This past Monday Andrew Eckels(hans solo) headed up the Alpental valley to check out Bryant Couloir (also known by the local patrol as the Wonder Gully) via the ramp from Great Scott Bowl. He expected to find tough variable conditions but was pleasantly surprised to find some dust on skiable crust. The choke point near the bottom of the chute had plenty of snow only requiring a small side slip. Check out the short vid with some cool shots of Alpental’s backcountry above a sea of clouds.

One of our NW stops with Glen and Kimberly Plake was Mt. Spokane.  This quaint mountain resort with 1,425 skiable acreas and 2,000 vertical dates back to the early 1930s when the Spokane Ski Club helped to build the world’s first double chairlift on the southeastern slope of the mountain.  The tree skiing here is incredible and Glen liked the bump run, Geronimo, so much that he skipped lunch to ski it 3 or 4 times.

This is one of only 2 resorts in WA (? that we know of) that has wi-fi at the base lodge - nice (the other is Crystal). 2 of their chairs are a mile long so we got a chance to chat it up with our group in between runs.

If you’re in or traveling through the Spokane area, check out this great place as it’s only 28mi outside of Spokane and again, no crowds. Here’re some more pictures from that day. Video’s coming soon so please check back for that.

December tends to be a busy ski travel month for the Snow Troopers. Usually, we’re following the snow and skiing not only in WA, ID and OR but also CO, UT, CA. Those of you waiting for the big dump know that early Dec. 2011 has been a huge bust for the Rockies and Sierras. However, this past week, the CO Rockies started to receive snow and lots of it: some resorts such as Vail, Aspen valley, Steamboat, etc. got as much as 6” – previously, resorts in the Rockies and Sierras were reporting less than 2ft of old and manmade snow at elevations over 8,000ft so they sure needed it. Back in the PNW, we received a solid few inches in the last 24hrs at our local resorts in WA, OR, ID but there’s more coming this weekend and in WA, we still have the deepest (natural, not manmade) snow base on average across the U.S. (not counting AK). So don’t let today’s news of us being on track to set a record for the driest December ever in Western Washington deter you – remember: WA had record breaking rainfall in November and colder than average temps this month so skiing conditions have been incredible in the W. Cascades. Just see for yourself – here’s a new video from the backcountry (following park footage) this week at Summit Central, WA at about 3,000-4,000ft elevations. And for all you Alpentalics, there’s a good 4-6″ of nice powder today in the Alpental BC so go get it! As for this December possibly being the driest ever for W. WA, well, it’s all relative: WA’s Western Cascade Mountains, after all, statistically (and consistently, year to year) has the most annual average snow in the U.S. Mount Baker holds the world record for most snow in one year with 1140″ (=95 feet) between 7/1/98 and 6/30/99. It also ranks 2nd in annual average snowfall with 647″ behind the #1 ranked Mt. Rainier (at Paradise) with 676″. Valdez, AK is #3 with 326″ of annual average snow. So fear not friends in WA, we know that snow’s on its way.

Down home schoolin’ is in session again. Ski legend, Glen Plake teaches skiers and snowboarders how to do a cool trick known as “Polish Donuts”. Looks easy and fun! So come get your free Polish Donuts 101 “how to” video here.

Here’s a really short vid of a nasty ski off of Kendall Peak this past Saturday by Andrew Eckels and Cory Tarilton. The chute would be an epic ski w/ another 4 feet of snow but this past weekend the conditions were hard pack and bony. Andrew and Cory were able to work their way about half way up the main chute of the lookers’ left Kendall peak, then call it quits.

