Not shocking that it was über crowded today at Alpine Meadows…billions of passes sold, many schools out this week, SquAlpine advertising 30 inches of new snow and most of the mountain at Squaw Valley on wind hold. It was a Friday…every parking lot was full right down to Deer Park, busses arrived by the dozens from Squaw Valley, and every lift corral was overflowing until lunch time.
Was it all worth it? Probably not. Although there may have been somewhere near 2 feet of new snow over the last two days, the wind had done it’s work, as well as variable temperatures during the day Thursday. That meant that today you were skiing only on the top 6 inches of that new snow. Once your rut was established…turning took a lot of work and within the first 30 minutes, the mountain was pock marked with bomb holes from falls. The reality was that in most cases there was better skiing on the groomed slopes than off piste. The tools of the day were likely large surfy snowboards or floppy wide reverse camber skis. Ultimately, I found myself enjoying ripping the soft groomed runs more than the “powder”. Call me a jaded local…I know I heard plenty of visitors say it was their best day ever. I am sorry to hear that.
I have to laugh as Andy Wertheim’s report just arrived and it says pretty much the same.
Andy Wertheim: Wind Packed Crust
Hello Skiers and Boarders,
Lots of new snow clings onto the mountain from the Wednesday/Thursday storm. Chutes, gullies, and small cliffs are covered in many places. High winds that howled during the storm created drifts and filled in depressions.
Take into account the fact that it is ski/skate week in Tahoe, many other California schools are on break for the President’s week, passholders were not blocked out today, and you end with a plethora skiers and boarders on the roads, in the parking lots, and in lift lines. When you add lifts that are on windhold, or just not operating, you end up with too many people stacked up in lift lines. It took friends of mine 2 hours to drive from Glenshire in Truckee to Alpine Meadows. Of course I am spoiled, but it was more than I wanted to deal with on this day. A few runs on Roundhouse and I was done for the day. The snow was variable. Groomed runs were fine. Off piste I found wind crust that tested my ability to keep my skis together. I assume a snow board was the tool of the day. Tricky conditions that were best attempted on an open slope rather than in the trees where a slight miss might toss one into a tree. A number of other people made similar comments on the conditions, but I admit I did not ski much of the mountain so I may have missed some good turns on the upper mountain or on Sherwood.
It is snowing very lightly this afternoon. Winds seem to be picking up. It seems warm to me which tends make me think tomorrow the snow will be wet, but we will have to wait and see what happens overnight.
Enjoy your day,
Andy Wertheim
Remember we teased you with the possibility of another little storm to refresh for Saturday, and while others had expressed little hope, it has started snowing again at Alpine. Here’e the Winter Weather Advisory released this afternoon:
WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 8 PM PST THIS EVENING… * MAIN IMPACT: PERIODS OF SNOW AND BREEZY WINDS. EXPECT HAZARDOUS TRAVEL…CHAIN REQUIREMENTS…DELAYS LIKELY. * TIMING…ANOTHER ROUND OF MODERATE SNOW EXPECTED LATE FRIDAY MORNING INTO FRIDAY EVENING. * LOCATIONS…LASSEN NATIONAL PARK…INCLUDING HIGHWAYS 44… 89…AND 36. * SNOW ACCUMULATIONS…SNOW ACCUMULATIONS 2 TO 6 INCHES NEAR 5000 FEET WITH UP TO 10 INCHES ABOVE 7000 FEET. LIGHTER AMOUNTS POSSIBLE DOWN TO 4000 FT. * SNOW LEVELS…4000 TO 5000 FEET.
Notes that at 8:08PM this advisory expired and the remote data page is showing maybe an inch of new accumulation….let the groomers go wild tonight!
Tomorrow, we want to remind you that most of the lifts were not open at the upper mountain at Squaw today. So that 30 inches of powder remains untouched, plus whatever falls tonight. Maybe they’ll even decide to do two lanes into Squaw Valley to avoid backing up traffic to the Mouse Hole in Truckee again…
love ya work UnofficialAlpine. Keeping it real.
No Alpine Bar? What up?
No lines today at Grand Targhee in Wyoming. I think we were just far enough away to avoid the mess that you described.
I will have nightmares tonight about bus loads of people coming from Squaw… Thanks for the two reports and all the good work to keep us informed.
Sugar Bowl also had very long lines, with every lift open and every parking lot full. Even with 45 mph winds, Lincoln and Disney continued to run at full speed.
Over at the dark side there was an anticipated 8:30 opening on KT as it is still a holiday week. Which would have been a proactive way to manage the heinous lift line from becoming an absilute disgrace to the sport.
As it were the 8:55 ish early opening created a sea of humanity
that was unrelenting through most of the day allowing a mere 6 runs in 3 hours. Add to the fact that KT-22 a high speed detachable dopplemeyer lift, is only being operated at 55 % of maximum speed and a post snow storm holiday crowd with most other lifts on moneyhold and you have a veritable clusterf— of a s–t show.
Will say it didnt look much better down backside road to oly bowl down at Alpine.
That being said, looking down upon untracked white wolf all season, how can the owner of that property even live with himself for not skiing his own terrain on even the best pow days? What gives man, aside from the partially built abandonded lift, thats just downright shameful.
No lift lines over at Far East all mornings. Laughing my a$$ looking over at KT while making laps all morning. About 12 runs an hour. Just saying…..
Wow makin far east laps all morning… Im soooo impressed.
No lift lines in Maui. I feel sorry for those in that cluster. I have learned to have low expectations on “powder” days. The combination of a gazillion passes sold and equipment improvements have brought powder to the masses. Oh well.
There were some pockets of lighter powder to be found if you searched (protected steep gullies) and some good wind buff, but overall pretty disappointing.
Only fools stand in lines.