For those that say those weather forecasts are never right, you are wrong. The forecast called for a strong northeast wind event today, and it was there in earnest. Midday, the winds exceeded 100 mph along the crest at Alpine Meadows. Just as expected, that put the Summit chairlift on wind hold. This was no surprise to me, but there was no shortage of people arriving at Alpine this morning completely mystified by the closure. Those people should pay closer attention to the weather.
Miraculously, the Alpine Bowl Chair did run for about an hour this morning, and like a magnet, I was drawn to the top. Seeing that Sunspot was trackless, I continued on a short hike up to the Summit lift. The winds were ferocious and the ice pellets abrasive. The noise of the wind hammering the antennas sounded akin to a jet plane taking off. I went to take a video and discovered at that point that my phone was sitting safely on the MagSafe charger at home.
Those first turns down Sunspot were slow but grippy, due to a strong headwind. Halfway down, less wind allowed for greater speeds and big smiles. In hindsight, D8 and Wolverine Bowl may have been a better route. The rest of the morning was spent doing “hot” laps at Roundhouse, with the Charity to Kangaroo Ridge lap offering the most shelter and consistent snow conditions. Alpine Bowl did close when wind speeds increased, and mid-mountain winds also started removing loose snow. My preferred routes grew a bit more scraped and I called it a day at lunch.
I’m wondering how things panned out over at Sherwood. Temperatures barely exceeded freezing today, but the solar radiation may have provided some softening. I’m still waiting for your report Matt! Heading down Alpine Meadows road, I counted 25 cars coming up the road and Lot 4 was loosely almost full.
For tomorrow, the winds will likely keep Summit closed at least through the morning. The high wind warning expires at noon tomorrow, so it’s possible that Summit will be able to open later in the day. Temperatures are also expected to be a few degrees warmer, leading to a better chance of softening snow on southern exposures. We shall see.
Thanks for asking! In the afternoon at Sherwood and over off Lakeview I encountered a phenomenon in the snow pack I’ve never seen before. At the top, with the wind, it was a scoured hard pack. Then about five turns down, out of the wind it turned slightly slushy. After about ten turns of that it turned into sugary granular sluff on top of the hard pack base. All day long the best place to ski was along the sides of the runs, at the interface of the off piste. BTW, off piste was a frozen ice glaze everywhere, including Sherwood. Viva Alpine!
A friend just turned me on to your site…..since I love Alpine (first skied there in ’73).
I was there yesterday, and yes, it was WINDY. I have never seen the wind sweep up Alpine Bowl and over the top quite like yesterday. It was stunning acutally, the power of the wind was clear as the day…watching the windswept snow sweep off the top of the bowl was power to behold. But I wasn’t about to go up there…I kept thinking how silly those people were up there, as that wind must have been ferocious when you were in the face of it (and it was in your face).
Made me feel better that you said you gave it up at noon. So did we…..
and gosh, as a first time commenter, I realize that it may sound like I called you silly to have gone up to Alpine Bowl. That would be rude. No sir, thatwas not my intent. Wrong choice of words there. Please let me clarify….. you are, without a doubt, braver than I.
LOL no offense taken. I was driven to take a photo…..until I felt my empty pocket.