That spring weather arrived today, and that was a good thing and a bad thing. The air temperatures are springlike, but the snowpack hasn’t quite caught up. That means we are likely to spend a day or two in a mank cycle before the corn is ripe.
So the skiing was excellent this morning, but as the day grew warmer, the snow got über sticky in most areas shortly after noon. That made it more attractive to go for a bike ride, drink cold beverages or take the dogs for a walk. In another season, it would have been a great afternoon for beers on the deck with Joy And Madness playing some tunes.
My run of the day continued to be High Yellow to Hot Wheels Gully. I just couldn’t get enough of it…until the snow got somewhat glue-like. Even the higher north facing slopes were getting cooked today. The base temps are currently at 53°, while Summit temps are at 45°. So for tomorrow morning, it would be fair to expect that a lot of that terrain will be very crispy until it warms again mid-morning. You will want to stick with groomed terrain until things soften!
Speaking of groomed terrain, I’ve taken this picture three different times, and am finally posting it today. If you have read this site for awhile, you know that I nearly always start my day on Sunspot. The grooming team this season have been rockstars and have been grooming a couple of “bonus runs” in that area. In the photo below: Tower 19G refers to the groomed run that starts near tower 19 of Summit and then rejoins Sunspot. The “G” refers to groomed, as there is also the ungroomed area right below tower 19. Then there’s the regular old Sunspot. To skiers left of Sunspot is Sweet Spot, which is often the first to soften. Years ago, there used to be a little wooden sign indicating the name “Sweet Spot”.
Update: Noted by someone who knows something different:
Taking Another Guess At Closing Day For Alpine Meadows…
We’re starting to hear possible closing dates for Alpine Meadows again, and they do not match up with what you may have seen in various media. I believe some of those media outlets see that “Squaw Valley Alpine Meadows” is remaining open until May 31st, and then make the assumption that it applies to both mountains. But keeping an ear to the ground and watching some industry news, I believe that only Squaw Valley will be open until May 31st (or at least hopes to do so).
Look at today as an example. The upper lots at Alpine Meadows did not fill on a Saturday. Once it gets to 80° down the mountain, people start thinking about other activities. I know when we owned a ski boat, our group of friends went by the rule that we went water skiing on the first 80° weekend. The midweek days have been even less busy. I don’t believe that Lot 3 filled even once this week. The bean counters don’t like that.
So the two dates that I am now hearing are April 25th or maybe May 2nd. Word on the street is that gondola parts will be arriving in the Subway parking lot any day now, with the start of construction slated for May 1st. It’s entirely possible that construction could begin and Summit could continue running…but the end is approaching. It would be great if the powers that be could just make the announcement, because some of you want to be able to make plans. As for me, I’ll just keep skiing every day until I can’t.
Is This The Spring Of Deception?
There’s a hint that this is the Spring Of Deception and that we will return to Third Winter sometime in early April. BA at Open Snow posted some model depictions of some potential snow as early as April 4th. Looking at the model runs this morning, they showed a stronger storm possible by the 8th. That’s 12 days out, which is really the Fantasyland part of the forecast. The afternoon run was not looking as strong. So I wouldn’t put much faith into that just yet. The one mitigating factor is that I have an appointment to take off snow tires next Tuesday…
SV IS THE DEVIL!