Today is Free Friday at Mammoth Mountain for all My Mammoth members (everyone can sign up to be a member for free on their website). That’s a great deal considering the regular price for My Mammoth members is $89 (or a whopping $96 if you’re not). With snow depth ranging from only 1.5-2ft on a mountain with a base elevation of 7,953 and top elevation of 11,053 feet, that sounds pretty bad so they want to entice folks to come up and see how good the skiing and riding is. There’s definitely enough terrain and lifts open – in fact, 9 lifts are running -Broadway, Thunder Bound, Stump Alley, Gold Rush, the Upper and Lower Panorama Gondola, and Roller Coaster Express- Mammoth being, well, mammoth, has more chairs running than lots of mountains today. Skies are clear with temps near 40 so surely a nice day. But, before you make that 5+ hour drive from L.A., check out our pictures from end of day yesterday (which is how things look today). Those who like skiing the groomers, come on up! Those who like to go off piste might want to wait. There’s a weak weather system moving in on Sunday that might bring some snow. We’re not dissin’ Mammoth as it happens to be one of our favorites and we have a Snow Trooper there this week (who sent this report) but with gas prices being what they are, some of the less ‘die hard’ skiers/boarders might be looking for more info and we’re here to serve. Pray for snow!

Looking pretty sketch in many places:

Looks fantastic on the groomers (Mammoth’s grooming team rocks!) and check it out: empty chairs!

Night skiing kicks off today at the Summit at Snoqualmie! Summit Central will be open until 10pm every Thursday, Friday and Saturday and currently is THE ONLY AREA with night skiing in all of WA. The conditions & weather are perfect for carving turns, park riding and practicing your tip rolls. So if you missed it earlier, check out the tip roll instructional video featuring ski legend, Glen Plake, in the post below and come on out for some down home fun!

The U.S. Alpine Ski Team is dominating in Beaver Creek! Ted Ligety finished first in yesterday’s Giant Slalom in a time of 2:40.01 and Lindsey Vonn, who seems unbeatable these days, took the top spot in the Super G with a time of 1:10.68. Ted was followed by Marcel Hirscher of Austria with 2:40.70 and Kjetil Jansrud of Norway with 2:40.79, respectively. Tim Jitloff came in 10th in 2:41.96. In the women’s Super G, Fabienne Suter of Switzerland finished 2nd in 1:11.05 and Austrian Anna Fenninger 3rd in 1:11.09. U.S.’ Julia Mancuso took the 8th spot with 1:12.16.  Be sure to come out tomorrow and cheer on the U.S. Men as they ski their last race down the slalom course starting at 9:30am 1st run and 12:30pm 2nd run. Congrats to all the World Cup winners!

Last spring, we joined Glen and Kimberly Plake on their “Down Home Tour” as they stopped at 49 Degrees North in WA to do some skiing with everyone. If you were lucky enough to join them in the past, you know how incredibly and genuinely warm and friendly they are and how passionate they are about skiing. While they enjoy skiing the steeps with experts, they also strongly believe that skiers of all levels can have fun on the slopes together and that it’s not about where or how well you ski but how much you enjoy skiing. We witnessed this first hand as they showed everyone, even advance skiers, how to have a great time on green and blue runs and “not waste any vertical”. That’s where you’re likely to find them teaching locals a ski trick or two. In that spirit, we’ve put together a short video showing Glen Plake teaching a cool one called the tip roll. Watch the video, find a safe place on the mountain to practice and live to ski another day.

I spent some time away from our home base on Snoqualmie Pass this past Summer and had a whole bunch of skiers/snowboarders ask why I would live on Snoqualmie Pass. Well, here is my visual answer in this short vid of Alpental’s opening day (this is only the lift served part of the answer, the randonnee part is BIGGER) – I’m joined by WA’s own Bryce Phillips (founder of EVO gear who was recently named by The Ski Channel as #10 in 2011’s Most Influential People in Snowbiz). Alpental happens to top his list of favorite places to ski. Alpental’s first day was on December 2nd, where the snow pack was deep enough to open all trails including some of the backcountry.

And if you thought Alpental was just a favorite in the minds of local skiers – well, this past March of last season, I was honored to ski with both Glen Plake and Brad Vancour (two Warren Miller movie ski legends) down Alpental’s International run. Halfway down, we stopped for a quick chat and Glen mentioned to Brad and myself: there isn’t a lift served run as steep and continuous in the lower 48 that he has skied. Pretty stoked to hear that from a guy who has skied more places than most people. So, give us a shout and come ski with us sometime! For Summit at Snoqualmie trail maps and more info go to www.Summit-at-Snoqualmie.com

Looking up from main parking lot

Alpental’s slackcountry leads to some epic backcountry – Chair Peak