Hyak

  Ski - Snowboard Adventure 2001 /  2002
 
 
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Notes 2001/2002 season

First Measurable Snow:10-23-2001
Last Measurable Snow: 6-
Season Total: "
 

6/15/2002: The snow has finally released my measuring stick (it has fallen) and now there are only patches of snow around at cabin level.  I took a hike up today with the dog and took along my snowskate to get a few turns on the upper runs.   Mom's run still had 3'-5' but anywhere the sun hit was dirt.  Its been a good year, and the spring hiking was almost as good as the 1999 season.  This is the last report for the 2001/2002 season!
Base: 0

6/6/2002: The measuring stick now shows less then 2' of snow.  The upper, north facing runs still have a few feet of snow and now that the access road has been cleared by the SUMMIT it can be accessed by car for sled'n or mtn. biking on road 9070.
Base: 1'

5/27/2002: The entire lower section of the hill below Keechelus is pretty much bare now and with no new snow in a few weeks, it looks like our snowpack is finally going away.  I was able to snowboard down from the ridge to the road below the Kacheelus lift, but there were many dirt areas I had to avoid. I highly doubt this would be possible by tomorrow......but skiing/boarding down to the water tower is stilll ok.   The north facing runs all have good coverage!   I rode Blowdown to the cat-track, took that down to the Oly can then straight down.   Its been a good year.......  Snow at the measuring stick is just over 3'.
Base:3'

5/24/2002: The snowmelt is still creeping along at a slower then normal pace.  Bare spots are just starting to appear above the Kacheelus lift on up but not enough to cause any problems with navagating down the hill.  Coverage is about equal to the '99 season at the same time.......no new snow in the past week.
Base:4'

5/16/2002: Took a friend up for his first time boarding, or hiking a ski area.  Lots of sun, warm and lots of snow.  a good time....still over 5'.
Base: 5'+

5/14/2002:  What happened to our nice weather?  We get 2 days of great sunshine, warm weather followed up with another cold front and snow levels last night falling down to 3,500'.  We only lost about 10" of snow over the weekend which is suprising, but the melt does seem to be finally picking up.  Coverage is still great all the way down.
Base: 5 1/2'

5/9/2002: I wouldn't expect to see too much more new snow after tuesday, which brought an end to our latest winter storm.  A couple inches new left on the ground and the forcast is now calling for temps to climb into the 70's by sunday.  It appears our big snow-melt is about to kick into gear and if so, our snowpack should be down to a couple feet within a couple weeks....lets see if this warm weather holds out this time.
Base: 6'

5/5/2002: More snow...the season just won't end.  About 3"-5" in the past couple days and another 3"-6" predicted before it ends tuesday.  We really haven't hit a big snow melt yet, so the snow pack is still in great shape on all the Snoqualmie Pass areas.  The measuring stick is just a couple inches over 6' which is almost even with the big snow season of '98-'99.   Unless a huge melt happens sometime soon we should easily be able to ride Hyak in June.
Base: 6'

4/30/2002:  Saturday we had a couple inches fall but sunshine has been the rule since.  The snowpack has not begun its excellerated melt as of yet and we've only lost a half foot since last weekend.  Coverage is still excellent on all portions of the mtn excluding where the creek crosses near the lodge.  Today the snow was nice from top to bottom on my ride down and not to slow or dirty.
Base: 6 1/2'

4/21/2002: A few inches of snow fell through the week and cool temps kept the snowpack in good shape.  Conditions today were good at both Alpental in the AM and at Hyak at mid-day. Actually I liked the snow conditions at Hyak better but that may have been due to the fact that it wasn't all tracked up.  Lift service at Alpental is too continue through next weekend.  Coverage at all areas is still very good. At Hyak you just need to watch it at the creek near the lodge, but otherwise the coverage is as good as its been all season. (bring the sleds up on the slopes!)
Base: 7'

4/15/2002: I didn't make it up to the pass this weekend but reports say it was raining hard all day Saturday with temprature running in the 40's.  Sunday a cold front came through and a couple inches of new snow fell.  I'll try to make it up in the next few days to give a first hand report.

