The great thing about the new Center is that it has an all-weather (i.e. plowed) road up to 900m, giving good alpine access to the Sproatt/Rainbow area. I was supposed to lead an Alpine Club trip here in December to explore the area, but I canned it due to lack of snow.
We made an early start and left the Olympic Center area at around 8am. The instructions for getting to Hanging Lake from the Olympic Center can be found here. The route description was good, and we made pretty good time on our way up.
The conditions were a little "wierd". It was a beautiful, blue sky day, with highs in the alpine to go into the double digits. The concern was what the warm weather would do to the snowpack. Sure enough, as we made our way up through the trees, we encountered areas of ice (in open areas), and soft snow (in the trees), but kind of randomly dispersed.
There was only really one steep (but short) slope to traverse which was fine when we went up. We debated what the warming temperatures would do to that slope later in the day. Nevertheless, we continued upwards and got to Hanging Lake at around 11:30 (with numerous breaks to chat on the way up!). We went up a bit higher, and had a great view across Rainbow Lake to Weart/Wedge, and were able to scope the routes up Rainbow to the north and Sproatt to the South (route up Sproatt looks very straightforward to gain the higher alpine).
However ... we saw numerous snowmobile tracks in the area, and saw a group of about 4 snowmobilers. The whine of their machines seriously interrupted what was otherwise a tranquil area. I was certain that the area was closed to snowmobiles and apparently it is. Here's info on Sproatt Mountain and conflicts with snowmobiles. Of course, it seems virtually impossible to police areas and to keep snowmobiles out. Sigh.
After lunch, we headed back down. The ski down wasn't the worst I'd ever had, but it was close! The snow hadn't softened up nearly as much as we expected, so it was hard skiing on crust, crunchy snow and the occasional soft patch. Truly, the hazard for the day was not avalanche, but skiing in those conditions!
All in all, a great trip - the Olympic Center provides good access to the Sproatt area and is relatively safe from avalanche terrain. The presence of snowmobiles is disappointing, however.
Oh, one last note ... the Olympic Center is a super-fantastic facility for x-country skiing. However, it would be really great if they accepted that backcountry skiers cross the facility to access the backcountry, and would be super if they could provide marked access - that would really help build it into a "winter sports center".
Addendum: here is the document describing the recommendations for management in the Squamish / Whistler corridor, including the Sproatt/Rainbow area.
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