Here it is, my 100th ski blog! Not a great note to end our season with while we still have some good potential skiing left. We all heard Governor Inslee plead with us to “Stay Home, Stay Healthy”. I am complying. Even though we can in most places stay away from others while skiing, as I did the past 2 weekends, but now we all just need to stay put. My trip to the grocery store reset my clock and I need to lay low until April 3rd. I really hope I do not hear of anyone I know catching this virus. It’s bad enough to hear about all these people I don’t know!
Ok, on to logistics. Tuesday State Parks closed all their parks. This means Hyak and Crystal Springs are closed. Grooming ended on Monday by Lake Easton State Park crew. Grooming ended today for all our area. Gates are CLOSED. Stay home. Let’s be done with this as soon as possible.
Generally speaking - all public land in the Pass area will see locked toilets, campgrounds and day use areas closed and gated if there are any. This includes The Nature Conservancy.
Season summary:
One massive snow dump with one following massive monsoon of the likes we haven’t seen in a long time. The washouts were truly impressive. It seems to me it was a bit warmer overall and snow was often soft. But oh were there some glorious days! So many families using Erling Stordahl ski trails, many skijorers out, big successful races at Cabin Creek and Ski For Light having the best conditions in years. Lake Easton’s season was too short this year. I am planning on doing a “part 2’ to this blog after the weather stats come out.
As usual, many thanks go out to our volunteers. Everyone who chipped in get a big round of both thumbs up! So much goes into our winter trails and the Sno-Park program. Without our volunteers, the program and trails would not be as good as they are! Also, a special shout out to Chris and Tim who help moderate the Facebook page! Thank you!
Our groomer artists are our favorite people in the ski season. They are out there in the cold, rain and wind in their heated cabs (hoping something doesn’t break) making the corduroy we all love. Thank you Pete and Pete, Forrest, Boone, Dave, Shawn and Nick’s crew. Great job guys!
Thanks also to State Parks crew manning the ant hill which is called the Hyak sled hill, the gigantic Crystal Springs parking lot and tending to quiet Lake Easton State Park. The USFS has huge area to cover in the winter! Their least favorite is Gold Creek. They are quite busy with all the Sno-Parks.
Yes, this is my 100th blog. The website tells me so. I think – really???? Wow. This blog all started with emails letting folks know about events, and then it just evolved as things do. As for me, I used to work for the program about 15 years ago or so. I saw the inner workings and just how busy staff is. Oh my gosh. On the phone hours a day. Then I applied to be on the Snowmobile Advisory Committee as a non-motorized representative and learned another side to the program. Now I just torture myself with attending the summer non-motorized funding meetings so I can relay back to you all what happened. I also love to ski, which is why I do this.
Stay tuned for Part 2.
