Nordic Skiing the Summit at Snoqualmie Pass (2-5-2011)
Despite some raining on previous night, it was
good timing to XC ski at the Summit
(Snoqualmie Ski Resort). The weather for the Last few weeks has been too warm,
raining, and no snowing. Some snow on the previous weekend and clear skies on
the following week helped the ski condition a lot better.
The trip was a Peninsular Wilderness Club (PWC)
event sponsored by Paul Dutky. Kyle, Craig, and I signed up but Craig could not
make it. It turned out 4 of us: Greg (Paul's friend), Paul, Kyle, and I. It was
the first time XC skiing for Kyle. The Summit
has wonderful groomed Nordic ski tracks for all levels: easy, medium, and
difficult.
We had a blast XC skiing pretty much all day
from 0945 - 1510 (The Summit Noric Ski hours are 0900-1530). Temp was between
37-40. Little sprinkles but stopped. Some snow flurries around the Mt
Catherine. Greg and Paul skate skied, and Kyle and I did classic skiing. Since
it was the first time for Kyle, he stayed at the Cold Creek Trail without much
slops and to practice snowplowing. Greg, Paul, I skied most of the Mt Catherine
loop and the Hidden Valley traverse (XC ski routes: Summit East - Cold Creek -
Windy Acres - Grand Junction - Sun Rise - Hidden Valley - Back to Cold Creek -
Summit East). It was probably close to 13-14 miles with estimated elevation
gain of 2800-3000 ft. The Summit
has about 30 miles Nordic tracks, so we skied about half the trails...
It was a tough day on the legs but I really
enjoyed it. The Hidden
Valley trail had most of
up hills, especially, the last mile was pretty steep. The last mile was rated
as hardest which was too steep and all the skiers removed the skies and walked
down the hill. Also the snow condition (no powders but clumping of snow) made
worse. In overall, it was great to be out to the Summit for the first time.
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