Last day of daily ops at Alta brought the sun, corn and the locals in costume. The skiing was loose granular in the sun and firm under foot on the North faces. At 4:30pm the gathering place for to celebrate another season of daily ops was the High Rustler aka High Boy. Awesome mountain that now shares a pass w/ Snowbird making it a top destination for BIG mountain skiers( I say skiers because snowboarders are not allowed same goes for dogs).

Friday and Saturday the 16th and 17th took some of The Snow Troopers to a world class ski resort w/ little to no crowds. high Temps were in the mid 50s to low 60s over the two days giving us good corn in the AM and pasty gwuanch in the afternoon. The first day finished w/ a little overcast and the second day was full on sun. This is a mountain you want to put on your hit list especially when the get slammed w/ some fresh!

So the last 3 or so weeks have been pretty epic here in the Northwest, we had a great cycle of storms which put some pop back in our turns! Cole and I have no doubt spent too much time skiing, if such a thing is possible, coming out of a sunny trip at brundage, followed by huge snow at Baker, then into several weeks of binge pow inhalation via sleds, stevens and alpy. Thanks to my lovely, but worthless computer, I have been struggling to put something together, so here’s the first of the Stevens Pass/Alpental edits. If you’ve been out much lately in the NW these conditions will look familiar.

Along w/the guy getting hosed up in the Kendall Peak zone last Saturday April 10th, 2010 I couldn’t help thinking how dangerous it can be up there just like walking through the Arizona Sonoran Desert in the middle of the Summer in a rattle snake infested zone. You have to travel at the best time possible through the land of the Dragon and if you HAVE to travel… Well hope you have the know how. Below is an old “Snoqualmie Snow Trooper” snow report from last year w/ Trevor Kostanich hitting it while the Dragon slept. Keeping it safe and living to ski another day!

Saturday the 10th of April Ian Rogers from Britain was hiking on Granite Mountain near Snoqualmie Pass when an avalanche hit him but he was able to stay on his feet. Soon after the first slide a second much larger slide hit and buried Rogers, he recalls. Ian thought he was under 3′ of snow but found later to be under 5 to 6 feet of snow. Rogers dug snow with his hand for 45 minutes to reach the cell phone in his pocket. He then called 911 who patched him through to search and rescue who was able to find him 5 hours later. Cell phone provider Ian uses is AT & T. Now that the Alpental Bark, Snoqualmie Pass FD and KC SAR has given Ian a second chance he needs to add some more items to his AT & T backcountry survival kit – Partner(s) , beacon, probe, shovel, and know how to use all!

Live to Ski (or hike) Another Day Snow Troopers!

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After the Summit at Snoqualmie announced the 2 chairs to be installed this Summer ‘10 at Summit East (which will give us lift served access to not only the Dino but the back side down Hidden Valley) Scott Harder and Myself though we should check the Dinosaur out for dawn patrol. We did and it still rocks! Check out the Vid below of the lap down the Dinosaur.

Below is the video that went along w/ The Summit’s announcement!

Below is The Snow Troopers version on looking back at the ‘Yak.

Four laps on Summit East Friday the 9th of April giving me just over 4,000 feet up untracked pow. This Top to Bottom lap is the 3rd of the day. Trooper dog came out for the first two, but it was too deep as he struggled down the whole way.

Huge Congrats to this year’s winner of the Arctic Man: Scott Macartney (US Ski Team racer out of Redmond, WA). This is his 2nd victory at the Arctic Man. The Snow Troopers will be joining him next week to celebrate his retirement from World Cup racing.

Trip to Mission Ridge on April 8th, 2010 brought sun, then snow, followed by HUGE snow, deep turns and a blast of sun on the way out. First time off the lift at Mission Ridge and have to say they have a little bit for everyone in the terrain department and NO lift lines! We just stayed in bounds and enjoyed the pow as it stacked up, but if you are after some big lines w/ not too much effort they are there to get ( if patrol has open – always live to ski another day). The Snow Troopers will be back to this secret stash that is tucked away on the Eastern Slopes of the Central Cascades just 12 miles from downtown Wenatchee, WA real soon.

Wednesday and Thursday, 3/31 and 4/1 finally gave us some good riding here at our home mountain of Alpental w/ 15″ new on the first day and 7″ for the next. Wednesday was packed w/ people skipping work and chompin’ at the bit for the powder they never got this season. Thursday was the day, Patrol opened the High Gate for the Great Scott Traverse and all its Glory! Stay tuned Snow Troopers cause more good snow and times are on the way!