Exactly as we predicted earlier in the week, this weekend was bound to be busy. It always is, being the non-blacked out weekend sandwiched between two blackout periods. But as long as you managed your arrival time, lunch time and departure times carefully, it was all good. I stood in a few lines today, but nothing horrendous. When the line for Summit went out of the corral in the afternoon, we just went somewhere else.
That’s the thing about Alpine Meadows. There is a good balance between mountain capacity and parking capacity. As long as the whole mountain is open, it never feels all that crowded even when the parking lots are full. The only thing that ever really messes that up are the shuttles coming from Olympic Valley, and hallelujah, they are not operating this weekend. Besides being an incredible waste of money and resources, that is the number one issue with the stupid gondola. Once that thing is running, that awesome balance point between parking and mountain capacity will never be the same.
We totally missed out on any announcements for the Alpenglow Backcountry Demo Day, that is until a friend reminded me that it is always the first weekend in January. What is the Demo Day? It is an opportunity to try a variety of gear, both Alpine and backcountry at zero cost to you. All you have to do is sign up and give a credit card and drivers license for a deposit, and you can try as many pairs of skis and boots as you like. We saw equipment from DPS, Black Crow, Black Diamond, Salomon, Volkl, Blizzard, Elan and more this morning.
Being that the cost was just right, I started my day with a couple of demos and hot laps on Kangaroo. I know it seems strange but the Roo offers some varied testing with the Nicks Run groomer, Kangaroo Face and Kangaroo Gully offering some varied experiences. I enjoyed the Salomon QST 98 as an everyday driver, although I could outdrive it at high speeds. My least favorite was the DPS Pagoda Piste 100, which was akin to driving a Dodge Neon. Huge thanks to Alpenglow Sports for throwing this event each year. If you missed it today, do it tomorrow.
In case you missed it a few inches of snow fell as the resort closed last night, and that last wave was nice and light. While we were testing skis, Unpossible got in a few laps on High Traverse that were much better than expected. Of course it helps to follow the snow to protected areas. Sure there was scratchiness every few turns, but it’s likely the last powder we will see for a couple of weeks. Here’s a little slideshow to make you jealous.
Later in the day, we found some scratchy pow turns in the Promised Land, Gentian Gully and some of the secret stashes around Sherwood. The groomed terrain held up pretty well today with reasonably cold temperatures and traffic spread out. I only spent about 10% of my time on groomed slopes today, mostly just returning to lifts.
Hey, the Ice Bar was open today! Although I was super thirsty, I was having too much fun skiing to stop there today.
Overall it was a fantastic day at the mountain, as long as you got there early. You’re doing it wrong if you’re arriving beyond 8:45. Eat lunch at a non-standard time, either really early or really late. Be flexible with where you want to ski. Go home a bit early to avoid traffic leaving Olympic Valley. I am pumped to do it again tomorrow.
You’re giving away the secrets with the arrival and lunch tips 🤣
I was pretty non-specific and not all that accurate 🤣
I’m not clear as to who or what Unpossible is or isn’t…
It’s impossible to know!
You’re right Mark. When seeing the parking lot full early on I was sure skiing would be awful with too many people and lines too long. What a pleasant surprise to find the lines not too obnoxious (at least until 10:30 when we had planned on leaving). The snow was oh so much fun. Made up for some not such nice days.
overall a good weekend at the mountain. Mark’s report is spot on, and in addition to a surge of visitors there is also a major covid surge… i believe it has been mentioned a few times in the news lately. The total lack of mask compliance was alarming this weekend. I braved the seasonal locker room, the chalet, and restrooms briefly, and was shocked by the number of maskless folks gathering and packed closely together waiting in line (I took one look inside the chalet at 11 this morning and bolted; there were ten people waiting in line in that spacious establishment, only 1 had a mask and not all of the employees did either… not to mention all the folks sitting at tables… yikes!) I felt there was more compliance earlier in the season before mandates went into effect. This is unfortunate, I thought we were getting closer to normal but it looks like our family will return to the 2020 skiing of using our vehicle and not utilizing any of the lodge services.