Cascadia/WA Pow Farming ‘23/‘24

[riff]

I went to the stevens opener and had a lot of fun; good to see flying sofa friends again. I haven’t had a pass since Vail made it suck for a couple years. I got a midweek pass for the nearby touring and half days when I’m getting home from work tired. Not much was open and the modest crowd felt bigger than it was, but groomed snow and anything skied enough to break up the crust was fun. Did several laps in the Winnies. There was beautiful rays of sun through the ridgetop clouds in the trees that I liked very well, and occasionally full sun. Well worth the trip.


Sent from my iPhone using TGR Forums

[Bandit Man]

I went to the stevens opener and had a lot of fun; good to see flying sofa friends again. I haven’t had a pass since Vail made it suck for a couple years. I got a midweek pass for the nearby touring and half days when I’m getting home from work tired. Not much was open and the modest crowd felt bigger than it was, but groomed snow and anything skied enough to break up the crust was fun. Did several laps in the Winnies. There was beautiful rays of sun through the ridgetop clouds in the trees that I liked very well, and occasionally full sun. Well worth the trip.


Sent from my iPhone using TGR Forums

But would you go back before it snows again? I’m guessing this weekend is going to be bonkers. Maybe go just to gather “Jerry of the Day” content?

[gregL]

But would you go back before it snows again? I’m guessing this weekend is going to be bonkers. Maybe go just to gather “Jerry of the Day” content?

Skyline is worth a half day just to get back on snow. Smoother than Tuesday and better vis. Better than Crystal where every run except Green Valley included some manner of shitty icy bumps and/or rocks.

[wickstad]

Mission was pretty sweet today. Stayed a lot longer than I intended. Piste only for now I’d say though.

[waveshello]

Mission was pretty sweet today. Stayed a lot longer than I intended. Piste only for now I’d say though.

If it's anything like Blewett, looks nice but low tide, and there's a heinous rain crust topped with a dash of hoar frost. Need more snow, and I think this crust is going to haunt us for a while.

[MagnificentUnicorn]

Mission wasn’t really that sweet today. Groomers were all right early but still limited and the choke on Tumwater isn’t very pleasant after a couple hours. Off piste was trenched out refrozen, rain crust and very thin.


Sent from my iPhone using TGR Forums

[Bandit Man]

Snuck up to Stevens this afternoon. Was pleasantly surprised by the coverage and quality of the snow. Didn’t venture off trail, but the “groomed” trails skied well. Still lots of creeks holes, random ripples, and avy debris on steep slopes. Also, the choke points are panic inducing. But, by this afternoon, crowds were gone and it was a good time.

Plus, it was gorgeous…

[Bandit Man]

Forgot to mention. Got to ride the new Kehr’s quad (aka “Bigger Chief”). I think it might be slower than the old double, but the seats were padded. [emoji41]


Sent from my iPad using TGR Forums

[jackattack]

Forgot to mention. Got to ride the new Kehr’s quad (aka “Bigger Chief”). I think it might be slower than the old double, but the seats were padded. [emoji41]


Sent from my iPad using TGR Forums

Line speed is probably a bit slower but the uphill capacity is increased with half the chairs. Vail will lower maintenance costs (labor) and parts will be readily available beyond 5 years.

[Bandit Man]

Line speed is probably a bit slower but the uphill capacity is increased with half the chairs. Vail will lower maintenance costs (labor) and parts will be readily available beyond 5 years.

That makes sense. I wasn’t complaining about the speed,just making an observation. Outside of the initial mob on a pow morning, there isn’t the demand to require a faster lift. Also, the unload area is so small now that there just isn’t room for a detachable quad unload area with all the mechanical requirements.

