It was another bone chilling day on the mountain. Temperatures in the teens and winds around 55 mph made conditions rather unpleasant on the upper mountain. Throw in just a bit of flat light and firm conditions and you know you were having fun. I talked to a handful of locals that only did a run or two, while at the same time noting other visitors that seemed to be having the time of their lives. There’s probably a strong correlation today between time spent in the car getting to Alpine Meadows and time spent on the mountain.
Lower on the mountain, the sunniest location with the least wind was Weasel. It also happened to be the location where the snowmaking guns were ablazin’ this morning. While getting close to the machines could leave a sting and temporary blindness, I still managed to pull off about 8 runs there this morning. I really appreciated the soft surface left by the new manmade snow, and with cold temperatures, it was skiing pretty fast and consistent. It only took a lap or two to figure out a route that kept most of the snow off of my goggles, and then it was just a matter of keeping my fingers from turning blue. New gloves are now on my Christmas list.
Tomorrow is likely to be similar, but with about half as much wind predicted. Snow is not expected until late in the afternoon, but clouds are expected to be filling the sky most of the day. If you have an itch to get some mid-week turns in soon, tomorrow is the day. Thursday and Friday look like they are likely going to be somewhat of a washout, with snow levels now being described as 7000+ feet by NOAA Sacramento and over 8000 feet by NOAA Reno. In the interest of base preservation, we’re really rooting for the lower number.
Conditions should improve by Saturday, with snow levels expected to be closer to lake level. Sunday may offer a break in the weather before another system moves in Monday. The weekend could end up reasonably skiable with easy driving conditions on both ends if the infographic from the Reno office of NOAA holds up.
