Merry Christmas

Hello Skiers,

I expected a huge, Saturday before Christmas, crowd this morning. I got a late start so I took advantage of the Free Mountaineer Shuttle Service now available in Alpine Meadows. After a short wait I was picked up and taken to the front of the lodge where I was pleasantly surprised to see a sparsely filled parking lot. During my day of skiing, that did not last that long, lift lines were minimal. As soon as I made my exit from the locker room, I knew I was over dressed. The sun was warm and shining out of a lovely blue sky. It was perfect weather for the day before Christmas. The good news is that it was not well below freezing, howling winds, and impassable roads. The not so good news for skiers is that it was 50 degrees when I walked out of the locker room.

I had not been out on the hill for a few days as I was in Las Vegas at a friends wedding. What I found this morning was firm, but good winter snow on the shaded north facing slopes, and soft spring-like conditions on the sun filled south facing slopes. Although there are some large moguls in D7 the conditions are good. The same was true of Werner’s Schuss, Charity, and Yellow Trail. On the other side of the spectrum were soft conditions on God’s Knob and Ladies Slalom. Bobby’s Run which faces west boasted spring conditions as did South Face off the Sherwood Chair. Sherwood Face was not as skied out as South Face, but it was still in spring-like condition. My guess is that Sun Bowl and Big Bend Bowl found by hiking over the High Traverse were very skiable in the late morning and early afternoon.

Sherwood Face with Spring-Like Conditions on the day before Christmas

It is Christmas, or the night before Christmas to be exact, and there were sightings of Santa on the mountain. Lucky for myself and Trevor, who I was skiing with me this morning, we hitched a ride up TLC with Santa and Ms. Claus.

On a sad note, we are remembering Bill Foster who died in an avalanche on Dec. 24, 2012. Bill Foster was a veteran patroller who was caught in an avalanche trigger by explosives in the area of South Face off the Sherwood Chair Lift. Bill was 53 years old and had been patrolling at Alpine Meadows for 28 years at the time of his death. We all miss you Bill.

Spring Skiing on South Face today

To all our friends and ski buddies, please have a happy, warm, and safe Christmas Holiday.

Merry Christmas,

Andy