Skiing was similar today to yesterday, except the absence of the Summit lift put a damper on some people’s ski day. An east wind came on strong as the sun rose today, surpassing the operable limit for Summit. So although it looked like a perfectly good spring day, infrequent Alpine Meadows visitors were surprised to find Summit on a windhold. Those that looked at the forecast this morning were surprised to find that the east winds continued all day rather than tapering off mid-morning, as forecast.
So the day started on Roundhouse, but once we saw how soft the snow was, the question was to go to Sherwood immediately, or not at all today. We went right away. The corn was just right on the Sherwood groomer, fully ripened since yesterday. That said, more rocks popped up like weeds throughout the groomer, not to mention it was busy.
Off piste, the corn development was just a bit behind, still offering patches of stickiness where the new snow has not melted away. We took what might be our last runs in Sherwood Right Face and Chute Zero, as they are rapidly closing out. Sherwood Face and South Face are still holding up, but sprouting rocks.
The corn was all good at Ridge, Bobby’s, Outer Limits and Jorg’s. Once again more rocks and brush is showing with each passing hour. Off piste, I gave it a go on Lower Standard and it was still stick city…maybe another day will help.
Sometime around noon, we made the move back to Roundhouse, hoping to ski Yellow or other sun sheltered areas. While some areas were okay, the runouts back to the base were frightfully sticky. I’m going wax shopping right after I finish this post. The best results today were the west exposure of Sympathy Face and Rolls and Knolls. By 1pm, I was completely done with toe jam…
That storm for early next week is looking worse with each model run. Every run I saw today takes a cutoff low off the coast and into Southern California. That will really limit snow or rainfall in northern California. After that, it’s more fair weather for another week. I think the best we can hope for right now is cooler temperatures.