4/7/2002: A week of warm, sunshine weather has put the snowpack down a couple feet from melting and settling. The coverage is still great everywhere, no signs of thinning.  Today there was light snow and conditions were very spring-like (soft/corn).  Today was the last day for Nordic service at Hyak, but its now officially open for sledding, bring your tube!
Base: 8'

3/25/2002: I'm in trouble!  After missing 2 weeks going up to Hyak my parking space is GONE.  It is 5' deep in snow and my cabin entrance was almost as bad.  The snow depth now is as high as any winter (except 99') I've seen and should last well into the spring.  My snow depth guage is well buried so my totals now are estimated until the snow melts back down to the 8.5' level.  The Ski Down this year will be a good one, don't miss out.
Base:10'+

3/20/2002: WINTER STORM 2002 HAS ARRIVED!  The biggest storm of the season has hit and been dumping large amounts of snow every day for the past 10 days.  Snoqualmie Pass has been closed the past 2 days, predicted to open at 4pm.  I haven't been able to get to the pass  this last weekend but I'd guess there has been between 3'-4' new in the past week. We easily have our deepest snowpack of the season currently.
So far, the season snowfall is 454" compared to 300" for all of last season.
Base: 9'+

3/10/2002: Snow has returned!....at least for awhile anyway.  The snow has gone back over the 7' mark and there is more snow in the forcast.  Today the conditions were great but snowlevels are going to rise for a short time, then drop down for the remainder of the week....(so they predict).
Base: 7'

3/3/2002: Another week of mostly sunshine and only 1" new snow.  The snowpack has compressed to aprox 6.5 feet....about the same as last season at this same time.  Snow is in the forcast so lets keep our fingers crossed.  This past weekend wasn't bad, though....good grooming by the Summit-teers!
Base: 6 1/2'

2/24/2002: After a week of warm temp. and sometimes heavy rain, the snow has lost about 2' of depth from the beginning of this trend.  Today it snowed about 4" and the temps are back to normal, but the snowpack is now under 7'.  More snow is expected later this week.
Base: 6' 12"

2/18/2002: Rain.....high snow levels and wet snow.  We received a trace of snow last night but for the most part its been warm and wet.  The temp. is staying in the 30's so not much snowmelt, but its packing and getting solid at night.  Hope we get back into the snow pattern soon.
Base: 8'

2/10/2002: The snow firmed up enough since friday to make off-run boarding worthwhile.  More snow is predicted for tonight......
Base: 8 1/2'

2-8-2002: So much snow....its very simular to the 1995 season, but still a few feet short of 1999.  I took a few runs this morning and the snow was so deep I just kept sinking and getting stuck off piste  no matter how steep the run.  Still fun though, even with all the work of digging out..
Base: 8 1/2'

2-6-2002: Snowing hard today from mile-post 45 on up.  They are predicting another 12" in the next 24 hrs so it looks like another good weekend coming up.
Base: 7 1/2'+

2-3-2002: Another 2' of snow fell over the past week.  So far this has been a very good season.  More snow predicted for later this week.
Base: 7 1/2'

1-27-2002: More snow!  Over the week we had lots of snow, a little rain and folled up with cold temps.  Today its in the low 20's and snowing. About 13" fell earlier in the week followed with brief rain making it all very heavy. The past couple days have been very dry snow and snow conditions are really good. I'm told yesterday was excellent, but today is also not bad.   I can now start measuring the snow in feet as its gettin up near the top of my 8' measuring stick.
Base: 6 1/2'

1-21-2002: What a difference from yesterday to today.  The past few days has been dumping from 10"-12"+  each day and our snowpack is climbing quickly. Yesterday the temp. was hanging around 32 and the 12" that fell was HEAVY.  It was a lot of work off the groomed runs.  Today the snow that fell was about as dry as it comes, with temp's running around 26 degrees.  It was an awesome day today and if temps stay low the snow might hold up til next weekend.
Base: 69"

1-13-2002:  What a great day. After suffering the past couple weeks with warm fronts, rain, hardpack, etc. today was a welcome site.  About 6" of new snow followed by cold temp. and sunshine. Today was also one of the most crowded days I've seen at Hyak in quite some time.  If it stays like this the HSQ can't get
here soon enough.  All the runs were in great shape with the new snow and fresh tracks were not hard to find, despite the crowds.
Base: 50"

