Fourteen inches of snow fell between Friday and Saturday morning, and high avalanche danger was forecast for most aspects above 6000'. The last month saw very little snowfall, so I was not looking forward to a day at the resort and the certainty of large crowds. Enter Yodelin - an old ski area a mile east of Stevens Pass characterized by low angle slopes and old growth trees wide enough to ski but dense enough to minimize any avalanche risk. I hadn't skied it before but John convinced Jason and I that it would be great. And great it was! After a slow crawl up to Stevens and a bit of nerves because the lot was full and they were sending people to Yodelin to park, we had skins on by 10:30. We skinned up the cat track then over to the valley where we accessed the main ski run. Then up the ridge and dropping off to the left to ski the 700' run through the trees. It was so good we made six runs - all my lower back could handle! This was true hero snow - you could launch off anything and land in a soft pillow - just fantastic. Cold beers at 4:30 back at the car capped off an absolutely perfect day.
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