Just Wow

Yeah, that was a fantastic morning. The GFS was definitely the winning model for the Thursday night storm. The base snow sensor showed 14 inches of new snow this morning, with slightly higher totals on the upper mountain. It also came in a bit lighter than expected, so the skiing was really good for a couple of hours.

We’re already getting to that time of year when powder gets cooked quickly on a bluebird day like today. At the winter solstice on Dec 21, the sun only gets about 21 degrees above the horizon. By mid February, it’s getting almost to 40 degrees above the horizon.

While I noticed that the parking lots were basically full, the mountain did not seem all that crowded. Our crew did a dozen laps of freshies, never once waiting in line, other than waiting for the lift to open at 9am. Things were obviously hammered pretty quickly. We headed directly to Scott and caught a perfect lap in Gentian Gully, and as we returned to Hotter Wheels noted that the upper mountain was pretty well schralped. So we headed off to some of the lesser known hidden gems, ending the day with perma-smiles.

There’s more snow on the way for tomorrow, starting late tonight. Overall the NAM short range model calls for around foot of snow, mostly falling during the day Saturday. Winds are likely to be a problem for some lifts on Saturday. The point forecast for Alpine Meadows (mid-mountain) calls for winds of 25-40 mph, with gusts to 50. If you like storm day skiing, tomorrow is your day.

Sunday will bring a return to sunny skies for fair weather skiers. The third wave of storms in this series moves in Sunday night into Monday. Currently, the GFS is showing the potential for a 6 to 8 inch refresh.

I wanted to take minute to note just how well things are running at Alpine Meadows this season. We watched patrol finishing their routes this morning while waiting in line and there was a significant amount of snow moving around. There’s a lot of work when we get these bigger storms. Still, every lift at Alpine Meadows opened at 9am today, with the exception of ABC, which required a bit more of a dig. That’s really impressive.

I also have been really impressed with the messaging coming from the marketing department this season. Rather than focus on “powder, powder, powder” for the upcoming weekend, the communications have focused on setting realistic expectations for the holiday weekend. I am really proud that Squaw Valley Alpine Meadows sees the importance of dialing it back, as this whole COVID things is not in control yet, and likely will not be by the end of the ski season. Kudos to those in charge of messaging.

This would be a reminder, if you haven’t read our piece on “How To Alpine 20/21”, you should do it. It’s got a lot of information designed to make the Alpine experience better for all of us, patrons and staff alike. If you have friends and family visiting soon, share it with them as well.