May 22 2013

Memorial Day Holiday Sale Info

Categories:

Andy's Reports

by

Hello friends,

It is a lovely day in Alpine Meadows today, but darn chilly.  The weekend should bring warmer weather according to the forecast and hopefully a great holiday for all of us.

It is that time of year again.  The time of year when outdoor equipment representatives are loaded with samples that they are dying to unload.  Tom Lane, who handles a number of different lines for various manufactures is ready to unload his huge stack of gear this weekend.  Saturday and Sunday between 9 and 3 is your opportunity to snag a deal on skis, poles, socks, boots, rock climbing gear, camping gear including tents and sleeping bags, and tons of other ski equipment and clothing. There will be plenty of outdoor gear for all types of sports.  The sale is in his driveway located in Alpine Meadows at 1544 Cortina Court.  Use your GPS, or follow the signs to find his home.

Enjoy your day,

Andy Wertheim

Tags: , , ,

Leave comment

May 21 2013

Andy’s First Summer Tahoe Update

Categories:

Andy's Reports

by

Hello friends,
There are still patches of snow in the higher elevations for those of you who just cannot get enough turns in during the regular season.  I have turned my attention to the summer activities.  Our weather has been variable these past few weeks making it difficult to plan very far in advance, however the hiking and biking trails are in great condition for this early in the season.  Rain, wind, and cool weather have been somewhat of an annoyance at times, but in general spring is in full bloom.

phloxFlowers are popping out at elevations below 7500 feet, Aspen Trees have new leaves, and water is flowing over granite slabs.  We have walked the following trails (or parts of them) in the past couple of weeks.  All were mostly free of snow below 7500 sq.ft.. We hiked Five Lakes, Shirley Lake, Scott Peak, Sagehen, and parts of the Rim Trail leading north and south from Tahoe City.  Mosquitoes are coming out at Page Meadows in force.

Mountain biking has been excellent.  Recent rains have the trails in beautiful condition.  We have ridden out from the Nordic Center in Tahoe City making several different loops.  The Western States Trail up to Painted Rock is open and free of snow as is the section of the Rim Trail from Tahoe City to Painted Rock and beyond.   Trails in Truckee (Emigrant, Sawtooth, and others) are clear and in good riding condition.  The lake is still on the cool side, but kayaking and paddle boarding are going on when conditions warrant (not too windy and/or choppy).   Today the winds are howling.

That is about all from Tahoe at the moment. Enjoy your day.

Andy Wertheim

 

Tags: , , ,

2 comments

May 18 2013

Still Plenty Of Snow For The Adventurous At Mount Lola

Categories:

Mark's Reports

by

Lola4

The conventional wisdom is that all of this year’s snow is already gone. A trip over Donner Summit seems to verify that with a lot of bare granite. But if you remember, we had a lot of early season storms where the snow level hovered at about 8000 feet. All you need to do is head a few hundred feet higher than Donner Summit and you can still find plenty of snow.

The rough location of Mount Lola

The rough location of Mount Lola

Today’s trip to Mount Lola, with a summit of 9134 feet and about 20 miles north of Truckee, actually left us amazed at the copious amounts of snow, more than any of us had seen there at this time of year. While that did mean the skiing and boarding was fantastic, it also led to a long approach hike. Finding the route to Lola, navigating the narrow old roads through thick manzanita and the long approach hike are not for the feint of heart. Neither maps nor directions will make the path clear. We were lucky to have a friend whom has made it a goal to traverse nearly every dirt road and path off of Jackson Meadows Road.

The long hike to the summit ended in a huge bowl, where cornices were still larger than 20 feet, and there was a unlimited wide run of smooth corn with nary a suncup or runnel. We made several different runs and enjoyed views of the Sierra Buttes, Independence Lake, Castle Peak and points beyond. We ended with a random run through the trees and through Coldstream Creek – knowing only that we were headed vaguely toward a meadow in the distance.

