You may have guessed by now, but just in case you have not wagered a guess, it is snowing in Tahoe. It has been snowing most of the day with winds howling on the ridge tops. This has kept a number of lifts at Alpine Meadows on windhold, or closed for the day, including Summit, Alpine Bowl, Scott, Lakeview, and Yellow. Sherwood, TLC, Kangaroo, and Roundhouse were spinning all day. Visibility was poor, but the skiing was actually pretty good. As falling snow builds up over areas that were frozen underneath the skiing will just get better.
Yellow Trail was vacant of skiers, but the snow over the groomed area was good
We are expecting heavy snow with this next series of storms. Guesses have risen as high as 6 to 7 feet by Wednesday night. I am hoping we do not receive that much snow in such a short time, but we will take, and deal with what we get. Lift operations may be minimal for the next couple of days. Check the weather and the ski area reports before you jump into your car and head to one of them.
Randy caught ski patrol taking an extension pole up to the snow stake measuring plot
It appeared as if many skiers and boarders headed home early this weekend, or spent the day at Palisades taking part in the World Cup festivities, as the parking areas at Alpine were not full this morning.
First ride up Kangaroo for a couple that I do not know
Mark and his wife Ann checking out Kangaroo
Another view looking down at the base of Yellow Chair that was not running today.
I toured the portion of the mountain that was open this morning and found the skiing to be pretty good. Visibility was not good, but if I tried to stay close to trees it increased a little.
I thought the visibility on the Sherwood side of the mountain was slightly better than on the Summit side. A light layer of new snow covered areas that had been groomed the night before making for a nice soft smooth surface. Off-piste varied from dust on crust to nice winter snow.
Powerline was interesting. The underlying snow was not frozen, and there was a layer of new snow filling in hollow areas. The result was the sound of crystals breaking apart as my skies traveled through the surface. Softness underfoot was evident in the Chicken Leg area as well as on the lower slope of Counter Weight Gully. Upper Counter Weight Gully is filled with large moguls that are not so fun to ski when you cannot see them because of the poor visibility.
All in all it was a good morning on the slopes. There is nothing like a nice storm day.
Enjoy your day,
Andy
Powerline isn’t an official run but it is a bit of a nice secret for some of us. It’s sure getting mentioned a lot lately on this blog. Very respectfully, is there any chance of not quite calling as much attention to it?