And Then There Were Two…

…as in only two more days to ski at Alpine Meadows for the 20-21 season.

You may have surmised by the lack of reports yesterday, that the skiing was not so good. You would be correct. If we were in Canada, we would have called it a Chinook, a warm dry west wind, with temperatures way above seasonal. Chinook winds are also known as “snow eaters”. I lasted for 5 laps yesterday, but I saw quite a few call it at “one and done”. Yeah, there were also those guys out there that had the perfect combination of base structure and some secret wax that made it seem like a normal day. I guess I need a shop sponsor.

Today was substantially better. It’s as if that overnight earthquake near Independence Lake realigned the snow crystals, allowing some of the moisture to drain out of the snow. I didn’t bother waxing today. In fact I removed as much wax as possible and did a bit more wire brushing to bring up the structure in my bases. It worked.

The skiing was fast and fun for much of the morning, even at noon. As far as groomed terrain, the sprouting of rocks continues to be a problem. Groomed runs this morning included only Alpine Bowl, Rock Garden, Dance Floor, Wolverine Bowl, Werner’s Schuss and West Runout. So if corduroy is your jam, that’s pretty limited. Beginner and low intermediate terrain is not a thing right now without going to our northern neighbor.

The off piste was again pretty stellar today. Fun abounds on D7, D8, North Peril, The Face, Sympathy Face, Pygmy Forest and Palisades. There’s also some other patches of goodness, but watermelon sized sun-cups are a problem in lightly skied areas. I also would urge caution on the entry to Sunspot and D8. Both are very peppery at the entrance and possibly may require a few steps over rock by tomorrow.

I’ve got to hand it to what is left of the mountain operations crew. It’s not an easy task keeping the mountain open, even with just Summit running. As skiers and rider’s we only see the mountain for 5 hours each day with the current schedule. There’s another 19 hours, much of it during the warmest hours of the day, where the conditions deteriorate. The load and unload ramps at Summit melt out just about every day, requiring a complete rebuild each morning. Today we saw them moving a mountain of snow just to make it possible to move through the RFID gates at Summit. Kudos to everyone at the mountain working to make this season end as late as possible. We totally appreciate that effort.

Conditions are supposed to remain slightly cooler for the weekend. See you out there tomorrow!