Lola5For those looking for terrain to ski and board, there’s plenty of choices. Look for the snow above 8000′ and you’ll find it’s still deep and fun. We’re certain will be filing reports from the Carson and Ebbetts Pass areas in the future months.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tags: , , , ,

2 comments

May 11 2013

Pass Deadline Extended…And The Most Unremarkable List Of Improvements Ever

Categories:

Mark's Reports

by

Yawn. Squalpine made the usual announcement that the Super Pass “deadline” has been extended. You now have an additional 23 days to purchase your pass at the cheapest rate. If you have have purchased a pass at any of the mega-resorts over the last few years, you know that the new deadline also means nothing. None of the big boys wants to be the first to actually raise rates any significant amount, lest any of us decide to switch to a new mountain. It’s our guess the deadline will be extended again. When rates go up, it’s unlikely to be a budget buster. In fact, if you’re paying for your pass with your credit cards to avoid the increase – you may end up paying more in interest than what you save.

Yet, the mega-corps need our money as early as possible to make miracles happen over the summer season. Squalpine released their list of exciting new improvements…$8 million dollars worth. We’re doubting that it’s inspiring many more people to buy a pass for next season.

8millionb

Let’s take them one by one:

• There can’t be any major improvements to snow making capability for a part of $8 million. There won’t be a Renaissance n that department.

• New snowcats? I sure hope one of them includes a pipecutter for Alpine Meadows. The grooming department did a fantastic job at Alpine this season – some people will say too well. In a lackluster snow year, that was huge! If the groomers say they need a new cat or two, that’s a good thing.

• A yoga studio and home furnishing store in the village? This is where we see that someone in marketing has their priorities all wrong. Sure, send that info out to the Squaw folks – but do we really care at Alpine Meadows? Still shaking my head over that announcement…

• Terrain park improvements…that horse has been beat to death. Why not find a sponsor to pay for cool new toys? It seems as if the National Geographic Channel would want to promote their new “Mountain Movers” series

• Room renovations at the village at Squaw Valley…WTH? Why am I paying for that with my pass? I have not stayed in a room at Squaw Valley since 1981.

• New signage on the mountain…yeah, it’s probably about time. Details were given a couple of months ago in this post.

All in all, it’s a very lackluster list of announcements that will likely not sell many passes. Would they sell more passes if the tagline were something more akin to “Buy Your Pass Now Or Pay $104 For A Day Ticket Next Christmas!”

 

Tags: , , ,

5 comments

May 05 2013

When Lifts Stop Running In Tahoe…It’s Mammoth Season

Categories:

Mark's Reports

by

Coverage is thin at the base, but Mammoth Mountain still offers great conditions.

Coverage is thin at the base, but Mammoth Mountain still offers great conditions.

As always, there was no shortage of Tahoe skiers and riders at Mammoth this weekend. No matter when the lift-served season ends in Tahoe, there’s plenty of us that need to just keep going. With the Main Lodge located at about 9,000 feet and a summit elevation of 11,053 feet, there’s plenty of snow to keep things going for a while longer.

Normally, Mammoth will run well into June and often until July 4th. With this year’s lean snowpack, you have three more weeks to get to Mammoth. Coverage is still quite good and seems to have improved a bit since our last trip a month ago. Operations are limited at this time of year. Expect Chairs 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 11 and 23 for most days. The Gondola is currently operating only on weekends to allow for annual maintenance.

Coverage is still excellent in most areas. Mammoth still offers a full terrain park on Chair 6 and just rebuilt the superpipe near the Main Lodge. Mammoth does a great job keeping groomers in good shape with liberal applications of salt. The snow was in a perfect corn state at the beginning of the weekend. A small dose of graupel really made things sticky for today. Additional snow is forecast for the next two days – so it may need some time to corn up again.

The trip down 395 to Mammoth Lakes takes approximately 3 hours from Reno/Tahoe, depending on your driving speed and stops along the way. This time of year, the driving is easy and the scenery remarkable. Lodging in Mammoth is currently quite reasonable as it really is “low season”. Be aware that a number of restaurants and stores are on hiatus until Memorial Day weekend. Once again, we took the opportunity to enjoys Toomey’s in Mammoth Lakes more than one time. Former Whoa Nellie Deli (MoMart) chef Matt Toomey offers fantastic food in a casual setting for far less than typical resort prices.

