Mellow Mood Monday

After 5 days in a row of Alpine Meadows being pretty busy, today was a day for a mellow mood. It was either the post-Super Bowl hangover or the threat of overcast skies that kept more people off the mountain today. Honestly, yesterday was not so bad either. I honestly enjoyed the energy brought by all of those kids racing at Kangaroo and racing around the mountain between runs.

The mountain is still holding up pretty well, at least on the groomed terrain. Every groomer off of Summit was delightfully carve-able right away this morning. Our ski group this morning agreed that Terry’s Return was the money run, followed by Wolverine. It was nice to make multiple laps on Summit once again with very little or no waiting.

Off piste conditions were a bit more variable. Sun affected areas were pretty much a no-go today. Protected north facing areas are still holding up. We saw people enjoying D6 and D7, as well as the Pygmy Forest and Lower Palisades zone. Once again, the moguls are growing after the weekend traffic.

Things just barely got warm enough today to loosen up the corn at Scott and Sherwood. Things were about 90 minutes behind schedule due to the filtered light and a cool breeze. Off piste terrain was still firm in those areas, even in mid-afternoon.

Changeable Weather Ahead

Our little bout of spring is now over, with an increasing chance of snow as we head through the week. Tomorrow, we only see a chance of snow showers, with no accumulation expected. Fortunately the snow levels are trending downward and should remain below base level. The bigger storm to watch is around the Thursday time frame. The most aggressive models this afternoon are showing the potential for a foot or slightly more of snow possible. That snow will be accompanied by the usual heavy winds. Another system for Saturday looks less certain, with models pretty evenly split about the possibility.

So a refresh seems to be on the way. That will also refresh the interest in skiing and riding; that could result in a busier Friday and weekend ahead. Fortunately, this weekend is the last of the holiday blackout periods. Advanced day tickets are priced at $229 for the weekend. I might complain about that if I didn’t have a pass, but it will offer the rest of us some crowd control. It’s hard to believe that we are about at that halfway point in the season…assuming we can avoid an abrupt closure.

Notes On Mask Enforcement

We know that every resort in California has their hearts in the right place when it comes to enforcing the guidelines set for ski areas on face masks. We have seen superior efforts by our mountain staff and managers as they ramped up a “COVID Enforcement” team. Recently, we also noticed that things were getting a bit more sporadic, which left many uncomfortable. It’s an easy task to just wear a proper face covering. The enforcement job is not so easy.

For several reasons, which need not be discussed here, the COVID enforcement team fell apart at Alpine Meadows. Last week, various mountain managers got together and made a plan to make sure that this important job was getting done. I saw that plan working throughout the weekend, and again today.

Word on the street is that ABC was not staffed on Sunday to free up staff for mask enforcement. True or not, if that’s what needed to happen, then so be it. There was plenty of terrain available to ski this weekend. I personally applaud that tough decision. If everybody would just follow the guidelines, no enforcement would be necessary. Don’t want to wear a mask at a ski resort? Head to Idaho…