Welcome Sierra At Tahoe Skiers & Riders UPDATED

By tomorrow, the fire season in the Northern Sierra will basically be done for the year. Looking at the ensemble forecast, as much as 6 inches of water equivalent precipitation is expected to fall over the next two weeks. Five to nine inches of snow is forecast just tonight at Alpine Meadows. Our favorite ski area made it through another fire season. Not every ski area can say the same.

Sierra At Tahoe was not so lucky. Initially, it looked like they had escaped the brunt of the Caldor Fire, losing only a surface lift or two and an equipment shed. But as the Sierra At Tahoe staff took a closer look, more and more damage became apparent. While no official announcements have been made, at least one haul rope is being replaced, and there are many hazard trees which must be removed before some areas will be safe, especially with winter storm winds.

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Last week, Sierra At Tahoe announced that operations this year will absolutely be limited due to the damage. Again, no specific details were given about exactly what that meant, as Sierra At Tahoe is committed to bringing as much as they can back to safe operations as soon as possible. An email sent to current pass holders reportedly explained that their 21-22 season passes would also be good for the 22-23 season. Additionally, passholders were given a $50 rebate to keep, or donate to an employee recovery fund. Making things even sweeter, Sierra At Tahoe will match all donations given by passholders. Kudos to Sierra At Tahoe for all of these moves.

Another cool thing to see was ski areas working together to support Sierra At Tahoe. Crews from Olympic Valley and Alpine Meadows assisted in the work of inspecting and beginning repairs earlier this month. Mammoth Mountain brought in a new haul rope to repair one of the lifts, important as the ski industry faces the same supply chain issues as everything else. We’re sure there are others that have jumped in to assist.

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On our part, we want to welcome Sierra At Tahoe skiers and riders to come check out Alpine Meadows, should you choose to get an Ikon pass. We think that you will find a lot of similarities. Even though we have been connected at the hip to that place over the hill since 2011, Alpine Meadows maintains its own identity and its own spirit. Here’s some things to know:

• Just like Sierra At Tahoe, our mountain is made of a whole lot of different zones that all have different exposures. You can nearly always find something that makes you happy. Just the Summit Chair alone will give you access to an amazing amount of terrain, especially if you’re willing to do some hiking.

• Green has always been the color for Alpine Meadows, not purple and orange. People are still going to call this place Alpine Meadows, and the other place Olympic Valley or the old name. People from Texas will use the new name.

• If the Summit Chair is busy, consider heading to any other chair, as they all have great terrain. Sometimes you have to just look around and see what’s possible. There’s a ton of fun to be found hidden in plain sight. Fair warning, be super careful on the High Traverse hikes along the crest. Turning to the west is always the wrong move, landing you deep in the Granite Chief Wilderness. People get lost there pretty much every season.

• That shiny new box being built to go over the hill to other place will not be finished for this season. To be honest, most people that have skied Alpine for a long time aren’t very excited about that project or what it means for the future of Alpine Meadows.

• Contrary to what the marketing machine may imply, Alpine Meadows is somewhat limited when it comes to beginner terrain. If you have low level skiers and riders in your group, there’s not all that much green circle terrain at Alpine Meadows. In such cases, you may actually be happier over at Olympic Valley or another area.

• If you have kids that like to rip, find Hot Wheels Gully.

• If you’re going to leave the ski area boundary to Munchkins, Condo Run or other delights you have heard about, know what you’re getting into. The terrain can be very difficult and changes daily depending on conditions. Everyone in your party should absolutely carry avalanche rescue gear and know how to use it.

• Parking can be a challenge at Alpine Meadows. If you arrive early, it’s super simple and easy. If you arrive late, you will find yourself parking at a remote lot at White Wolf or Deer Park, then riding a shuttle. That’s a real bummer. If you like to tailgate, and need a place to let the dogs out, park along the eastern edge of the Subway parking lot. Once the Subway lift begins operations for the year, you can use that to catch a ride up to the main ski area.

• Once the ski season gets rolling, we post unofficial conditions reports here 4-6 times per week. Those other ski blogs may have more readers, but we have more useful information. You can subscribe in the upper right corner of this page, and those reports will magically appear in your inbox. We never sell or give our e-mail list to anybody.

Hopefully we will never see the day that Alpine Meadows faces significant damage from a wild fire, but I’m guessing it’s inevitable that it will eventually happen. Hopefully, somebody from another mountain will invite us Alpine Meadows skiers to join them for a season. Loving the rain and the snow in the forecast…hoping construction crews have a plan to get things buttoned up at the Alpine Meadows base area before we would like to start skiing…fingers crossed.

UPDATE: LiftBlog.com has a good update that spells out more specifics of what will likely stay closed for the upcoming season at Sierra AT Tahoe. Yikes, the entire West Bowl zone! See the details here.