It was another fine sunny Saturday at Alpine Meadows, with a lot of early arrivals due to a big mountain event being held in Bernie’s Bowl today. I did the usual weekend early arrival to avoid traffic, which gave me time to wax and head out for the lineup at Summit. It was a nice warm morning for the wait, and that strategy paid off, putting us on Summit ahead of the 100 athletes heading up early to Bernies. Those early morning turns in the Sunspot zone were worth the wait. The lower half of the mountain started off pretty firm this morning, typical for spring.
As soon as the line began to rebuild at Summit, we took the early exit and headed to Sherwood. It was almost too early at 9:40. The steeper sections of Sherwood Run and Maid Robin Tucks were pleasantly soft, but the flatter sections of the runout were still pretty firm. Things changed quickly and within a few runs, the off piste was back in play. If you like Sherwood, get it now, as it’s going fast in these warmer temperatures. There’s some pretty big brown spots showing through where the summer road crosses over Sherwood Run, and similar brown areas along Maid Robin Tucks, especially below Sherwood Face. There’s not many options left for snow farming over there. The past practice has been to keep Sherwood open even after the groomed runs are done, allowing for South Face and High Traverse laps.
There’s another great reason to head over to Sherwood. The new Alpine Avalanche Rescue Foundation t-shirts are now on sale at the top patrol shack. The cost for the tees is $25, payable in cash or Venmo. I would note here that cell service has been overloaded at Sherwood a lot on weekends, so cash might be easier. I couldn’t even get a call out last Sunday. There’s still AARF hats available, also $25. I certainly love the classic look of the new shirts. Oh also, the shirts are not available online at the moment. Go get ’em. The dogs, and the patrollers, deserve your support.
Weatherwise, things look similar for tomorrow, with a greater chance of football jerseys. Monday also looks okay during the ski day before a “storm” moves in on Valentines’ Day evening. The models continued to support 3-4 inches of snowfall possible until the later runs today. They’re now looking more like maybe an angry inch of sleet or snow with a lot of wind. That should slow the melt rate just a bit for a few days. Long term…maybe another couple of inside sliders the last week of February. No game changers yet. All we can do is enjoy what we have the best we can…
NOAA Sacramento noted this week that statewide we are sitting at about 80% of normal for snowpack at this time. Looking at historical snowfall at Alpine Meadows, unless it snows more than a couple of inches in the next two weeks, we will end February at 79% of normal snowfall.
Lastly, I heard some grumbles about grooming not being as excellent as it has been. It’s all about those warm afternoon temperatures turning things into slop. It’s much more difficult to get those billiard smooth slopes when the snow is so soft. That’s the way it is in the spring time. We’re super appreciative about how well things have been going at Alpine Meadows, relative to the junk show that is going on at many US ski areas this season…cough, cough Vail Resorts.
The current conditions are challenging for the grooming equipment operators. We have some of the best in the industry at Alpine. My daughter and I were a Kirkwood last Thursday for her gs race. The race surface was quite good as they have been keeping the slope closed to the public and not running cats on the slope, but the rest of the grooming runs we skied had frozen wind rows and track ruts. THANKS TO THE TALENTED GROOMING STAFF AT ALPINE!!!