with heavy snow.

There are actually two storms, with number two , the classic and biggest.

The Cascades will get 2-3 ft in the next two - three days.

Tuesday: expect 6-10" new when you get there and 4-8" while you ski, filling in your tracks. SL = sea level

Tuesday is my pick. Even though Wed will have more snow - only because it might get pretty intense on Wednesday getting there and avy control.

The main event hits Tuesday night through Thursday morning

New Wed am, when you get there: 10-15" new -- snowing all day with another 6-10" during the day - find your goggles!

SL: sea level rising to only 2000 ft late Wednesday

More new snow by Thursday morning - 6-12" SL -- 2500-3000ft

The upcoming weekend: Both Saturday and Sunday will see epic new snow dumpage with low snow levels, lowering to 1000ft, the epic continues -plan on it

Welcome back La Nina- forget everything I said, just kidding.

.....as always, I am always worried sick about you kids as i sit on my throne in the Poobah Palace

sincerely,
el grande poobaja del powderero

My first day on my new Shiro's. Report to come. Ogborn and I to conquer!

Here it comes. First BIG storm of 2011/ 12

Good Sunday @ Alpental with Dan Ogborn. it snowed all day, covering the ice that was underneath. 70" base, good skiing.
But now the real deal. Here is what Larry Shick tells us is coming. I'll be on my new Shiro's tomorrow with Dan Ogborn. Ken Dayton has hurt his back and can't even stand up right. Fiorini's in Hood River with Risa.


MAJOR LEAGUE POWDER ALERT.Issued at 4:46 -- Monday, JANUARY 16, 2012.

by the authority vested in me by the UN International Deep Powder Commission

For Tuesday and Wednesday/Thursday

We've had some fantastic new snow last weekend, but now it's time to turn up the volume.
The snow bases are set up for ultimate powder (say what, better then epic?) Snow levels will stay low as we remain immersed in this cold air mass.

Seattle and Puget Sound lowlands will also see major snow, perhaps the biggest in 15-25 years (1996 or 1985). Tuesday night to Wednesday night 8-16" possible(Seattle) - maybe more - in the lowlands! This is a classic "overriding" situation; freezing air clings to the ground as mild and moist air floats above the dome of surface air. Until the mild air mixes down, it will be guaranteed heavy snow from sea level to the Cascades all of Tuesday and a least the first half of Wednesday for the lowlands, but continuing as snow - no rain - in the mountains. Lowlands could see rain on snow by very late Wed to Thursday - can you say big slushy mess for the commute by Thursday am? Again, the Cascades will remain with heavy snow.

There are actually two storms, with number two , the classic and biggest.

The Cascades will get 2-3 ft in the next two - three days.

Tuesday: expect 6-10" new when you get there and 4-8" while you ski, filling in your tracks. SL = sea level

Tuesday is my pick. Even though Wed will have more snow - only because it might get pretty intense on Wednesday getting there and avy control.
The main event hits Tuesday night through Thursday morning
New Wed am, when you get there: 10-15" new -- snowing all day with another 6-10" during the day - find your goggles!
SL: sea level rising to only 2000 ft late Wednesday
More new snow by Thursday morning - 6-12" SL -- 2500-3000ft
The upcoming weekend: Both Saturday and Sunday will see epic new snow dumpage with low snow levels, lowering to 1000ft, the epic continues -plan on it

Welcome back La Nina- forget everything I said, just kidding.

.....as always, I am always worried sick about you kids as i sit on my throne in the Poobah Palace

sincerely,
el grande poobaja del powderero