Day one for Lakeview. Today was the first day that Lakeview Chair was turning and accepting skiers and boarders. The best thing I can say about riding Lakeview this morning was that the view from the top of Lake Tahoe was spectacular.
The downhill options were two. We either took the groomed routes which were both slick and not the soft corduroy we hoped for or we attempted to wander off-piste which was not a pleasant experience. We rode the lift a couple of times just to say hello to the towers after a very long absence and then split for the front side.
Yesterday Standard Run off the Scott Chair was pretty good. We skied it a couple of times. Today my friend reported that it had turned into the ugly duckling. South facing slopes received too much sun yesterday and stiffened up, to say the least, overnight. North facing slopes remained in good winter condition with moguls slightly larger. The best snow I found was in High Yellow, D6, D7, D8, and North Peril.
Sympathy was a joy to ski. Expert Shortcut was acceptable but a little lumpy. I had no complaints about the overnight grooming which offered up some early morning high speed turns.
Today the crowd was a little smaller than yesterday although the upper lot appeared to be full. Editor’s note: This may be incorrect. I think it was more busy today than yesterday, or any day of the week. The Deer Park lot was about half full when I left at 2:30. People were still coming up to ski, as it is Friday afternoon. – Mark
Quick comment on wearing masks. This morning a few people were in line at Summit that refused to put on their masks while standing in line. This is unacceptable because it reflects on the ski area and may cause the resort closed down. If you have forgotten to raise your mask while you are in line, indoors, standing or sitting near someone, or on the chair lift with someone you do not know ( a single added to a couple who are skiing together) and someone points out the fact that your mask is not covering your mouth and nose than please do not argue. PUT YOUR MASK ON QUIETLY. JUST DO IT!
Enjoy you day,
Andy
I am going to echo Andy’s comments regarding masks. There were some very flagrant violators in the Summit line this morning, and no sign of any COVID enforcement team at most lifts today. I’m willing to speak up, but the general public should not be the primary enforcement people.
Agree w/ you and Andy. It isn’t a big deal to wear a mask and if it keeps ski areas, restaurants, and coffee shops open, do it!
Yes. We all need to wear our masks, and we all need to be kind.
They should have been asked to leave!
Squaw and Alpine was doing “pretty OK (but never great)” for a while in terms of monitoring lines and enforcing mask compliance, but they has massively dropped the ball lately. Pretty much every line I’m in at Squaw, I personally have to ask people to pull up their masks, and can’t find any Squaw employees to back me up. I often just leave when it gets out of control, which it’s been pretty consistently lately. There is another far more virulent Covid variant out there. Come on people- don’t be assholes. Just wear your masks. It’s the rule, you know it, just do it. The rules apply to you too, you’re not “special”, just a self absorbed, delusional, selfish, and inconsiderate when you don’t wear a mask . And Squaw/Alpine- seriously? How difficult is it to have a line monitor, who will actually do their job, at every running lift??? There is NO enforcement at Squaw/Alpine- it’s a joke.
Mr Maskhole meet Mr Pepperspray.
I 100% echo your comments on masks! SVAM has massively dropped the ball on this the last couple of weeks and especially the last few days. There is ZERO enforcement anymore. No one seems to care. This may partly be due to the fact that the person in charge of covid compliance at the resort has resigned.
They actually had a position for “covid compliance”??? I would have never guessed. Mask compliance has now gone from a shit show to complete chaos.
Thanks for the honest assessment of the mask protocol. All your comments cemented our decision to not turn on our pass this year. Backcountry and XC it is. This will cost SVAM $1600 in revenue. And, we won’t be clogging up your lift line. See you next season.
Didn’t see many people in line without masks. However, this morning an employee at Alpine came into the locker room and announced there were more than 30 people (which was our maximum) there. He came back later just as I was ready to go out. He then made a point of checking it out again. Time and energy would have been better at the Summit line.
Not really. Indoor spaces require more vigilance. I’d rather see them patrolling the few inside locations they have open.
Today they covered both đŸ™‚
ABC lifty stopped the chair and waded into the line to tell two guys to mask up this morning.