For Some Of Us, Christmas Is For Skiing

Let’s start this post with a huge thank you to every Alpine Meadows employee that worked through Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, all so the rest of us can enjoy another day sliding on the snow.

It’s been a tradition in our family for the last 20 years to go skiing on Christmas day. For most of those years, it’s one of the few times we get to ski with our son, who has spent most every season as a member of a team or coaching a team. I enjoy talking with other families that have also moved Christmas presents to Christmas Eve, or another day entirely, just in case it’s a powder day on Christmas.

Today was not a powder day. An early round of showers preceded the expected storm today, bringing an inch of snow and high winds to the mountain. Summit was placed on wind hold before opening, and other lifts were often like a bucking bronco ride with winds blowing chairs to and fro. Eventually, Yellow chair was also put on windhold.

The ski conditions varied, minute by minute, depending on what direction the winds were swirling. What was delightfully velvety one run could be scoured grey ice on the next run. We found the most fun skiing various runs around Yellow, where the new snow accumulated in the troughs of moguls.

Things should look far different for tomorrow. The storm for tonight is still on track, and has been slightly upgraded again. The point forecast is showing for the potential for 9-12 inches mid-mountain by mid-morning Sunday. The latest GFS run is a bit more generous, again showing the possibility of 12-18 inches. The Sunday-Monday storm still looks to slide to the south, although NOAA does say some snow is possible as far north as Susanville.

More storms are in the pipeline, although none of them are expected to be a direct hit. That La Niña pattern wants to continue to shunt storms to the north. We just get the tail ends, which is better than a sharp stick in the eye.

Expect a crowd and delays tomorrow

SVAM has been very open about the possibility for delays tomorrow in opening the mountains after the storm. There is fewer staff on hand to do the work, and more limits to how quickly they can get people on the hill to do avalanche control work. It seems probable that we could see delayed openings tomorrow.

Additionally, the latest email from SVAM titled “Storm Operations” reminds us that you should expect to be outdoors the entire day for storm days. The only indoor option available to most people is your personal vehicle. It specifically mentions the breezeway at Alpine Meadows as being an area of concern during storm periods. During the last storm cycle, a friend referred to it as the petri dish of Alpine Meadows. I noticed that someone thought it might be a good idea to place stand up tables in the breezeway. Yeah, weird, huh?

Thanks again to the Alpine Meadows team for a great family ski day.