Mammoth is offering $49 lift tickets to passholders from other mountains. This deal is not advertised or listed on their site, but has been reported widely on the internet. You can call and order tickets ahead of time at 800-MAMMOTH. For next season, Squalpine Gold passholders can purchase tickets at Mammoth for 50% off everyday, a Mountain Collective benefit. I am pretty sure we will be back at least one more time before the Mammoth season ends…and for those that have been keeping up…month number 32 in a row.

Tags: , , ,

1 comment

Apr 30 2013

It’s Been A Rough Two Seasons…Looking Ahead To Next Season

Categories:

Mark's Reports

by

No, this is not going to be an article about surviving the takeover of Alpine Meadows by Squaw Valley. Let’s talk about snowfall records. If you have not yet heard, we just made it through the second driest season in recorded history in Tahoe. Those records extend back about 130 years between the Central Sierra Snow Lab and the Southern Pacific Railroad. If you think about it, we survived most of the last season on one huge storm cycle in December, and a whole lot of cold temperatures that preserved that snow through early March. The only year that was more dry was 1976-1977 – which was a year that many Tahoe resorts learned about the importance of snowmaking systems. During that season, I spent far more time at Ski Incline than either Alpine Meadows or Squaw Valley.

The odd thing about winter in the Sierra Nevada is that it is difficult to pinpoint “normal” or average snowfall. Although the Central Sierra Snow Lab reports a seasonal average snowfall of 1045 cm (411 in), the variations are huge. The lowest year, 1976-77, produced 450 cm (177in) of snowfall. There have been several years where the total has approached 2100 cm (825 in).

I ran a quick statistical analysis of the data from Donner Summit between 1879 and 2011. It wasn’t perfect as I estimated the snowfall totals from a graph posted at TheStormKing.com. The standard deviation for the data turned out to be a whopping 350 cm. I am stretching pretty far back to my college statistics class here, but essentially that means that any number up to one standard deviation above or below your average could be considered “normal.” Using that as a guideline, “normal” snowfall for Donner Summit ranges between 700 and 1400 cm (275 to 550 in).

If we are really interested in what happens next – we should be looking at the anomalies, or the years outside of that normal range. Looking at the modified graphic below, the green line represents “average” snowfall. The lightly shaded box represents the standard deviations above and below average, or what could be considered “normal” snowfall. Looking at the numbers that fall below that box, we can see that there is truly only one time in recorded weather history that we have had three bad years in a row, starting in 1923.

Graphic courtesy of TheStormKing.com

Graphic courtesy of TheStormKing.com

The historical record is really all we have to go by at this point. The Farmer’s Almanac was not written for skiers and snowboarders and the long range weather models for next season won’t begin to take shape until October. The best we can do is answer that question of “Can we have three bad years in a row?” with an answer of “it’s very unlikely.” I’ll be dreaming this summer of another winter like 1952.

Winter of 1952

Winter of 1952

Editor’s note: My apologies to Miles Clark at Snowbrains.com. I have had this post sitting on my desktop for a few weeks, planning to do this post about a week after the season ended. I saw that Miles covered this topic, albeit very briefly, in a post today. I figured it was time to get out the calculator, finish the statistics and get you the full report today.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

2 comments

Apr 28 2013

And The Tahoe Lift Served Season Is Done For The 2012-13 Season

Categories:

Mark's Reports

by

Screen Shot 2013-04-28 at 11.17.02 PMClosing day arrived at Alpine Meadows today, albeit a month early. Many people arrived to celebrate the end of a mediocre season. Yet hearing people talk today, many people were heard to say that they actually salvaged a lot of fun days out of the season. People learned to love corn, with some saying they now like it more than powder. Others learned to perfect their east coast ice skills. Some learned to appreciate the art of navigating a sneaker line.

For those of you that had already given up on the season and stayed home this weekend, we thank you too. It was another very crowded day at Alpine Meadows. Some might even venture to say it was a bit too crowded for the available terrain. Here’s some observations we heard today; each only conjecture by various people – but it gives you an impression of  what people were thinking:

• The terrain parks had more traffic during the last two days than the previous 130 days of the season combined.

