It was another solid day at Alpine Meadows. The regulars were calling for a return to chaos as we approached a holiday weekend and teams returned to the hill. But when we pulled into the parking lot, it still looked no different than most Fridays. At mid-day, the upper lots at Alpine Meadows still had not filled. Whatever magic is behind this lack of crowding this holiday, we’ll take it.
During the morning, a friend was in town so we focused on a tour of the mountain. Stev had only skied Kangaroo during his last two visits to Alpine Meadows and was anxious to check out the new Hotter Wheels chair. The only chairs we missed today were Kangaroo and Meadow.
Most of the mountain is still skiing very well, and we still found patches of lightly tracked powder with zero hiking. Those willing to take a hike out High Traverse can still find some powder shots near the boundary lines. Cold temperatures and clouds have done a good job of preserving winter snow conditions. Yesterday’s east wind event did create some change. There was a combination of wind buff and sastrugi near the ridge lines. If you picked your line carefully and skied assertively, it was still a lot of fun. The wind did a good job or blowing in some snow at Sherwood and Lakeview. We did some fun bump runs on Scotty’s Beam and Twilight Zone. We also finally checked out the new run cut below the Return Road, which Stev dubbed “¿Por Que?”. The moguls there were a bit chunky and not so fun.
You’re going to have a good time skiing just about everywhere but the high traffic groomed runs, which are getting slicker. That list would include Alpine Bowl, Dance Floor, Werners’ Schuss, Weasel and Sherwood Run. Off piste is good, so go get it.
I hesitate to call the Sunday event a storm, unless you live in Southern California. We’re in a weird spot where the trough is parked just a bit too far inland. That brings us cold air directly from the north and brings storms on an over-land trajectory. The models seem to indicate 3 or 4 inches of snow that should be light and fluffy. That pattern is essentially an inside slider pattern, where the eastern Sierra sees more snow than we do, and nobody is seeing big dumps…except for maybe the Big Bear area. Good news, your Ikon pass is good there. There’s not much talk of change into the first week of January. So just embrace what you have…at least traveling is easy.
