The Top Ten Of 2022

Tonight we close another year at UnofficialAlpine.com. We published 156 posts and site traffic has grown 74% over last year. That’s a pretty great statistic given that Palisades Tahoe started competing official blogs covering operations and conditions this year. While those blogs offer some good information, they don’t offer everything that Andy and I try to offer to our readers, people that love everything about Alpine Meadows.

I took a dive into our statistics this week to discover our most read blog posts of 2022. There’s some posts that were a sure bet, but also a few surprises. Without any further ado, here’s our top ten, beginning with #1.

#1 – The Legacy Of Alpine Meadows: The 1982 Avalanche

This year marked the 40th anniversary of the 1982 Alpine Meadows avalanche, which left seven people dead. Public interest in the event was bolstered this year by the release of Buried, a movie that tells the story of the event through the eyes of people that lived through the event, mostly as rescuers. Read the post here.

#2 – Retro Gear Review: 2004-ish Atomic Beta Ride R:ex

The popularity of this blog post baffles me. It turns up in our search terms nearly every day. It was posted just over 9 years ago, during the very dry December of 2013. I bought an old pair of Atomics at the Tahoe Sports Hub just to bash around in the very poor ski conditions that month. Weirdly, people still want to know about the Atomic Beta Rides.

#3 – Ribbon Cutting

Andy wrote this post earlier this month on the day of the grand opening festivities for the Base To Base Gondola. While neither Andy or I are huge fans of the B2B Gondola, we’re in the minority. People came to read all about the new shiny boxes and the celebration. They may have been disappointed about the lack of photos of those musical performers that nobody in our generation knows. See the post here.

#4 – Thoughts On The Base To Base Gondola

I shared a bunch of thoughts about the gondola. This is the post where I was forced to admit that most people are really excited about the new shiny boxes. Just for the record, since the grand opening on the 17th of December the gondola has not run on more days than it has run. It sold more passes…mission accomplished.

#5 – Sixty Years Of Progression At Alpine Meadows

I wrote this post last summer, somewhat as a eulogy for Alpine Meadows, after Alterra opted to refer to Alpine Meadows as that new moniker that many of us just don’t use. The heart and soul of many people went in to creating this place we love. While a lot of new patrons and casual Ikon visitors don’t care about the history of Alpine Meadows, many readers of this blog do care. Thanks to the many that have appreciated the effort it took to pull it together.

#6 – Reflections On The 21-22 Season

I wrote this piece at the end of the last ski season. There was so much to love about last season: fantastic mountain operations and staff that cared about customers – but we also lost the identity of Alpine Meadows and saw one of the earliest mountain closures in Alpine Meadows history.

#7 and #8 – Photo Updates on Summer Building Projects

Andy and I accidentally made two posts on the same day showing photos of the progress of construction projects, including the gondola and base area reconfiguration. Again the interest level in the gondola project has been very high thanks to a huge marketing effort by Alterra. People are excited about it. I can’t get there. Here’s the link to Andy’s post and here’s the link to my post.

#9 – Change

On the surface, this post was just about a change of venue for a day of skiing at Mount Rose. The second half of the post reflects on the changing identity of Alpine Meadows. It still hurts to see that “Alpine Lodge” sign every morning.

#10 – Announcing The California Sky Suites

I’m glad this post made the Top Ten list. This satirical piece on the gondola started bouncing around in my head in the days before April 1st. Delaying it until mid-summer gave me a bit more time to refine some of the ideas. What’s not funny is that a lack of employee housing still contributes to an employee shortage everywhere in Tahoe.

Happy New Years to all of our readers, old and new. Thank you for enjoying our work.