I couldn’t believe it was already April, but the calendar doesn’t lie. Dan and I wanted to get an April dusk patrol in at the Pass, so we made plans to head up on Tuesday evening after work with the hopes of finding some soft snow somewhere on the mountain. We drove separately since we were each coming from work and because Dan had a cold, and I arrived a few minutes before he did, so I had a chance to snap a few pics with the camera.
Dan arrived a few minutes after 6:00 pm, and we headed out shortly thereafter. There wasn’t a lot of snow on the lower mountain, but it was soft as we started out. It did firm up however as we headed up the mountain…
We worked our way up Eagle’s, skinning side by side straight up the run, and the snow firmed up considerably as the clouds rolled in. A few moments later we reached the top of EPA, and enjoyed a beer while we transitioned into ski/ride mode. Sitting atop EPA, it was really quiet, and as light snowflakes started to fall from the sky, it reminded of sweep during ski patrol.
We finished our beers as the light began to get flat, and dropped in a few minutes prior to 7:30 pm. The first few turns were scratchy, but a little lower down the conditions improved substantially. I headed down below Dan and snapped a few pictures as he descended and skied by me…
Halfway down the run, Dan grabbed the camera and returned the favor of shooting photos of me. The results are below. One of the things I love about dusk patrol photos is the grainy nature of the pictures given the low light conditions in which they’re taken….
At the bottom, we headed out via Amber’s, and then skied Swoosh out. Swoosh was really nice, with good coverage from side to side and top to bottom. We whooped and hollered all the way down, and ended up at the cars right as it was getting dark. All in all, it was an evening that exceeded expectations, and another April dusk patrol is in the books. Here’s a parting shot of RTS from the evening…
