This is the second resort on our trip through The Powder Alliance. Check out the intro to the trip here: http://www.newschoolers.com/membernewsread/4-Dudes-Subaru.

If you will be at a resort we are visiting hit us up, we'd love to ski with you!

(sorry P-fo, don't know how we missed you)

Follow us on Instagram: (@caleb_ehly) (@ianengerbretson) (@jamesengerbretson) (@cywhitling) or add me on Snapchat: cydwhit (or add engerbretson, he's been doing a better job on the story) for more frequent updates!

For the condensed, ratings based portion of this review, skip to the bottom. If you like reading things, continue onwards.

When we rolled in to Stevens Pass (@stevenspass) we were cautiously optimistic. We'd heard Stevens was good, we'd heard it was similar to our home resort, Schweitzer. The bad news was that their season base depth was sitting right around 34 inches. The good news: Stevens Pass wore that 34 inches well.

Does this look like 34" total to you?

Before my stoked brain starts blathering about how awesome Stevens was here are the stats:

Elevation:

Peak: 5845ft

Base: 4060ft

Total drop: 1800 ft

Terrain:

1125 acres

4 parks

Lifts:

3 High Speed Quads

4 Triple Chairs

3 Double Chairs

Looking at the numbers Stevens has less than half the amount of skiable acres of my home resort, Schweitzer. However, actually skiing the mountain they felt very similar. Stevens packs in the terrain. We spent most of our time off the 7th Heaven double chair which accesses some incredible runs. There are several major cliff bands, with hits ranging from easy to "You'd better have a knee brace sponsor."

Cliffs. Stevens has them

Apparently the resort did some major brush cutting and clearing last summer and it shows. Even though the snowpack was low most runs were very skiable and fun. Just a short hike up from the chair (on a very nice bootpack) is an incredible bouquet of chutes and cliffs. These were mostly untouched and offered some great turns.

Lower on the mountain are the parks. We weren't expecting much from a mountain with little snow that had only opened recently but we were blown away with the quality and quantity of features. Two jumps and a wide variety of rails stretch along and down a ridge. Unlike some resorts that line up all their rails horizontally in a row, Stevens sprinkles them all the way along the run. This means that you can hit most of the features every run. They also have some of the widest and funnest boxes around if you don't like to slide rails.

I even got in on the action

This early season park rivals many mountain's spring setups and along the side of the runs were several piles of features waiting to be set up. More rails in every shape and size imaginable and one off features, like a Space Needle bonk will be set up later in the season. This park is prime for skiers and riders of all skill levels!

Does this confuse you?

Super Scientific Ratings

Terrain: Stevens has it all, cliffs, bowls, glades, groomers: Ten Tapped Trees out of Ten

Gaper to Pro Ratio: We didn't run into many other proficient skiers: Eight Yardsaling Gapers out of ten

Parks: Two jumps, a gazillion creative and interesting rails: Eight Kinked Rails out of ten

Moguls: On average the size of eight ski school students

Cliffs: Varied, ranging from "Look ma! no hands!" to "Should I pack a BASE rig for this?"

Lifts: Varied: The fast ones are full of gapers going to ski groomers, the good ones are sketchy, and keep the weak away. Very few lines anywhere on the mountian

Boxes: Wide, curvy, and a good time. Seriously, if you are scared of rails like me you will probably release a girly squeak of joy when you see these bad boys, I did.

Rails: Everything, easy beginner rails to stuff possibly designed for the Line Traveling Circus

Ski Town: Nearest town is Leavenworth. Check out the Icicle Village if you need a place to crash. Jacuzzi, mini cinnamon rolls, incredible views, this place has it all. Ten blinking christmas lights out of ten

Overall Vibe: In a word? Perfect. Mello, everyone is stoked, patrol is friendly, lifties are smiling, everyone is out for a good time.

Overall Resort Stoke Rating: Maximum Enthusiasm! If an area is this good on 34 inches of snow I cant imagine it it after a dump. I'm already thinking about ways to get back here.

We head for Mount Hood today and will be skiing Timberline and Mount Hood Ski bowl for the next three days, stay tuned for updates and hit us up if you want to shred!