Stevens Pass Reports 2011-12

[Sultan Guy]

Tuesday was a busted day on the hill. No new snow overnight but started snowing at 7:30. Groomed runs quickly became moguls and there was not quite enough fresh for off groom fun. Rode the Donek Metal Axxess.

Wednesday I was up early and ready but the road was closed due to an avalanche. Did not reopen until almost NOON so I bagged it and went to the gym.

Thursday turned out to be almost a carbon copy of 1/17 with LOTS of fresh and DEEP POWDER. Rode the Northfork Pow Reaper all day on the backside until they closed it. 30+ mph winds with some large drifts. I have this board totally dialed now. Ripped hard and my legs were shot. So few people meant endless runs of freshies.

Friday was a bluebird day and despite tired legs I went up with my ski friend for first chair. Rode the Donek Metal FC 179 and it was SICK good. Firm butter. The best heel side high speed turns all season for me. Railing it. Tons of kids today and by noon most runs were chewed up. Switched back to the Axxess until 2 PM and by then my poor legs were on fumes.

Stevens has had 106 inches of new snow in just 13 days. Take that CO.

Reality starts for me on Monday as I have a new job so will be back to weekends only for the rest of this season. Today and yesterday have been some of the finest snowboarding of my life so at least I ended on a high note.

[Sultan Guy]

Well....back to what makes the Pacific Northwest famous or notorious.
Rain heavy at times all day (well at least until 12 when we bailed out) on all that beautiful perfect snow. What a waste!

No lift lines in the rain.

[Sultan Guy]

Sunday 2/5-
Beautiful sunny day. A bit crowded by 10 for my taste but I was spoiled riding all those weekdays.
Grooming not so great. Hilly. Saw Bill and his wife.
Snow granular on top and hard pack underneath.

[Sultan Guy]

Sunday 2/12-
Great snow this morning, perfect for carving. Crowds about the same as last week.
Top of Skyline was icy but all of Hogsback was great.
1 more week of kids classes and then we will have much less people.

[Sultan Guy]

February 19, 26, and March 4th

2/19 and 2/26 were big powder days and I harvested the goods on the big Northfork board. 2/19 was especially epic with 16+ inches but marred by a tragic out of bounds avalance that killed three expert skiers. Being present in the general area during this was a downer on an otherwise great day.

3/4 saw me back on the carving board-Axxess 172. Decent day with funky highly variable snow. Firm packed in places and very soft almost slushy in other areas. Challenging conditions.
At 9:30 riding up Skyline I saw ski patrol assisting an injured snowboarder. Turned out to be Nate W. He had just collided with a skier. They put his arm in a sling and he was evacuated via the rescue sled.
Best wishes to Nate for a speedy recovery.

[NateW]

At 9:30 riding up Skyline I saw ski patrol assisting an injured snowboarder. Turned out to be Nate W. He had just been rear-ended by a skier. They put his arm in a sling and he was evacuated via the rescue sled.
Best wishes to Nate for a speedy recovery.

Thanks! I have slightly revised your description of the collision.

The Stevens Pass first-aid people were fantastic. It turned out that my left elbow was dislocated, and my forearm was cut pretty bad. We didn't know about the cut until they got my coast off, because my arm was almost numb, but the first-aid guy said "that's his ulna" while explaining me to the aid car crew. I'm not sure how long this will take to heal, but from what I've read online I think there's a chance I'll get a couple more days in at the end of the season.

[Pusbag]

I second the motion of ski patrol first aid was a pleasure to deal with. My buddy kram flew off showcase in flatlight and broke his fib. He will be riding for the first time I believe on friday

[ExcelsiorTheFathead]

Hey Nate,

Best wishes for a fast recovery. What were the details of the incident? Just curious about where it happened, the conditions and specifics. Did a skier simply assume that they could get by you and misjudged your path?

