You made it! It's Friday. Here's what to talk about over happy hour. more ›

A new bill could turn Washington State ski areas into year-round playgrounds for lovers of the outdoors. more ›

Olympia's sleepover party, SPD crackin' down (again), and avalanches over the pass. Just a preview of more news to come for your Thursday. more ›

Inspired by Jack’s Otter Falls experience last summer and too impatient to waste the weekend weather indoors we set out for the season’s first taste of mountain love and ended up running from the wreckage of last winter’s wrath. more ›

A giant boulder merrily rolled down the hillside just before 2 a.m., landing in the eastbound lanes of Interstate 90 at Snoqualmie Pass and hitting a passing semi-truck. Eeek! The injured driver was taken to Harborview. Officials have reopened the roadway since the boulder had its excellent adventure this morning. Now drivers heading towards the Pass just need to be prepared for snowy, slushy crap weather. Remember, defensive driving. more ›

While we usually have to wait until at least November (and sometimes all season) for snow, it looks like winter is getting an early start this year in the mountains. The National Weather Service is warning of a strong storm with a "vigorous cold front" hitting the Pacific Northwest tomorrow, and they're predicting snowfall in elevations above 4,000 feet. That means Stevens Pass (but not Snoqualmie) may see some accumulation as early as tomorrow, which is great news for eager skiers awaiting a season of snow and not-so-great news for drivers heading east. more ›

Starting today and continuing until the first "significant" snowfall in Snoqualmie Pass, drivers should expect up to 20-minute delays just east of the pass. The Department of Transportation says there will be rolling slow-downs and halted traffic on I-90 between mile posts 57 and 59 near Keechelus Lake. The WSDOT is doing some drilling up on the pass to begin a new project, creating a six-lane highway between Hyak and Easton. Because of the rugged terrain (it is the mountains, folks) equipment is brought to the scene in helicopters. According to FAA rules, a clear space must be provided for emergency landing purposes when a helicopter carries equipment over the Interstate. That's all fine and good with us. Lord knows we don't want to meet our end like an action movie enemy, with a gigantic industral drill crashing down on our car from a helicopter. more ›

more ›

All southbound lanes of Interstate 5 through downtown Seattle were closed earlier this afternoon while the State Patrol investigated an accident involving a tractor-trailer and several other vehicles at 1:54 p.m near the Mercer Street exit. more ›

There's no danger--they are in contact with the outside world and if they need supplies, City Light will helicopter some it. But they'll probably first finish what they've got. more ›

Chain 'em if you got 'em people:

WSDOT is projecting an 11 a.m. opening of one lane each direction on I-90 Snoqualmie Pass. If traffic is flowing successfully then two lanes will be opened in each direction. Chains are required on all vehicles except all wheel drive From milepost 45 eastbount and milepost 71 westbound. WSP will slow traffic and inspect for chains eastbound at milepost 47 (Tinkham Road), and westbound at Easton at milepost 71.

A day wasted, spent refreshing the same web page over and over. At least we weren't sitting in a big rig stuck up there waiting for the pass to re-open. That must be miserable. And they're still there. In fact, they might be spending the night:

Update I-90 Snoqualmie Pass remains closed until avalanche control work is complete. WSDOT crews continue working through heavy snow to make I-90 safe for travel. Best case scenario: If the snow lets up considerably, we will be able to clear all of the main avalanche areas and have I-90 open late tonight. Worst case scenario: If the snow falls as forecasters predict (20 inches in the next 24 hours), avalanche control efforts will delay the opening until sometime Wednesday morning.

Seattlest's favorite crime (just edging Identity Theft) strikes again, this time in one of Seattlest's favorite places. A copper theft at Snoqualmie Pass temporarily disabled highway signs and safety lighting, which had to suck for people navigating the pass in the middle of the night. more ›

Yippee!!!! more ›

Yesterday, we caught a snippet of the news about a search and rescue effort near Snoqualmie Pass that left us shaking our heads. A woman who was snowshoeing with two friends went missing, and the account we heard on KOMO (which is the same one on their site) was that she got tired and turned around early to head back to the car while her friends continued on for a while. When they got to the parking lot, she was nowhere to be found. more ›

Bothell High's head football coach was "clutching his chest and wiping away tears" after a 9-OT state quarterfinal Saturday in Bothell. And his team won. more ›

Normally, we'd be bouncing around the office, giddy with excitement and glee given the recent snow dumps in our mountains, buffeted by predictions of up to 3 feet of snow in the Cascades over the next two days. But we've had the worst case of the flu that we can remember (in bed for five days...five days!) and it is still killing our ability to be enthusiastic. If you have nervous skier-tic and can't concentrate at work, Seattlest is right there with you in spirit. We'll commence the jumping around as soon as it doesn't make us have to lie down from exhaustion. more ›

Other countries have them, official "Route des Vins" complete with signposts. Why not here? Indeed. more ›

-The sea was angry yesterday, my friends, and the 520 was closed overnight. Today it opened but perhaps prematurely as this LJ user got hit with a fish. more ›

Seattlest suddenly became a snowshoer yesterday. After pestering a snowshoe-aware friend of ours for about a year, the stars aligned, and we got the call that there was a small expedition heading out that night for Snoqualmie Pass. Arrangements were made (we put on our snow boots and a scarf), and at about 6:30pm we were on our way to do some night snowshoeing. It rained most of the way, but sure enough, as we approached the summit, white flakes were floating down and unaware drivers began gliding off the freeway in lazy pirouettes. more ›

Have you ever driven Interstate 90 over Snoqualmie Pass and looked up at the portions of the road where the road cuts into the mountain and all that seems to be keeping the rocks in place is some chicken wire--or nothing at all--and sort of crossed your fingers in the same way that you do when you drive the Viaduct? more ›

his grand plan to fix local government and buy as much stuff as possible using his supporters' money; however, he is not behind the latest effort to get tax reform on the ballot. more ›