Stevens Pass 2/16/12

I forgot how much I missed snowbanks until I drove up to Stevens Pass, parked the truck and realized that the looming height of them was back in my life. The northwest has gotten most of the storms in the US, riding powder while the rest of us were riding parks and groomers. So far Stevens Pass, Washington has an 84″ snow base at the bottom and 102″ at the top.

The flakes were starting to really come down on the walk to the lodge. It was a quiet Thursday on the mountain, there were more cars in the lot than I expected but for some reason the mountain seemed empty. I guess everyone found their own spots to ride all day.

It felt good to be home but also an awakening that I am back in the northwest where it’s tougher riding with wetter snow. Northwest breeds good riders; the variety of conditions, the heavy snow and the fact that some days you’ll get soaked…it’s not for everyone but it’s fun.

Today I went up to the mountain to get reacquainted with my old stomping grounds. Since there was new snow on the ground, I skipped the park and headed straight for the backside. Since I was riding alone, I opted for familiar runs and didn’t play too close around the trees.

I did find powder and it made me super happy to get good turns in. I also found out that in some spots underneath the powder was crusty, rough snow so you had to pick and choose where you thought the goods would be.

For the day I ended up taking out the Never Summer Cobra that I received a couple weeks ago. I’d been busy during the demos so I couldn’t get on it till today. It ended up handling the powder, bumps and chop underneath some of the new snow.

Today was a good day to start the season back in the northwest, I always try to spend 2/16 on the slopes to remember a friend of mine that’s no longer here. Sitting on a chair with the snow falling makes me feel peaceful and that even though he’s no longer on the chair with me, that’s he’s still riding powder somewhere.