Overall, the skiing was better than expected today. On the good list: Not raining, not foggy, not windy, zero lift lines and more music has been added to the Alpine Meadows schedule. On the not so good list: It was a dust on crust morning, grooming was limited and not one of my “ski posse” showed up today. Read on for more for the details.
I expected that today was going to be a wet and soggy day, possibly transitioning to snow later in the day. As it turned out, so far, this storm has done exactly what most of the model runs said it was going to do. It’s mostly affecting the southern Sierra. There was somewhere around 20 millimeters of new snow that fell overnight at Alpine Meadows. It just barely filled the ruts left by yesterday’s skiers and riders. Nothing was falling when the lifts did open, and the top of the mountain was not windy or foggy, although dark clouds did loom to the south end of the lake. To Summit I went, and I stayed there. My short morning turned into a full morning, which was not popular with my wife.
It was an interesting study of contrasts. Alpine Bowl was like ice, with scattered pillows of sticky new snow. It led to Rock Garden then Dance Floor or Charity, which skied very nicely. Bad start, good finish. If you took Wolverine Bowl, it was nice and chalky, with the new snow evenly distributed. This was much more pleasant than Alpine Bowl. Unfortunately, that led to Werners, which was a minefield of death cookies. Good start, bad finish. I split my morning between these two options.
Two options? Yes that was it from Summit. The off piste was basically horrific. The grooming was pretty limited today. Sunspot, D8, Terry’s Return and Boomerang were not groomed today. Even Alpine Bowl was groomed in a fairly narrow strip. Whether someone was out sick or whether we are in cost containment mode now, I do not know. It’s not my mountain, I don’t get to be a part of those decisions. That said, we have been living the charmed life this season, as grooming has been excellent. Lower on the mountain, Red Ridge, Ladies Slalom and Kangaroo Ridge were also not groomed, those being due to rocks and brush sprouting in those areas.
The lift situation was superior today. Every lift was open except where terrain has been closed for the season. Was there a need for Kangaroo, Yellow and ABC today? By the minimal attendance at the mountain today, probably not. But keeping liftees employed during the midweek so they will be there on the weekends is a good thing. If we return to spring conditions later this week, we may appreciate the chance to stay at the top of the mountain.
I still don’t have high hopes for this little storm. When I left just after noon, there was still nothing happening, and the snow bands seem to be dissolving as they moved in. There are no significant changes in the next two weeks, other than some very weak troughs that will pass to the north.
The Music Will Happen At Alpine Meadows
You heard it here first. Weather and conditions permitting, there is music scheduled to happen at Alpine Meadows on the upcoming weekends. It’s just that the marketing department has not added it to the events calendar at the official website. Here’s the schedule that was shared with me:
- Saturday, April 2: Blues Monsters on the Sun Deck 2-5pm
- Sunday, April 3: The Johnson Party on the Sun Deck 2-5pm
- Saturday, April 9: Beer Gardeners in the Alpine lodge 2-5pm
- Sunday, April 10: Collectivity on the Sun Deck 2-5pm
- Saturday, April 16th: Papiba and Friends ft. Lorenzo Loera on the Sun Deck 2-5pm
- Saturday, April 23: Achilles Wheel on the Sun Deck 2-5pm
- Saturday, April 30: Joy and Madness on the Sun Deck 2-5pm
That is definitely a solid lineup of bands for April. I’d give a little shoutout to Brent Dana, who handles the artist bookings here and over the hill. Hopefully the snow holds out that long!
Frankly, I’d be surprised if we actually stay open for those last 2 weekends of music.
Last week was brutal for the snowpack…
Your buddy may not have made the opening bell, but he did put his skis on in the afternoon. It still was not snowing at 2 or 3:30. The sky was cloudy and lighting not the best. Fog dropped into the bowls on top. The good news was that the snow surface was very good and there were very few people on the slopes. Soft corn snow on all the slopes I tried. Not deep, mushy, or sticky. It is snowing so lightly at this hour that I can count the flakes as they fall to earth.
It does not look like I will make it tomorrow morning, but maybe in the afternoon again.
Music at that other mountain this weekend Winter Wondergrass is gonna be awesome.
Not so much ‘winter’ actually with forecast temps in the high 50′ low 60’s.
It was 40 years ago this week this area received 200″ of snow, tragic n all, if we could only see 1/4 of that. Wowza
Its all Palisades now, -edited- they pray for warm temps to close it at AM Palisades so gondola base construction can continue. Spring skiing capital at that other mountain you know, all the rest are Quitters, as the new ads and billboard in Truckee says. Go figure.