Today was unbelievably smooth at Alpine Meadows…at least a lot of it. We’ve been mentioning how great the grooming has been all season, and today was no exception. We are talking billiard table smooth on most groomed runs. That said, there is starting to be a bit less grooming done, as we are now beyond peak season.
Last night I had a weird dream, where I was running the night shift groomer over at Sherwood and farming all of the snow I could from yesterday’s little snowfall and patching up Sherwood Run, Sherwood Face and Chute Zero. The dream ended when my wife called on the radio and said I had to stop because the mountain was going to open. Thank you grooming team for all you do.
But the groomers were not the smoothest snow of the day. That kind of wet snow from yesterday, that was untracked, froze over night. After a little bit of morning sun, it started to soften into almost corn over at Sherwood. We found a good amount of that untouched loveliness below Sherwood Right Face and in the Powerline area. Apparently those same conditions were found on High Traverse this morning, as long as you timed it just right. Sadly we missed that boat, having abandoned Summit pretty early on due to super firm conditions on the lower mountain on the front side.
Not everything was super smooth. Off piste snow that got skied yesterday was pretty much left in a chunder state, turning into frozen chicken heads this morning. It’s going to take some warmer weather plus skier traffic to get that skied back in.
Tomorrow threatens to be slightly cooler as a a system passes to our north and some winds kick in. We should still get warm enough to soften south facing terrain, and one more night of refreeze will help in corn development. I’m spending as much time as possible on Sherwood, Scott and Lakeview lately as sooner or later, we’re going to be stuck on the front side of the mountain.
The Saturday storm is fading fast. Looking at the last 8 model runs of the GFS, only one run kept any strength to the system. All of the others showed the system splitting. The point forecast is now in range to show possible snowfall. This afternoon, it’s indicating 2-4 inches of snow for Saturday. Snow levels are also trending downward, which is a good thing. We should see all snow out of the system.
The weather dweebs are wringing their hands and suggesting that this could be it for big storms this year, as a short lived high pressure ridge moves in next week. Temperatures could get to the upper 50’s at Alpine Meadows. The good news is that those forecasts have also moderated. I think it’s most likely that we will continue to see weak systems as we head into spring. For as little snowfall as we have had this season, the mountain is skiing pretty well.
The Spring Music series returns to the Alpine Meadows deck this Sunday. I guess there’s been music in the Alpine Bar a few times this season, but I have had little interest in being indoors. Collectivity plays on Sunday from 2pm until 5pm. My Google Fu says they are a jazz/funk/soul band out of the Bay Area. On the 26th, locals’ favorite Coburn Station will play on the Sun Deck at 2pm. That should be a rockin’ good time.
Rhonda caught the sunrise at Tahoe this morning…and was still was ready to go skiing when lifts rolled this morning. That beautiful pic is a reminder that this is a really dry year…
