Skiing White Pass

Went to White Pass for the first time in my life on Thursday. Snow was PNW-great, visibility was interesting and variable, with a freezing fog making Couloir Basin kind of useless and about a 60-second sun break in the early afternoon. I didn’t take many photos, but among them were these…

• Mach V was probably my favorite run of the day.
• Locals were very nice, lifties were politely ambivalent.
• Arrived a little after 9 and the ticket line was a half-hour long.
• The day lodge at the base was way too small, but their chili was excellent.
• The best visibility was on the two middle lifts, which is probably not the optimal place for the best visibility.
• Fresh snow available on or near every run until some time in the afternoon.
• There are some HARDCORE 6-year-olds that ski this place. Absolutely fearless.
• Impressed by how many people apparently own cabins in Packwood.

Really enjoyable day, though. I was envious of the folks from Yakima for whom this is a convenient drive (I’m staying at my parents’ house in NE Tacoma, from where it took 2:40 to get there). Would like to get back some time when conditions were better on Couloir, which looked like it had a lot of potential.

bkd