• The number of hours of “full corral with full line control” at Summit over the last three days exceeded the total number of hours of line control for the previous 130 days of the season.

• This may have been patrol and first aid’s busiest day of the year.

• Snow melted faster over the last two days than many had ever seen.

Parking lot was about 95% full today....

Parking lot was about 95% full today….

I just could not make myself spend much time in the Summit line today. I missed a lot of classic final runs for closing day: Upper Beaver, Keyhole, Lower Saddle and High Yellow. It’s likely I’ll be back to hike those runs over the next month when things are much less busy. Plenty of people had a lot of great runs in those areas today. I found that Yellow offered a lot of nice firm snow for most of the day, with almost no traffic and short lines at Roundhouse. We also enjoyed a number of quiet laps on Gunner’s Knob – where we saw nobody all day. Not much gnar there…but plenty of smooth laps and zero crowds.

As expected, there were plenty of parties on the hill, on the Sun Deck and in the parking lot. There was the usual battles for last chair, with the usual snowballs being thrown at the last chair. All in all – a fantastic closing weekend. Thanks to Alpine Meadows for keeping it going one more weekend – it’s clear it was not easy.

Thanks to everyone that has been a reader and supporter of UnofficialAlpine.com this season. We’ll continue to do updates in the offseason about once a week or so. Our off season updates include:

• Reports from other ski areas and summer backcountry ski opportunities

• Andy Wertheim’s summer reports on hiking, biking and other Tahoe activities

• Equipment reviews

• Breaking news items on Alpine Meadows/KSL as we hear about them

Looking forward to an even better season in 2013-14!

 

Tags: , , ,

5 comments

Apr 27 2013

One More Day For Lift Served Skiing & Riding At Alpine Meadows

Categories:

Mark's Reports

by

560145_364497503654252_1830077770_nIt’s really true. There’s no denying that the snow is going fast. On one hand, the daytime high only reached 67° today – on the other hand the nighttime low was only 43°. Whole new areas of rocks and dirt appeared today. Cool sneaker lines we found yesterday were melted out today. Today also offered some impromptu pond skimming fun.

As predicted, today was crowded, very crowded. The small corral at Summit remained full just about all day, with solid line control in place. At times, the lines flowed well outside of the RFID gates, causing staff to redlight the gates while things cleared out.  With less than 5 hours to ski and ride, many chose to avoid the line at Summit with long hikes to High Yellow and Keyhole. Upper Beaver closed early due to the wet slide potential.

Things got pretty hectic at Summit today...

Things got pretty hectic at Summit today…

Many people also headed to Roundhouse, where there was no line control…not even a corral. It still flowed much faster than the Summit line. That put A LOT of people onto the lower mountain. Werner’s, Dance Floor and Charity had freeway like traffic. Skiers & boarders taking direct lines like Sympathy and Lower Sympathy were forced to play frequent games of Frogger. At one point today I stopped and counted 23 people pass me in less than 30 seconds off piste on Lower Sympathy. Yup, it was crowded, Squaw Valley crowded.

I felt bad for families with small children and beginning skiers and boarders. Alpine Meadows official site really did not do much to warn them that terrain was limited and not necessarily appropriate for beginners. I talked to a few that assumed the whole mountain was still open. They should read Unofficial Alpine more often. I gave out some stickers today :)

Alpine did deal with the issue of too many people for the Sun Deck BBQ today. In the past, extremely long lines have formed for the only food service available. The Meadows Cafe expanded offerings today to include some chicken strips and fries. Tomorrow will likely be a bit more mellow with the de rigueur Sun Deck potlucks and tailgate BBQs.

Yes it was crowded both in lift lines and on the main groomers today. Tomorrow will likely be the same. Still, it’s closing day at Alpine Meadows in a season that is ending too soon for some of us. See you out there tomorrow!

Tags: , , ,

1 comment

Apr 26 2013

We’re Down To The Last Two Days

Categories:

Mark's Reports

by

countdown2It’s the last weekend of skiing and riding at Alpine Meadows. Some people have been having a difficult time accepting that. But the thing is, the mountain looks almost identical to Memorial Day 2012 or July 4th 2011. Unfortunately, it’s only April 26th.

