Hello Skiers and Riders,
The storm has passed and left us with about 6 inches of nice snow on top of the previous firm base. This morning the clouds parted leaving skiers and boarders with a most beautiful sunny day. It is crystal clear and just amazingly beautiful in Tahoe this afternoon.
I think the general attitude this morning was that the skiing was better than we thought it would be considering the minimal depth of new powder. Groomed runs (we are tired of them) were excellent, as the new cold snow mixed nicely into the old pack. Off piste (where we all want to go) was a mixed bag. The lower the angle of the slope, the less our skis scratched against the firm base. A number of us made multiple runs in Scott Meadow leaving squiggles in the previously clean pallet. We played in the forested areas between runs off the Lakeview Chair. One or two turns were quite and then one or two were noisy. I think our best turns were under the Alpine Bowl Chair and in the High Yellow area. There seemed to be enough new snow between firm moguls to allow us to make turns in the new snow with the least number of scratchy patches. It almost felt like winter conditions. We took our last morning run down Gentian Gully. Picking our way between trees and staying in the trough of the bumps brought smiles to our faces. Most of the way down we were able to ski on a soft surface.
It was not all we hoped for, but it was a most pleasurable morning for those of us that have been finding it hard to leave the groomed runs for the past couple of weeks.
Enjoy your day,
Andy