On Tue, 25 May 2004 13:21:32 -0400, Jim 'Rusty' Clapp <[log in to unmask]>
wrote:

>Jerm-Cool pics and TR.
>
>Made me drool with the truck/snowpack shot! You and Matt are milking it
big
>time this year...
>
>Oh yeah--thinking of a late april trip next year when child #2 is old
>enough for daddy to head out west during school break. My question is,
>Colorado or PNW for the best earned turns, sun and corn??

As I understand it, spring/summers in the PNW have been getting
progressively drier. Of course asI write this it's raining. But in general
it isn't nearly as rainy as everyone makes it out to be ... I think the
main reason the PNW has such a wet rep is due to the large numbers of
displaced Californians here. Personally, I like the occasional rain
shower, keeps things green.

Anyway, it really depends on the snow year, but mid May - late June is
probably more reliable in terms of access to bigger terrain. The North
Cascades Highway typically opens in that timeframe (although this year it
opened earlier) and that accesses a lifetime of great stuff. Same goes for
Chinook Pass, which generally opens later but has less vert. Late June and
early July you can get in and ski higher on the volcanoes.

CO or WA, or CA. they'll all certainly have more than a weeks' worth of
skiing then. If you're into a big objective, like Adams or Shasta, or
whatever... you would want to plan later simply because the roads don't
melt out until then. The main difference between CO and WA, and CA too I
guess, is that most areas of CO have seen a lot of mining so there are
roads of some sort into the biggest mountains. In WA, the bigger stuff has
been protected longer and logging roads don't seem to go quite as deep, so
for some stuff the approaches are a lot longer. From the standpoint of
being in completely undeveloped wilderness it's kinda cool, but it does
cut down on your day trip options. Only about a half dozen roads cross the
Cascades, and only 3 of those are open in the winter so your access points
are a bit more limited before things start to melt out.

Jerm

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