The forecast looked so-so, but wanting to get our November turns in, Dan and I made plans to head up to the Pass for a day of turns. Our hope was the weather would be cold enough that it wouldn’t be raining, and we might even score some decent snow. As we pulled into park, it looked like a few inches of wet, fresh snow had fallen on the lower mountain. We wasted little time getting going, and soon were skinning up the road among the tall trees near the base…
By the time we arrived at Eagle’s, there was about 3-4 inches of new snow, and the run appeared to have better coverage than when we skied it earlier in October.
Given the snow conditions, our objective was Peak 2, and we skinned over to check things out. The snow stake read 24 inches, and we decided to give Northern a try for our first run.
I dropped in first, and the snow was smooth and felt great underfoot. It was definitely on the heavy side, but we weren’t going to complain. Dan came down after me, and I grabbed a couple of shots before we worked our way through the maze of trees on the second half of the run…
Once at the bottom, we set a skin track up Escalator and worked our way to the top for a quick break and brew. Donny and Althea were up top when we arrived, working on ironing out a few lift issues to get ready for the upcoming season.
For our second run, we cruised down upper Boundary, which held good snow and a variety of fun bumps to boost off of, and then onto Destiny for a bit of steeper fun.
After milking turns down to the bottom again, we skinned back to the top of Peak 2 for one more run down upper Boundary before heading over to EPA for a final run down the front.
Sitting atop EPA, the thick clouds lifted a bit, and we enjoyed some nice views while enjoying a cold beer. A few minutes later, we strapped in and readied to head out.
Although we were temped to ride Timburr or High Lead, we opted to try Good Time and see how it was. The turns up top were nice, and the coverage was excellent. After a couple hundred feet, we traversed through the trees and over to Eagle’s, as the rest of Charlie didn’t look so nice…
The turns down Eagle’s were nice and smooth. Below that was another story — it had warmed up considerably, and it was a slow, wet slide down to the base area. Once down, we enjoyed some pickled salmon and chips and salsa in the patrol room before heading out.
All in all, the day exceeded expectations, and both of us were happy to get November turns in the books. Hopefully it won’t be long until the area is open and the season gets underway in full force! Here’s a parting shot from the day on upper Boundary….
