Northwest Ski Trip -- Day 4

The new year 2018 started before 4:00 a.m. with several drunks shouting incoherently and beating on our motel door not once, but twice.  Lovely...they finally found their room, I assume, and we were able to get some more sleep.  After breakfast (blueberries, blackberries, an orange, and milk) and gearing up, we had a pleasantly short drive up to The Summit at Snoqualmie.  We were carving turns by 9:45.  The Summit actually has four summits -- West, Central, East, and Alpental -- all of which we skied on.  Later in the season, when there is more snow, you can ski between each on traverses through the woods and over creeks/rocks; being that it is so early in the season, however, we had to utilize the shuttles running between each mountain.  In the evening, we did cut across from Summit West to Central, ending in an icy and tree-filled mogul field (we all emerged, although my dad caught his ski on one of the trees and went tumbling...).  The snow was not as good as we had at Stevens Pass yesterday -- many of the mogul fields we charged were hard, icy, and unforgiving, as well as some spots on groomed runs -- but it's nothing we couldn't handle.  A low cloud cover meant no sun, but we had a wonderful surprise on Summit Alpental after a late lunch at Tiroler Stube (clam chowder in a bread bowl, cocoa/French Vanilla coffee mix) -- the Edelweiss double chairlift took us to 5,610 feet and above the clouds!  When we broke out of the incessant grayness, fog, and mist and into the glorious sunshine, brilliant blue sky, and noticeably-warmer temperature (they ranged from about 20 to 35 today), I felt so alive and grateful for this opportunity to ski.  Even regulars to The Summit at Snoqualmie were popping out their phones to snap pictures, although even the best photographer couldn't capture the experience -- you had to be there to drink it in and savor the beauty.  Skiing above the clouds isn't something we get to do very often!

The Summit at Snoqualmie offers some night skiing, so we got our turns in until about 5:15, then headed back to our motel.  It was leftover night -- leftover pizza and Mediterranean split every which way, as well as a little treat (peanut butter shake) from Scott's Dairy Freeze right next door to our motel made for a wonderful meal and end to our second day of skiing...and the first day of 2018!

Below the clouds...

...and above the clouds!

~Anna