[XavierD]

Bigger Chief felt like it was running on half power yesterday, to include stopping a couple times. Also probably don’t have the coverage to keep it running much more unless these freezing levels drop sooner than later. I guess that goes for everything not on skyline or brooks though

[MagnificentUnicorn]

Fun storm skiing at Mission today. Stayed mostly frozen precip, snow and a bit of sleet. Windy up top. Soft turns everywhere. A bit of off piste but it’s punchy in areas that haven’t seen traffic.


Sent from my iPhone using TGR Forums

[wickstad]

Forgot to mention. Got to ride the new Kehr’s quad (aka “Bigger Chief”). I think it might be slower than the old double, but the seats were padded. [emoji41]


Sent from my iPad using TGR Forums

The seats and I think the seat backs used to be painted wood. Really fun chair ride in freezing rain. I think the newer seats were from the Thunderbird chair at Snoqualmie which were also yellow but padded.

[wickstad]

Fun storm skiing at Mission today. Stayed mostly frozen precip, snow and a bit of sleet. Windy up top. Soft turns everywhere. A bit of off piste but it’s punchy in areas that haven’t seen traffic.


Sent from my iPhone using TGR Forums

Fun to ski with you today. No rules when you’re having fun.

[CHAIR_97]

The seats and I think the seat backs used to be painted wood. Really fun chair ride in freezing rain. I think the newer seats were from the Thunderbird chair at Snoqualmie which were also yellow but padded.

I memba yellow big chief

Sent from my SM-S916U using Tapatalk

[Mofro261]

The seats and I think the seat backs used to be painted wood. Really fun chair ride in freezing rain. I think the newer seats were from the Thunderbird chair at Snoqualmie which were also yellow but padded.

Nope, the old Tbird chair had no bar in the middle on the seat unlike old Chief, the bar came up over the back. It was a yellow chair though.

[MagnificentUnicorn]

I’ve known wickstad for nearly 20 years now, I’m going with Mofro’s recollection.


Sent from my iPhone using TGR Forums

[gregL]

Bigger Chief felt like it was running on half power yesterday, to include stopping a couple times. Also probably don’t have the coverage to keep it running much more unless these freezing levels drop sooner than later. I guess that goes for everything not on skyline or brooks though

Not to mention all the choppy bumps with twigs. One lap and it was back to Skyline, which was actually good. Sorry I missed you.

[eSock]

Love checking the forecast and seeing predictions getting lower and lower as each day passes. Bout to be skunked on our guided tour next week.

[LegoSkier]

Line speed is probably a bit slower but the uphill capacity is increased with half the chairs. Vail will lower maintenance costs (labor) and parts will be readily available beyond 5 years.

And squirmy little kids will get seated properly since the chair wont whip around the bullwheel causing them to fall off onto the run (saw it happen several times last season).

[jackattack]

And squirmy little kids will get seated properly since the chair wont whip around the bullwheel causing them to fall off onto the run (saw it happen several times last season).

Most folks don’t know how to load a fixed grip double anymore, let alone a center pole. Detachable quads have made us soft.

[californiagrown]

Love checking the forecast and seeing predictions getting lower and lower as each day passes. Bout to be skunked on our guided tour next week.

Seems like every 10 years or so WA gets skunked on winter. We are 9 years on from the last skunking (my first year here). I guess i should get the MTB overhauled sooner than later.

[TAFKALVS]

04-05, 08-09, 14-15, 23-24.

But 05-06, 09-10, and 15-16 were great winters, let’s hope the pattern holds true again for 24-25.

[Bandit Man]

Fast groomers, mild temps, and blue skies at Stevens today. Oh, yeah…and light crowds for the first few hours.

Hogsback line at 10:30:



Skyline and Brooks at 10:30



The snow up on Tye Mill was softer and more “winter-like” than expected, but the single-cat width groomer made for some mayhem. Coverage on the backside didn’t look as terrible as one would imagine. Still hopeful…

[sheel44]

The bottom of the backside is where its really bad. lots of open creeks trying to get the jupiter chair, but the top 500 feet or so is skiing pretty well.