Spring Powder Day

[Steve]

Spring snowboarding / skiing doesn't get any better than this (at least in Western Washington...well maybe at Mt. Baker, maybe a little sunshine too).

The first day of Spring 2007 brought a "Powder Alert" to my inbox, I was off work and no plans - time to head to the Crystal Mountain Resort for some spring snowboarding.

At the parking lot, it was very windy with blowing snow. The back of my Toyota Land Cruiser had a layer of snow by time I finished getting my boots and coat on.

I immediately headed up to Green Valley to check the conditions. Since there had been very little snow recently, I found about 8 inches of powder over iced over moguls with near white-out conditions.

After a few runs, I headed down to Forest Queen Express where the visibility was a little clearer. There was fresh, untracked powder every where. I ended up riding Downhill and Mr. Magoo much of the day because there was plenty of fresh unridden snow throughout the day. I even had complete runs to myself, no other people on the run but me.

The sun made a few attempts to come out, but it was snowing most of the day, filling in previously created tracks. I don't think the temperature even rose above freezing, especially considering the wind chill.

Because there were no lift lines, I made run after run, only stopping for lunch (try the TLC burger) and a Red Bull at the Cambell Basin Lodge. By the end of the day, my legs were burning from riding the powder and making so many runs.

All I can say, what an awesome first day of Spring.

See more photos on my Flickr photo pages.