It turns out that today was not as cold and blustery as the forecasts indicated. As long as you stayed below the 8000 foot mark, you would have called it just another spring-like day. But those east winds did blow, and Summit did start the day on wind hold. There was the usual group of confused tourists exiting the breezeway wondering how Summit could be closed due to wind, without a hint of wind at the base.
That said, Roundhouse opened early and hot laps on well groomed snow was the name of the game for much of the morning. I tested a couple of sunnier off piste areas during the morning and found them to be not so pleasant. So thanks, once again, to the grooming team that manages to reset the mountain each night, pushing snow back uphill and smoothing it all out for our enjoyment.
ABC did open relatively early this morning, and I took a spin up that way, around 11, after the line subsided. I even hiked up to the Summit terminal to see if Sunspot had softened. It didn’t. What did get soft was Ridge and Bobby’s off of Scott around noon. It required about 8 laps to make sure it really was skiing great. Just as I arrived home, I got the tweet that Summit did open around 2pm. With the east wind still blowing about 45mph, I doubt much would be soft other than the Wolverine groomer.
Tomorrow is when the serious wind and a dry cold front is expected to bring a major chill. The northeast winds are expected to be over 100mph at the crest, with gusts to 50mph in Sierra valleys. This will almost certainly impact several lifts at Alpine Meadows. The high temperature is supposed to be around 30°, so the windchill will make it feel like the single digits. I’ve got a streak to continue, so I will be there if a lift is open.
Short term ridging moves back in for Wednesday and Thursday, and skiing and riding should be much more pleasant. Then we start seeing more snowy storms move in. Within the realistic forecast range of about 10 days, there’s currently three storms lined up. The timing and amounts are sure to change, but the GIF below does give a general idea that each storm in the series gets bigger.
The first storm, arriving approximately overnight Friday, has a low that slides down the coast, with limited forcing past the crest. As of today, the GFS is showing about 6 inches in that first wave. It is a refresher storm, not a game changer storm. The second wave, around the Monday timeframe, has the potential to bring another foot or more of snow. It’s the third wave that looks the best at this point. It’s now showing potential for 1-3 feet of snow around next Wednesday. At one week out, that is not a forecast you can totally count on. Just think for now that the possibility looks better than any other time this season.
The sequencing of storms from small to medium to larger will be helpful. Although some of you are anxious to see that big powder day soon, it will take a ton of work for mountain ops and patrol to reopen parts of the mountain that have been closed, or not yet opened. Just start thinking now about being patient.
There could be more storms in the pipeline after that…but we’re in Fantasyland that far out. So let’s just dream about these three storms for now.
On a different note, I switched things up and had a BBQ Chicken pizza from the Meadows Cafe at lunch today. I’ve got to say, the pizza was great, and enough for two people to share. The “grab and go” model seems to be working great. There’s just enough food prepped ahead of time that so the thing I want is always there, and always hot. Thanks to Dan S and the rest of the food and beverage team for making lemonade this year.
Now it’s time to go dig out some warmer gear for tomorrow…
Hey Mark,
Despite the fact of my dozen or so years of serving as a volunteer instructor with Disabled Sports, its current moniker being Ability Tahoe, I’m pretty much still a nebbish on the subject of Alpine Meadows nomenclature. Do you know the origin of the name Bobby’s Run that you often cite?
Andy is pretty sure that it was named for Bobby Everson, who was a marketing director at Alpine Meadows. He was killed in a boating accident in 1981. The first reference to Bobby’s Run appears on a 1985 map of Alpine Meadows.