1-8-2002: The rains have hit and hit hard.  Its been raining for the past couple days and snow levels are suppose to remain high for the next few.  Conditions are not good unless your a fan of hard-pack slush.  The weekend is suppose to be the return of low snow levels and powder, lets hope so!
Base: 48"

1-4-2002: It had snowed a few inches since my last report but followed by freezing rain.  The added inches with the added pack-down keeps our snow total at about the same.  High snow levels in the forcast with no relief in site.  Lets hope this doesn't last too long.
Base: 52"

12-30-2001:  Just a few inches of new snow the past few days, and with the snow packing itself down the depth is aprox. 52".  Temp. has stayed cold so snow melt has stayed minimal and icy conditions have not been much of a problem so far this season.
Base: 52"

12-26-2001: It hasn't snowed for about a week but cold tempratures have kept the snow in good shape.  The snow has packed down a bit, but there is plenty and coverage is good on all runs.
Base: 50"

12-19-2001: Yesterday with tempratures hanging in the low to mid 20's, the new snow that fell (11") was nice and dry.  Under the new snow was the left over from our couple days of rain/snow, sort of a hard pack/crust.  It was a great ride down the mtn with powder flying and even a few face shots.  If tempratures stay low then Friday opening should be excellent for fresh tracks.
Base: 56".

12-16-2001:  After another 6" or so of snow fell the snow levels went up and the rain began to fall.  The snow was very wet, very heavy and pretty dang slow today.  The temp was still hanging around freezing at 32 degrees but no snow is expected until tonight when the snow level drops again. I still did an hour an a half of boarding despite the rain and it wasn't all bad.
Base: 50"

12-14-2001:  Yesterday the snow level went up for a few hrs with rain hitting the areas. By evening the rain had turned back to snow and we stacked up a good 6". The conditions were still pretty good even though there was rain.
Base: 46"

12-9-2001: Condions today were excellent!  I don't remember boarding on such dry powder in December ever..... The wind had blown the new powder into drifts up to 2' in areas which made for even better riding. I also made my first run down the new cut along the Dinosaur chair. There are some excellent small cliff drops along the route that will make good pictures later this season (about 5'-7' drop) but it got real chopped up near the bottom because the snowshoers are using that area.   Overall a great day!
Base: 43"

12-5-2001:  Another 8" or so has fallen since last saturday and it is the easy-to-shovel stuff (dry).  Hyak opens Saturday the 8th and coverage looks great. Slopes should be 100% open.
Base: 41"

12-1-2001: The dry snow didn't last long. By Saturday the temp. had gone up enough to turn our nice dry snowpack into heavy NW powder.  Still got  a hike in but it just wasn't as expected.  New snow still falling and more expected. Rumor is Hyak will open next weekend on Dec. 8th.
Base: 36"

11-30-2001: Lots of snow!  The snow measures aprox. 30" at my cabin (aprox. 3000' level at Hyak) and is mid-winter condition...nice dry powder. Tomorrow should be an excellent opening day at West and I'd expect Central to open soon after (maybe Sat?)  More storms expected this weekend.
Base: 30"

11-26-2001: The snow has arrived!  I've been away for awhile but will update as soon as I get a chance to go up to the pass. (possibly tomorrow)

11-15-2001: Well, since our early snow the snow levels have gone up and it has rained and rained.   We will have no early start unless a miracle happens and there
is NO snow left from previous storms.
Base: ZIP'o

10-31-2001: The little snow that fell earlier  has pretty much melted, at least at the road level.  Higher snow levels have come in but so far the weather looks to be pretty much normal for this time of year.  Still a couple inches up top and patches lower...need lots more snow to get things going!
Base: 0

10-24-2001: I guess I can start keeping track of total snow. We have about 7"-8" on the ground now and it looks like it might just stick.  Snow is predicted through the weekend and this is the earliest we've had snow on the ground since around '95.  Could be a great year!
Base: ~7"

10-23-2001: A couple inches fell on the ski area with more predicted.

10-11-2001: Today we had our first dusting on the ski slopes at about the 3,500' level.  Only a trace, but its the first snow on the slopes. 


 

 

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