There was plenty of good skiing and riding at Alpine Meadows today and many people came out to enjoy it. It seemed to have caught Alpine staff by surprise. Parking lots 1 and 2 filled up, as well as a good portion of lot 3. There were times this morning where the small corral at Summit was nearly full. Obviously there were a lot of Squaw Valley ex-pats today. But we also ran into crews from Northstar, Mount Rose, and Boreal today. It seems clear that this will be a busy weekend.

The view from Gunner's shows the minimal base area snow and not empty parking lots.

The view from Gunner’s shows the minimal base area snow and not empty parking lots.

The skiing and riding today was as expected for a day that reached 65° at mid-mountain. There were a lot of people questioning whether or not it froze last night. The remote sensors are showing a low of 38° last night. Most areas were soft and clearly had not frozen, but there were pockets of firm conditions this morning that indicated some localized freezing. We would expect the same tonight.

The WROD required to get back to Summit....thanks for the effort Alpine staff!

The WROD required to get back to Summit….thanks for the effort Alpine staff!

The soft conditions made it difficult to tell how much grooming was done, or when it was done. The best I could tell, the grooming was limited to: Alpine Bowl, D8, a narrow part of Wolverine, a narrow part Weasel, Werners and the upper and lower terrain parks. A lot of areas were left ungroomed due to large patches of dirt and rocks that have appeared. That was not really a problem, as the ungroomed slopes often offered superior ski surfaces. Sweet Spot,  Lower Yellow and Gunners Knob offered some nice corn today with some light sun cupping. All of the north facing slopes did well as usual, but the moguls are getting bigger.

There’s still some park features available high and low on the mountain and today the parks were crowded, as expected in late spring. It may be fair to say that park traffic today may have exceeded the total traffic for February and March combined.

There’s a couple of things to know for the weekend:

• Skiing is pretty limited for beginners and low intermediate skiers and boarders. With Roundhouse being the lowest lift, options for getting down the hill are limited. Groomers are narrow and soft. Obstacles on Rock Garden, Charity and Werners are funneling traffic onto a narrower path. Weasel is available but the return to Roundhouse over Tiegel Flats got sticky and slow early.

• Food services are limited. The Meadows Cafe offered mainly beverages. Most foods are served only outside at the Sun Deck BBQ, as is typical late season at Alpine. Melanie and the Viva Treats crew will be serving the usual awesome fare in the breezeway.

• Expect lift lines. If today was any indication, there is still plenty of demand for skiing and riding in Tahoe. Both Summit and Roundhouse should be running. It would be great to see ABC on the schedule…but a quick flyby today showed that the base terminal area is pretty burnt out. It’s unlikely we will see that open. If you have not been to Alpine for awhile…everything else is cooked.

• There’s bands on the Sun Deck both days and this week, it looks like the weather will be conducive to being out on the deck to enjoy it. Tailgate BBQs are also pretty popular these days. You may want to stake a claim to your spot early.

Thanks to the Alpine Meadows staff for making it happen this weekend. There’s plenty of mountains that just would have closed at this point in the game. See you out there!

Tower 19 offered smooth corn this morning.

Tower 19 offered smooth corn this morning.

Tags: , , ,

3 comments

Apr 25 2013

Final Weekend Forecast

Categories:

Mark's Reports

by

Screen Shot 2013-04-25 at 10.08.52 PM

Alpine Meadows re-opens for the final three days of the 2012-13 season tomorrow. Luckily, we were blessed with a cold north wind event this week. This may have prevented a complete melt down of the base area.

Temperatures are expected to reach the upper 50′s and low 60′s at Alpine Meadows the next few days, with light breezes on Saturday. It will be a good time for wearing minimal clothing, outrageous outfits, long afternoons with friends on the Sun Deck, and tailgaters in the parking lot. It should be a great finish to a season that some would rather forget. Snowbrains.com reported today that it was the second driest year on record in Tahoe, beat only by 1976-77.

See you out there!

Tags: , ,

2 comments

Older posts «