WELCOME TO THE HOME PAGE OF THE ELLENSBURG XC SKI CLUB!
Ellensburg is located in central Washington State, on the east slopes of the Cascade Range. Our club members are primarily interested in various forms and degrees of "back-country" skiing. We are not a track-skiing or racing club. We have hundreds of miles of logging roads, trails and off-trail ridges and valleys just "out the back door". Although the Cascades are famous for "Cascade Concrete", here on the drier,colder east slopes we usually have no trouble finding great snow both during mid-winter and in spring. Good skiing can extend into May or even June.
At present, the club has suspended meetings (as well as dues). Club activities are coordinated through our message board which can be found at:
https://groups.io/g/EllensburgXCSki
(It is necessary to join the message board and sign in to read or post messages.)
Check out the link on this site (scroll down) for weather and avalanche forecasts, maps, route descriptions and lots of other useful ski info.
Contact the club by e-mail: pcantieni@gmail.com
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Oct. 26, 2024
The three-month NWS climate outlook for Jan/Feb/Mar 2025 is for temperature below normal and precip above normal. Sounds like a recipe for a better-than-average ski season.
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Nov. 29, 2023
Snow is coming to Blewett Pass tonight!! Not much. Mere inches. But it's a start. So far this season we've seen only a skiff. After three years of la nina, this will be an el nino winter which means warm and possibly wet. So..........we wait with fingers crossed.
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Nov. 28, 2022
No big dump, but a nice early start to the 22/23 ski season. 12" at Blewett Pass and more snow is on the way.
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Feb. 1, 2022
BIG DUMP! On Jan 7, Kittitas County got a huge dump of snow. The upper county got up to 36" overnight. Ellensburg got 18" and Kittitas about 12". Snoqualmie Pass and Blewett Pass were closed for days. The snow came down cold and light but a warm-up later in the week turned blower pow into Cascade Concrete. Adding in a nasty breakable ice crust made back country travel almost impossible. Groomed trails suffered from an ice crust that proved impenetrable, even to snocat groomers.
Groomed trail conditions have slowly improved but back country trails are still a problem for ski travel.
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Nov. 16, 2021
A La Nina weather pattern is predicted to bring lower than normal temperatures and higher precip to the Northwest this winter. Snow is building along the Cascade Crest at higher elevations but there's only a skiff at Blewett Pass so far.
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Dec. 6, 2020
After an encouraging start to our 20/21 snow season in late Nov., with 20-some inches on the ground along the Cascade crest, the snowpack has not gotten any fresh additions lately. But our Nov. snow has been well-preserved by reasonably cold temperatures and will provide a good solid base for our next shipment of the white stuff.
======================================================================January 13, 2020
In the weeks following our Nov. storm at Blewett Pass, 19" had dwindled to a mere 6", with south slopes melted out completely. But during this past week, winter has finally arrived in the upper county. 22" at Blewett. 65" at Snoqualmie. All our favorite XC ski destinations have plenty of snow and temperatures are falling. Local Snoparks are open and plowed. Grooming has begun on the groomed trail systems along the I-90 corridor and at Salmon la Sac. Life is good!
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A Snopark Permit Reminder!
A Snopark permit is required at all WA State Snoparks. If you park in a Snopark without a permit displayed in the lower left corner of your windshield you very well may find an expensive citation slipped under your wiper blade when you return from your tour. For more information on Snopark permits and the Snopark system, check out: https://parks.state.wa.us/134/Sno-Park-non-motorized-Permits Permits may be purchased either on-line or at local outlets (listed on the website).
WEATHER AND SAFETY LINKS
Northwest Weather and Avalanche Center
(NWAC has just up-graded their site. It is now THE one-stop shop for info. on mountain weather and avalanche forecasts. Check it out !!)
Ten-Day Mt. Weather Telemetry Data
