The Washington ski and snowboard season continues with a commonly seen warm front rolling through the region this past week. These events are important as they act as snow pack consolidation events, with this weeks freezing levels spiking up around 6000 feet and inversions at some of our local ski areas. Lowering snow levels for the weekend are providing us a freshening storm with heavy accumulation above 3000 feet.

The snowpack is deep and the coverage has filled in all of the creeks and dips we have become accustomed to skiing over the last couple of years. The warm spike led to wet heavy avalanches and consolidated the base by melting and bonding the snow in weak upper layers of our snowpack. Ultimately this stabilizes our snowpack for longevity and decreases the avalanche danger, which is down from High to Considerable according to the Northwest Avalanche Center (NWAC.us).

While it was rain on the bottom half of most slopes, what Washington skier doesn’t enjoy shushing down the rain slicked slop with the right wax? It’s a true NW skier who will wring our their Gore-Tex gloves, raid the local garbage can for the back stock plastic bags to throw over your $400 jacket because absolutely nothing is waterproof in those conditions, and go back out for another session of riding. In fact this is what makes the NW skiing crowd one of the most resilient and skilled. Those of you from colder climes may not get this, but the ability to navigate down 6-12 inches of rain-wetted fresh snow does give one some mad skillz (intentional spelling FYI).

The snowpack is here for the year and will not melt away, so we can plan on skiing through April and into May at areas that have forest service agreements that allow them long operations. Crystal will keep Green Valley open for a “Summer Season” most likely this year, which is an absolute blast.

As I write this it is currently 34 degrees and snowing at Snoqualmie, the closest to Seattle, with base measurements of 94 to 104 inches. If you’re on the fence on whether or not to go up and ride, remember that a day in the mountains is good for the soul, and the influx of light up in the mountains fights off the winter blues the non-snow riders can get. So grab your friends, or meet new ones up in the mountains, and head up to your favorite ski area to continue to celebrate the amazing region which we call home.

Here are links to local ski areas so you can visit their sites for the most up to date info. If you want to contribute this dialogue, come by Mountain to Sound Outfitters and let us know how your trip was or feel free to post in the comment section.

Crystal Mountain Resort
Summit at Snoqualmie
Stevens Pass
Mt. Baker Ski Area
Mission Ridge Ski Area
White Pass Ski Area
Loup Loup Ski Bowl

Make sure you check the WSDOT Pass Reports for driving conditions.

Greg Whittaker is the owner of Mountain to Sound Outfitters your West Seattle ski, snowboard, kayak, and paddle board experts that can also rack out your vehicle so you can carry all that gear that won’t fit in your trunk.