Loup Loup

My plan had been to head to Hurricane Ridge today, but they were closed due to very high winds. It turned out to be a very good thing, as I changed course for Loup Loup, where I enjoyed a spectacular opening day with untracked powder and sunny skies. There was a pretty good turnout for the opening day, but there was still no waiting for a chair (other than first chair), and no crowds on the slopes. On the ride up, the only tracks in the powder were from Ski Patrol, and it was clear from these that the top layer was about 10 inches deep.

Reaching the top, I made my way back to the liftline run, known as "Volunteer", and proceeded to enjoy the satisfaction of first tracks on fresh powder from top to bottom. It was deep and dry, with a very nice base underneath. Perfect for cruising, and deep enough that it required attention to preventing any nose-diving. It was a fantastic first run, and I quickly made a few more down neighboring runs, with no trouble finding untouched lines in the deep stuff. After I finally wore myself out with powder runs, I explored the groomers, and in no time I had made my way to every trail.

Loup Loup is a smaller area, and only serviced by one fixed quad, with nothing extremely steep, and nothing really flat except for the runouts. All the runs are really cruisers, with about half of them groomed, and the others were all untouched powder this morning. Loup Loup also boasts some new renovations which make it a much more attractive destination than it was in previous years. Top on the list is the new restroom facility that was just completed this morning. Folks on the lifts told stories of concrete outhouses with no heat and the difficulty this presented in bringing women to the hill. No more. Now they have top of the line bathrooms, with automatic infrared everything, and heated floors! Nothing beats radiant floor heat in a ski resort bathroom.

I stopped for lunch at the lodge, which was very cramped with the opening day crowds, and was lucky enough to score a heat on the fireplace. I enjoyed lunch and a cold St. Pauli Girl Special Dark while sitting with my backside warming by the fire. After a hearty dose of chicken strips and fries, I went back to do it all over again, and made more fresh tracks until it was time to go. I even got adventurous enough to make a little tree run down to the cross-country trail and hike back up to the lift - there were some awesome trees and untouched powder down there that I just couldn't resist. Overall, Loup Loup was a great choice for today - I'm very happy that I was able to make it on such a perfect day here.