It was a classic spring Saturday at Alpine Meadows. There were clear skies, corn snow, costumes, sunburns and minimal crowds. Sure there was some firm places on the first couple of laps, but that did not last long. There’s a couple of things that may have added to the crowd today – it’s the last weekend for teams and there’s some sort of big musical event over the hill. The upper lots came nowhere near filling today.
If you took at look at the “official” operations blog that was posted yesterday, they started to pin down some dates for closing. At Alpine Meadows, the now announced date is April 17th, weather and conditions permitting. The blog says that the plan is to run TLC, Roundhouse and Summit until that time. Two of those seem reasonable. Pushing snow out of the terrain park or off of Kangaroo can probably keep the base runouts and ramps covered. The least likely lift to continue running looks like Roundhouse, unless they bring in a lot of snow to build up the top ramp area. It’s getting very thin up there.
Over at the other place, the hope is to continue until May 1st with Gold Coast and Shirley Lake.
I know it’s not easy to hear these earlier than expected dates. But the reality is the snow is getting thin. Looking at the 51 year stats for Alpine Meadows, we finished March at 71% of average season to date snowfall. Bear in mind that almost all of that was the December mega storms. That’s what has fallen. We are not sitting at 71% average of snowpack. With all of this sunny weather over the last three months, the snowpack has dwindled due to snowmelt and sublimation. According to the snowpack measurements released last week, California sits at about 38% of average snowpack. That we are still skiing top to bottom means that the people that manage the snow at Alpine Meadows have done a fantastic job of keeping the mountain skiing decent.
My favorite jam all week has been Lower Beaver to Kangaroo. I know Andy has been mentioning it too. The traverse line across Idiots was exposing some rocks today, so know that. Early on the groomers are great, but once they get sloppy, it’s the off piste that has been way more fun.
The Blues Monsters were playing to a small crowd on the Sun Deck this afternoon. I would much rather be a part of that scene than the big thing going on over in the other valley with thousands of people and no parking available. This is why we choose to be at Alpine Meadows.
The annual Snow Golf even at Alpine Meadows has been rescheduled for Saturday, April 9th. Unfortunately it looks like we won’t make it to Joy and Madness at the end of the month.
Is There Any Hope In The Weather?
Not really any hope in the models today. Yesterday, the GFS was on acid for a few runs and producing some wild dreams of the big storm, but today, that looks like it was just a bad trip. Right now, over the next two weeks, there’s some colder days, there’s some warmer days, and a chance of snow showers here and there. Sorry.
That Deeper Dive Thing…Front Side Of The Mountain
A couple of weeks ago I posted some specifics about what was not so good anymore. So if it’s not on the list, assume it’s still pretty good (except for the closed terrain at Sherwood, Scott and Lakeview).
Basically Dunzo List
- The Buttress
- Exit from Bernies
- Sunday School (East Gods Knob)
- Tiegel Open Slope
- East Creek/Skateboard Alley
- Kangaroo Face
- Lower Rock Garden
Bring Your Rock Skis or Board
- Solar Flare
- D8
- Ladies Slalom
- Tiegel Chutes
- Gunner’s Knob
- Rolls and Knolls
- Red Ridge
- Yellow Chairline
- Chicken Leg
- Deer Camp
- South Peril
- John’s Peril
- Peter’s Peril
- God’s Knob
- Sympathy Face
- Three Sisters
- Beaver Bowl Exit
- Estelle Bowl Exit
- Poma Rocks
- Pond Slope
This might be my last report for about a week. Mango margaritas are calling me south of the border. Our thoughts were that would be sure to usher in some big storms. Nope! The good thing is, I still like mango margaritas. Andy will likely produce some reports this week and maybe we will get a guest report too. Hopefully the season at Alpine does make it until the 17th.
Have a great vacation! Have a margarita for us! We’ll be turning until there is nothing more to turn on! It’s been a great year and we enjoyed your smile and upbeat verbiage! Que tengas un buen viaje!