Pleasure in the powder

Published 9:00 pm Thursday, November 29, 2001

Skiers and boarders flock to Stevens Pass for opening day of ski season

By Andrew Wineke

Herald Writer

STEVENS PASS — People camped in their cars, skipped work, called in sick to school, whatever it took to be on the mountain for the opening day of ski season Thursday at Stevens Pass.

While the first day of the season is always symbolically important for snow-lovers, bare spots, rocks and slush usually greet the die-hards who can’t wait for the snowpack to build up. Not so on Thursday.

This week’s wintry weather meant that about 40 inches of unusually light, dry snow awaited opening day skiers and snowboarders at the pass. That in turn meant big smiles and good cheer in the lift lines.

"This is the best opening day I can remember," Matt Fitch of Everett said.

Fitch said he had hiked up 7th Heaven, the ski area’s highest run, three or four times in the past week.

"It took three hours to hike up to the top," he said. "It’ll be nice to be able to ride the lifts."

The 7th Heaven chairlift isn’t running yet (only the Hogsback, Skyline, Brooks, Tye Mill and Daisy lifts were operating), but if the snow keeps coming, all of the lifts and night skiing could be going by the weekend or early next week. Until then, Stevens is open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily.

That’s good news, but the downside is that lift tickets, which are now $32, will jump to $43 when the mountain is fully open.

Thursday, the groomed runs had a few branches poking through but were in very good condition for opening day. The ungroomed runs were trickier, with soft powder that went clear down to the dirt and lots of trees breaking through the snow cover.

Continuing snows promised to bury those unwelcome branches by the weekend. The snow was falling hard most of Thursday, so much so that the ski area turned on its lights about noon.

The more the better seemed to be the prevailing mood on the mountain.

Matt Clemeson of Kirkland was pumped for the first day of the season.

"I told my boss a long time ago, ‘Opening day? Can’t make it,’ " he said.

Sixteen-year-old Josh Spellman and some friends from Monroe High School went AWOL to be on the mountain.

"We just kind of skipped school," Spellman said. "Opening day, they’re getting dumped on, so might as well go up."

Joyce Aguirre and Chris Frink of Seattle took a day off work so they could get on the slopes.

"We thought we were going to be the first ones on the mountain," Aguirre said, "but I guess everyone else had the same idea."

The upper parking lot was full by the time the lifts started running Thursday morning, and there was a short wait at most of the lifts.

Mike "Squatch" Wall of Leavenworth was helping park cars at the ski area. He got to work at 6:30 a.m. and said skiers and snowboarders began pulling in right away, even though the lifts didn’t start running until 9 a.m.

"There was a good 2 feet of powder yesterday," Wall said. "We’re going to be busy today."

Lori Vandenbrink, marketing director for Stevens Pass, said it’s shaping up to be a great winter.

"I think after last year’s low snow cover, people are really excited about this season," she said. "I came across at 5:30 (a.m.), and there were people in their cars and vans sleeping. For the last week or more, there’s been people hiking constantly (up the mountain)."

Elsewhere in ski land, the Summit at Snoqualmie planned to open Summit West today at 9 a.m. Mount Baker and Crystal Mountain opened last weekend with limited operations. Mission Ridge near Wenatchee and White Pass near Yakima will open Saturday with limited operations. All the major British Columbia resorts are open and most of the Idaho resorts are open, or will be this weekend. Mount Hood and Mount Bachelor in Oregon are open.

You can call Herald Writer Andrew Wineke at 425-339-3465 or send e-mail to wineke@heraldnet.com.