Conditions Report
Lucky shot bringing in the corn harvest.
The string of unseasonably warm weather continues in the Pacific North West. This week of warm dry weather was a welcome relief after the past few weeks that brought a mixed bag of rain and snow, and had riders in the Cascades holding their collective breath, hoping for the best. If January is the new June, February is looking like the new July. The forecast for clear skies with a high of 41.
Even as the low tide year drags on, its damn hard to be upset when you get your a healthy dose of Vitamin D and Vitamin R (Rainier, the mountain, and the beer) in one day.
Taking in the Vitamin R. All sun, all day.
With the  dose of Vitamin D and Vitamin R today, the mood on the mountain was super positive. The sun didn’t mess around today, thawing things quickly and taking the snow from the sketchiest kinds of chunder to the most pleasing varieties of corn and cream cheeses in just over an hour.
With only Rainier Express and Green Valley open the terrain options were limited, but rolling groomers, side hits, and sun make it all worth it. The best skiing was on Lucky Shot, which softened up very nicely mid-morning. For the rest  of the afternoon it was hot laps crushing slush.
Getting lucky with tranny’s on Lucky Shot.
The coverage was much better in Green Valley, but the more North-Facing aspects never warmed up to the sweet spot, staying firm all day long. Coverage on the lower portions of Lucky Shot is fairly patchy, and it remains to be seen how much longer the lower portions can hold out without some new precipitation.
Coverage looking a bit haggard at the bottom of Lucky Shot.
Green Valley, aka the freezer. Coverage is still solid up there.
The forecast for the next week looks like Tahoe, nothing but sun. There is a touch of precipitation mid-week that hasn’t decided whether it will fall as rain or snow.Â
I don’t think Washingtonians believe in snow any more. We understand the rain though.
It would take a healthy storm to fill in the base, but the top is holding out.
I was up in Green valley on Friday. Surprisingly good conditions. You had to get through the chunky stuff at the top of the bowl, but after that, as long as you stayed in the sun, it was a fun ride. Well worth the reduced admission ($35 on Friday/$45 Sat-Tues)