A few crappy pics here: Alpental 02/23/07

My birthday was actually earlier in the week but since I've been down with the frickin' flu for the last week or so, I decided to hold out for a long weekend. After a decidedly non-alpine start, I rolled into Alpental around 9:30AM. I was surprised by how good it looked. It must have snowed a bit more or maybe the wind cleaned things up but the lower mountain looked pretty good. It was fairly cold and the pow had stayed very light - people were getting face shots on turns coming down Sessel... Damn, if I'd have known, I'd have rousted out at the crack o' dawn!

Took a warmup run down Debbie's and felt awful - the leftovers from being sick were in full force; wheezing and hacking up phlegm-globs, legs burning with no power, ad infinitum. I almost rode back to the car and went home right then. But...

...I really wanted to get up to the Patrol shack and secure the coveted and mystically effective(works with no partner, avy gear or knowledge) key to the Alpental Backcountry - the famed Plaid Alpental BC Pass. So, I hacked up a nice one to clear my lungs and got back on Armstrong. Skated over to Chair 2, waited 1 chair and had a solo ride to the top. After interrupting the Patrol's tasting looking brunch, I received the key to the Kingdom from a slightly grumpy Patroller manning the stacks of unread yet signed waiver forms. Goal attained, I worked my way around the 4 year old skierette with the bunny ear helmet ripping the gut of Upper'Nash (Alpental is sooo flat) and made my way down to the car via Snake Dance. The BC was tempting but I was solo and rational thought won me over for once.

The snow was well tracked but the pow was very light, even the bumps were nice. Actually, I started aiming for the bumps because they were just big piles of fluff that exploded in white clouds when hit at speed. Skirted the edges of Snake Dance to find some clean(ish) lines and on to Sessel to get a few of those blue groomer face shots of my own. That's when I noticed that I wasn't coughing up green goo anymore and my head and even my legs felt OK. "Must be the high mountain air" thought I so I made a beeline for Armstrong and again up Chair 2. Dodging the Chair 2 exit ramp carnage, I did another down Snake Dance(ish) and back to base. Still feeling good, I decided to stay up high and did 4 more laps on Chair 2, Edleweiss, Schluct, Rollen and closed out with a run down the trees skiers left of the Fan, dunno what that's called, Breakover maybe? Whatever, it was good, well tracked but poofy pow all the way, face shots a plenty.

By this time, the fog had rolled in along with dumping snow, visibility went to schitt and my post-flu lack of fitness was starting to show. I hooked over to the traverse and down Sessel one last time on the way to the car.

It was a good way to celebrate my B'Day. Didn't get any pristine pow but it was mostly blower even where it was beat. It didn't even hurt with the inevitable schitt-eating event getting off Chair 2 (only once!).

In retrospect, Alpy suXor, everyone should go to Stevens Pass and not waste their time up at Snoqualmie...