I’ve got to hand it to the Alpine Meadows mountain ops and ski patrol. No matter how much new snow and wind Mother Nature brought over the last few days, they have risen to the challenge and got much of the mountain open. It’s no easy feat, and they are not done yet. As we were taking our last lap today, Carl and Watson were about to head to head to the top of Summit to spend the night with another patroller. That means everything will run that much smoother for tomorrow morning. There’s been at least a couple of patrollers there the last two nights, and we know you appreciate that as much as I do.
That AR pointed a firehose right at Tahoe for a long spell yesterday afternoon and into the night. It dumped somewhere around 3 feet of snow, so we chose to spend hours doing snow removal tasks before skiing. Our hope was to arrive at Alpine Meadows at 1pm for the late shift.
Andy also had to deal with 3 feet of snow at his house and arrived at Alpine around noon. Here’s a quick part of his report:
I did not get out until noon so most of the mountain was tracked up, but I found a few virgin patches of powder on Standard Run. The line on Scott was a little too long for me, but Roundhouse and Yellow had short or no lines. There were a good number of people on the hill having fun.
Our plan to arrive at Alpine around 1 did have a slight hitch. Multiple spinouts and large trucks without chains turned the trip from Truckee into an 80 minute journey. I’m guessing that will serve as “practice” for the next few days.
The late afternoon arrival does mean that many obvious powder areas are chewed up and groomers bumped up. We totally skipped Scott, which still had a longer line, and lapped Roundhouse. We had no problem finding those more secluded caches of powder and wind buffed groomers.
PSA: Ski Or Ride With A Buddy
There has been roughly 50 inches of new snow just this week at mid-mountain. There’s places on the mountain where it’s deep. It’s time again to remember the importance of having a buddy when you’re enjoying deep powder. Stop reading here Mom. Just today, I found a turn that was extra deep. It sucked off my first ski, and then the second. Moments later I found myself diving head first into powder.
The moment I stopped, I realized that my head was about a foot under the snow. Fortunately one hand ended up near my mouth and I was able to create a small breathing space right away. With a little assistance from my ski partner, I pushed the snow away from my head so I could get a full breath and extract myself. Once I stood up, the snow was higher than my waist. I definitely appreciated help in locating my gear and having a space stomped out in the snow so I could get skis back on my feet. Ski or ride with a buddy!
The Last Bit Of Snow
There’s still one more bit of snow for tonight as this storm winds down. The point forecast shows 3 to 7 inches of snow overnight at mid-mountain. At the upper mountain, that could look more like another foot of snow.
Things start to dry out Friday and the weekend looks mostly sunny. That next wave for Monday into Tuesday is still showing the potential for another 2 feet or more of new snow.
The mountain looks a ton better than it did last week. Many areas are covered pretty well, but we are still below average. Just taking a peak today, there’s still some rocks showing in several areas of the mid-mountain. we’re not totally into a “normal” season just yet. Hopefully we’ll see more terrain available soon as just about everyone expects this weekend will be busy everywhere in the Sierra.
