Hey - The Kastles showed up Monday!  Despite a scheduled 74
> hour week here in the office I dragged the sleep deprived body
> up onto the slopes at Snoqualmie Summit this afternoon.
>
> The Summit at Snoqualmie is a straight Interstate 90 shot from
> Issaquah.  30 - 40 minutes depending on the road conditions.
> The Interstate is one of the major passes through the Cascades -
> there is no East Coast equivalent to the mountain passes out
> here.  The pass elevation is only mid 3000s I believe but serious snow
> and impressive looking slopes on all sides.
>
> Sooo - after weaving through 8 - 12 foot snow banks I make it into
> the Alpental  parking lot (Alpental is one of the 4 ski areas that
> make up the Summit).  My first lift accessed day of the season
> looks like it has a lot of potential - 16" of new {still falling} and a
> base of 97" with temps in the mid to high 20s.  Snow is surprisingly
> light for such warm temps.  100% powder - knee higher or deeper.
> Lift lines all sub 5 minutes.  If you all are not drooling you should be.
>
> I will spare you all the details on the first day gasping non-ski ready
> lungs and the burning non-ski conditioned legs. Total powder day -
> a few nice soft bump lines down near the lift lines but mostly an Alta
> type approach where everybody is choosing their lines for fresh powder.
>
> The word is no real bump development out here usually.  Snows too much
> every night so no multi day development and nobody likes to ski them
> anyhow.  My $169 mid week pass is going to pay off this season. No
> questions asked. Lots of small to medium drops everywhere at Alpental.
> 15 to 30 footers everywhere - so it helps to know where you are going if
> you are carrying speed.
>
> Take it easy.
>
> Gregory Prior