After our VW EuroVan cruised through a 16-hour road blitz from Mammoth,the POWDER to the People Tour arrived in downtown Seattle, Washingtonlate Friday night. We were stationed in the heart of old-town Seattle,Pioneer Square. The area is littered with famous bars, clubs, and ofcourse, coffee shops.

Im a few hard days in California and the marathon drive, wedecided to take in the sights and play tourist in Seattle. This is trulya great city--full of culture, style, and all the comforts and fun foundin an urban environment. We traded POWDER socks for heaps of smokedsalmon, drank some hearty Northwest brews, and explored the waterfrontnext to our high-rise headquarters.

Seattle provided the perfect base for exploring the surroundingmountains and ski areas. Day one on the hill was an all-out assault ofCrystal Mountain; our crack-of-noon club was not to be denied. We met upwith POWDER editors Steve Metcalf, Porter Fox, and David Reddick for arare all-staff ski day.

Crystal is one of those special places where backcountry access is sosimple as to be almost ridiculous. You simply look at a neighboringridgeline and decide to ski it. Take a lift like the High Campbelldouble, ski out a ridgeline and through a backcountry gate, and thegoods are yours.

Day two saw an even later start at Stevens Pass--we were skiing by 1p.m. Regardless of our slothful travel to the mountain, the afternoonprovided plenty of excitement. Most of the adventure was provided in theform of surviving a new level of dust-on-crust (the result of a nastyrain-crust from the previous week) and avoiding basketball-sized icechunks and death cookies. However, the terrain of Stevens Pass wasmind-blowing. Snow-choked cliffs and endless drops and steeps providedour minds with fodder for drooling over what-could-be on a full-blownpowder day. The rest of the time was spent chasing skiers Joe Sagona andAaron McGovern down steep groomers, along with a talented posse oflocals.

The next half of the tour will see Gabe and I exploring Baker andAlpental. Look for a report and some photos from one of the most scenicmountains in North America in the next couple of days! -J.R.

1st Row: 1) The base village at Crystal with terrain beckoning behind.2) POWDER staffers consorting with the marketing crew at Crystal:Jennifer and Tiana.

2nd Row: 3) Showing the love for POWDER inside a secret backcountry hutat Stevens Pass. 4) Gabe Schroder draining the tank during our tour atthe fabulous Red Hook Brewery. Thanks guys!

3rd Row: 5) The view from POWDER headquarters in Seattle. 6) StevensPass: home to some serious steeps.