We Can’t Explain It, But The Skiing Was Remarkably Good Today

Over the last two days, there’s been some Colorado like weather at Alpine Meadows. Temperatures have run from the single digits to the teens. A strong northeast wind brought wind chill into the negative digits and talk of frostbite has been frequent. Those east winds reportedly reached 107 mph Monday night, stripping much of the upper mountain of any snow that was not firmly attached to the mountain. I took one run on ABC yesterday and saw more gray ice along Alpine Bowl than I have seen at any other time.

So when the morning sunrise was covered by a thick gray shield of upper level clouds, my motivation for skiing another cold flat light day was reduced. Fortunately I soldiered on toward Alpine Meadows, where a hint of blue skies was showing to the north, and winds were low enough to allow Summit Chair to operate. So we booted up and loaded up to head to the top of the mountain, just as the sun began shining on Sunspot. What we found is that somehow the snow surface had been magically transformed overnight into a very skiable surface. Some combination of grooming, tilling, increased humidity and gnomes turned a sows ear into a silk purse.

As we skied more and more of the mountain, we kept finding that every groomed run was skiing perfectly. Very few people were on the slopes today as well, so things stayed in pretty good shape all day. I managed to almost match my seasonal speed record with so few people around. Had I waxed today, I might have beat it.

As the day progressed we toured just about every groomer, going around the world twice. The sunnier slopes of Sherwood, Lakeview and Scott were already having that corny feeling again, with most of Sunday night’s new snow blown to points west. Sherwood and Scott runs tended toward a bit of stickiness by early afternoon, but Outer Limits and Twilight Zone off of Lakeview were fun and fast.

I kept experimenting with possibilities for off piste terrain with limited success. A morning run on Hot Yellow earned it the nickname of “Hot Mess”, as it was a combination of wind pillows and welding splatter. Afternoon runs on Maid Marian, Sherwood Face and Standard Run were skiable and “kind of” fun. As we looped back around to the frontside, Tower 19 was still hideous due to the chilling wind at the crest.

By 2 PM, another deck of high level clouds moved in and it was like someone turned out the lights.

For tomorrow through Saturday, we’ll again be under a more classic ridge, bringing more sun and less wind. Temps will increase each day by another 5 degrees. So by tomorrow, we should get some good thawing out in sunny terrain, bringing much more off piste back into play. North facing terrain will likely remain pretty solid until it gets warmer.

For the third week in a row, the Sunday weather takes a turn for the worse. It’s expected to be the driest of the inside sliders. Only a trace of snow is expected, but temps will be much colder with a strong north wind. As of now, the high is forecast at 26°. Early next week, we’ll again start off climbing out of the cold cellar. The next significant chance for snow is out in Fantasyland, around February 15th.