[Sultan Guy]

Today: Snow showers. Steady temperature around 26. West southwest wind between 9 and 11 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%. Total daytime snow accumulation of 1 to 3 inches possible.

Tonight: Snow. Low around 18. West southwest wind 5 to 11 mph becoming south southeast. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New snow accumulation of 1 to 3 inches possible.

Monday: Snow. High near 29. Breezy, with a south southeast wind around 22 mph, with gusts as high as 34 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New snow accumulation of 4 to 8 inches possible.

Monday Night: Snow showers. Low around 17. South southeast wind around 8 mph becoming west southwest. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New snow accumulation of 3 to 5 inches possible.

Tuesday: Snow showers. High near 24. Calm wind becoming south between 4 and 7 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New snow accumulation of 1 to 3 inches possible.

Tuesday Night: Snow showers likely. Cloudy, with a low around 20. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New snow accumulation of 1 to 2 inches possible.

Wednesday: Snow. High near 30. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New snow accumulation of 1 to 2 inches possible.

Wednesday Night: Snow. Cloudy, with a low around 26.

Thursday: Snow. Cloudy, with a high near 33.

Thursday Night: Snow. Cloudy, with a low around 26.

Friday: Snow showers. Cloudy, with a high near 32.

Friday Night: Snow showers likely. Cloudy, with a low around 22.

Saturday: Snow showers likely. Cloudy, with a high near 28

[snowboardbill]

Saturday 3/31 deep wet and mushy perfect for snowboards ( not carving however )
Sunday 4/1 wind kept upper chairs closed most of the morning but seemed to take alot of the moisture out of all that new snow. when the rest of the mountain opened it was pow pow pow all day long!

[snowboardbill]

Spring has arrived, firm groomers in the morning and sloppy seconds in the afternoon.Spring break week has been almost empty with plenty of room to carve. Met another Carver with a elan board early in the week and another couple that saw Lorri and my alpine boards and used to ride hard boots but wore there gear out. Lorri and I quickly told them about bomberonline. Lots of riding opportunity's left at Stevens this season.

[Sultan Guy]

I got TWO dreamy runs in on the backside Sunday morning before they closed everything down. POW WOW!
Problems with wind shut the chairs down. What a shame!

[Sultan Guy]

4/8/2012
Choice Easter Day of great carving. Snow stayed surpringly good all day. Empty slopes made for some mean railing on the Donek FC179 Metal. Edge hold all day.
The ski patrol hid a golden egg somewhere on the mountain. Finder got a free season pass! I thought nobody would find it but by 11:30 it was found. Many silver eggs were still unfound. One more day for me this season......

[Sultan Guy]

To be or not to be....my final day of the season today and what a beautiful day. Hard crust quickly turned slushy on south facing runs, shady runs held until midday. This was the original closing day so they had the usual shennanigans, keg of PBR beer at Tye Mill Chair, dummy downhill, and of course pond skimming. 32 days for me this season. 10 days less then last year, but with early season shoulder surgery followed my mid season new job I am happy with this.

Stevens has a SECOND season starting next weekend and going at least thru early May, however my season pass does not work. &%$#@?*??? They either want $39 per day, $99 for three weekends, or my $$$ for season pass 2012/2013. Problem is with my new job I might not be going much next season if I move. Hmmm....

Time to go Stand Up Paddling, and hiking!

[ExcelsiorTheFathead]

... or you could move to Colorado. Why not, if you are going to move anyway? The Puget Sound area is soooooo overdone.

[mike g.]

Sounds like the job is working out. We talked about the commute, hope everything will work out. Have a fun summer, if i get a stand up board this summer I'll give u a call.

Later

mike

[snowboardbill]

Sunday 4/29/12
"Mushalishious" all day long, really fun if you keep to the steeps and trees. Short boards and softies recomended. Only one more weekend untill closing, I heard a rumor that all of this season's Season Passes will be reactivated for this coming weekend. Check the webpage for conformation before heading up!

Bill