So far the forecast is basically on point, both in terms of weather, and in what ski terrain was available today. As of closing, Alpine Meadows appears to have picked up 13 inches of new snow at the base area so far since the storm rolled in around dawn. It’s quite possible that the wind transported some snow away from the automated sensor, as it was pretty windy. For comparison, I have picked up 15 inches at my house. Twenty to thirty inches at the top of Roundhouse by tomorrow morning looks like a decent probability.
In terms of terrain openings, my predictions were 90% true. The upper mountain at Palisades did not open. Only TLC and the Big Carpet opened at Alpine. The part I got wrong…no lines of any consequence happened at TLC. It seems as if the dire warning of blizzard conditions and whiteouts on the roads made many people stay home. Highway 89 stayed at R1 all day and visibility was good for the most part. Alpine Meadows Road did close for almost an hour this afternoon for avalanche control. As of this writing, traffic was being turned around on Highway 80. That’s likely to happen off and on all night.
I did a short stint of skiing this morning at TLC. At opening the snow was still a bit heavy. First tracks were great, but then deteriorated. If more terrain was open today, it would have been classified as a “free refills” day. But with only Weasel available, the new snow could not outpace skier traffic. The sweet spot was likely in the late afternoon, when snow was falling heavily and fewer people were skiing.
The storm should clear out by tomorrow morning. Theoretically, there will be more terrain available than today. It is unrealistic to expect additional lifts to open at Alpine tomorrow. There’s still some sort of power issue at the top of Summit, as noted by the lack of remote data there. Even so, it’s going to take some time to mitigate avalanche danger, build roads and ramps and sign and rope as needed. Even if it’s just Roundhouse, TLC and Yellow again, there should be far more skiable terrain available. One would hope that more than Gold Coast gets opened at Palisades.
Update: The official ops blog that just came out and mirrors the thinking above. Meadow could be ready tomorrow…Summit for early next week. A couple of beginner lifts may be added over at Palisades but there’s a lack of commitment to much more.
The storm for Saturday afternoon into Sunday is still on track to match this first storm, but will feature colder temperatures and lower snow levels. Winds may be less of an issue, but will potentially shut down some upper lifts late Saturday and Sunday. Travel over 80 on Sunday will probably not be fun, with snow down to Colfax and Reno. If you have to travel far…it may not be worth it for just Roundhouse and TLC.
Major update: The jet stream will not be as far south as initially thought. So this next storm actual starts out warm, with snow levels near 6500 feet, then dropping to only 4000 feet. That also ups the chance for high winds for the weekend.
Meteorological winter begins today, December 1st. This year, Üllr is right on schedule with bringing us snow.
The winds in Olympic Valley today were close to white out for a good portion of the day, significant wind drifting in the base area that I saw today, I can only imagine what they were like on the upper mountain. Hopefully when the sun comes out for a spell tomorrow we’ll have a better idea but given the abundance of caution the management has exhibited in the past I couldn’t begin to make any guesses. Enjoy the skiing and riding everybody, it’s about to get really good!!!
Skiing at Olympic Valley was quite good with some real powder turns to be had off the main trail. And coverage was quote good as I didn’t hit anything. And basically no one there too. Skied up to the chair on all 5 runs I took. At around 1:30 the Resort Chair closed for the day. While waiting for the shuttle someone said it was due to an in-bound slide. The blog said due to wind and poor visibility. Enough snow had fallen in the Alpine parking to make getting out a real chore. 19 inches at my house in Alpine so far.