The wait is the hardest part. Ever since ski resorts started opening a week ago, I’ve been spending way too much time staring at webcams. It’s an obsession, and I know I am not alone. Yesterday’s email from Squaw Valley Alpine Meadows confirmed that the waiting will continue until November 25th, at least for most of us.
People were on skis yesterday at Alpine Meadows. Although the webcam was locked onto the dead ahead view of Roundhouse and Summit, every once in a while someone would zip through the periphery on skis. It was most likely employees and maybe some racers, maybe not.
Three other ski areas did open to the public for the first time yesterday: Northstar, Heavenly and Mount Rose. Two of the openings were as scheduled, because Vail Resorts is requiring reservations for skiing and riding this year. Mount Rose kept it’s opening day announcement a surprise, as they have done in the past. They announced an opening of their mountain, to the top, at 8:30 am yesterday.
As expected this brought entirely different results. The surprise opening at Mount Rose caught people off guard, and that resulted in just a small crowd showing up for opening day. The six seater Northwest chair loaded with only 2 riders on opposite ends, unless a larger group chose to ride together. Reports are that it was easy to keep a distance and masks were in use almost universally.
The reports from Heavenly were not as promising. Their opening date has been set in stone, as reservations were required. They also did not have as much terrain open as Mount Rose, so popular chairs saw more of a line. More concerning is that several people reported the use of facemasks was less than universal, and chairs tended to go up filled by single riders. Yikes.
I have no report from Northstar. Opening day at Northstar always tends to be a junk show.
This certainly brings up the question of what opening day at Alpine Meadows will look like. If it were my mountain, I don’t think I would want to experiment with the day before Thanksgiving as the first day of the season during a pandemic. But it is not my mountain, and one can only assume that the powers that be have a plan in mind.
After spending way too much time on the webcam and seeing the claim of 32 inches of snow this week, my guess is they are intending to open more than just Hotter Wheels on opening day. There’s been a lot of snow farming going on in an effort to build out the loading pads for both Roundhouse and Summit. With heavy wind loading and snow farming from Alpine Bowl, its quite possible we could see Roundhouse and Summit for opening day, although not necessarily with all of the terrain open. Kangaroo also looks like it could be within the realm of possibility. More chairs open and room to spread out? I can wait for that.
One thing that is not going to happen is any big storms arriving before opening day. We’re currently sitting at the wrong end of a dipolar setup. High pressure will be the rule for the foreseeable future.
The morning run of the GFS model showed no storms in Tahoe over the next 16 day period. Earlier this week there looked to be some action around the beginning of December. From my recollection, long dry spells interspersed with short bursts of intense snowfall is typical of La Niña years. So today I offer a shout out to the snowmaking team that is making things happen for us.
Shirley, Exhibition, Funitel, Red Dog were all turning on Friday Nov 20 (nobody loading). Did not see if Gold Coast or big blue were turning, but assume yes.
The snow pack atop Sibo looks pristine, glittering in the sun. but, we all know what is underneath this patina.
Will Sibo open on Nov 25?
Bring your rock skis, its going to be interesting
I got the email from Rose about 8:00am and was on the lift by 9:05. Staff was very organized, didn’t see anyone without a mask and it was pretty quiet until about 10:30. Patrol was at top of NW and under the lift at times reminding people to keep masks on (required at all times except when actually moving downhill). Conditions were excellent for first day and clientele was polite.
I have heard that AM patrol has been tasked with being mask police and there is resistance to that duty.
Skiers at AM were ski team. Early season training off Treeline Cirque.
Hmmmm. AM team were testing runs on the 21st?! Wonder why we weren’t involved? We are on the AM team. Thanks, I’ll call to check they’ve got us on the roster! Paddy Peters
Are projecting another ridiculously resilient ridge year? Please no…
Sowhat’s going on at night up there Mark? It’s cold enough to make snow, is that what’s going on?