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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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