Passing Up on Skiing at Stevens Pass

And exactly one week later, we found ourselves driving up to yet another ski resort. I guess P truly wanted to snowboard. 😆

Throughout the week prior, D & I pondered over following P & Y (one snowboarding, one skiing) up to Stevens Pass since we both were certain we didn’t want to engage in either. Our Saturday could otherwise be spent doing something else but since there was only one vehicle to be shared amongst the four of us, we would effectively be car-less, and that left us with few options on where we could go. Furthermore D wanted to be the self-appointed driver on the drive down –  he was being nice, knowing P would be too tired to drive safely after expending his energy snowboarding the whole day. So I too, decided to tag along otherwise D would be quite lonely.

The scenery along the way wasn’t as fantastic (last week’s drive was better) but the landscape was a lot more dramatic than Crystal Mountain’s. It was also much further but we were driving all the way there for the powder snow. According to our American colleagues, Mount Baker has the best powder snow for winter activities yet driving so far wasn’t an option for us. So Stevens Pass it was.

From afar we could see the ski slopes. Felt so excited for the both of them. We started out slightly later than planned, at about 7.30am instead and when we finally arrived, it was just over 9.00am. Not many cars yet, but during the short 10 minutes preparing ourselves in the car (wearing more layers and gloves), there was an endless stream of cars arriving.

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Again, time for pictures. Lots of them. Since we were more than adequately dressed this round, D & I ventured out of the cafeteria to walk about the ski resort when we got bored with sitting and sipping on our hot drinks. There were lots of space to explore.

It was still pretty early into the ski season so the lifts were not utilised at full capacity. Wished I could ski well enough to warrant additional expenses on buying ski suits and renting equipment, but I’m not exactly competent yet.

It started snowing midway into our exploration of the resort. From our prior experience, we knew that whilst falling snow may look all nice and romantic, it is not so nice to get wet from the melted snow. We walked back into the cafeteria shortly after, not wishing to get wet.

A parting shot prior to leaving Stevens Pass. One thing I didn’t quite like about this particular ski resort… it was a steep slope at the entrance to the resort. Walking up wasn’t too much of an issue but leaving was an absolute nightmare. Last week I couldn’t stop laughing at Y, but this week he had his revenge. I had so much trouble manoeuvring the steep slope down he took pity on me and lent me one of his ski poles (D took the other). Hilarious sight, I know. This taught me an important lesson in life: that karma exists. 😆

I sat beside D as he drove down the mountain, promising to keep talking to him so he wouldn’t doze off. But the interior of the car was so warm and toasty I dozed off. Felt so bad…

An unpleasant incident took place while at Stevens Pass. The resort had racks set up just outside the cafeteria/rest area for skiers and snowboarders to park their equipment since they were not allowed to bring them in. One thing I noted while I walked past them was that locks and chains were not involved (unlike in S. Korea, the other ski resort I had been to). Suffice it to say that the system was very much based on trust. I was skeptical that it would work, but well… who was I to judge?

P had a slight accident while snowboarding hence he stopped and came in to rest a lot earlier than Y, who continued skiing for a couple of hours more. By the time we got up to leave the resort, P couldn’t find his rented snowboard when he went to one of the racks to collect it. He panicked, and made a rash decision to pick out a random snowboard belonging to someone else. I didn’t agree with his action, but kept quiet since it was his decision to make (losing the snowboard entails a large fine).

Turns out that the snowboard he took and tried to return to the shop was also a rented one, and the other guy was a lot smarter in reporting the loss. Apparently all these rental shops maintain one system to track stolen/lost equipment. P got into a bit of trouble at the shop, I heard from Y. In the end, he had to pay a fine for losing his snowboard, but they decided to go easy on him for the other transgression since his intent was not with malice.

A questionable decision aside, it wasn’t really fair that P had his rented snowboard stolen. Seems like the system based on trust has broken down long ago.