Note: You may have seen I have been in “anti-hype” mode recently. In posting pictures of perfect powder and talking about great skiing, all we do it contribute to the overcrowding situation at our favorite resort. Today was one of those days that was amazing. Tomorrow will not be as amazing. Also, there are no “secret stashes” of powder that the average skier will find for next weekend. Alpine Meadows was pretty busy today, given that some people had a bonus day added to their weekend and local schools had a snow day. There will be some powder tomorrow, but keep your expectations real.
You don’t want to know how good it was at Alpine Meadows today. I could use the kitschy catchphrase “all time” to describe it, but instead I will tell you that I think I had my “lifetime best” run down Gentian Gully this morning. That definitely made up for the 11 powder runs I made on Meadow yesterday “noodling around” with Andy. It wasn’t the deepest day ever, but it was very deep and very light. But it wasn’t so deep that that you floundered in the less steep pitches. There were face shots a plenty and a healthy case of “powder belly” by the time we reached Subway, as I was sans powder skirt. What made that run so magical? We did not see one other person top to bottom, even when we stopped two different times to take photos. I could have gone home after that one run and my day would have been complete.
Sometimes a run is so good, you can’t go back and do it again, for fear it will not be as good the second time and you only want the good memories. On the second lap of Scott, the Chute had been hammered and the traffic to Gentian looked like the Highway 89 exit off of 80 on a Saturday morning. So we skipped it and headed to Standard, which still offered perfect powder turns.
Here’s a gallery of photos from today. Click on any one to see them full size:
And so went the day. Because it was relatively busy, the low hanging fruit went quickly. But we found plenty of fresh powder turns over most of the mountain. Most of these are trade secrets that most of our readers prefer that we do not share. Sometime around noon, the next wave of snow moved in and visibility became a challenge.
Not everything skied great. Avalanche control work in the morning did produce some slides, and those areas did not ski well today. I made the mistake of taking a lap down Counterweight (No Longer A) Gully and found a lot of that heavier slide debris pretty much top to bottom. Skiable, but not great. Similar slides were also noted off of High Yellow Face and Peter’s Peril. Yes, those Gazex exploders do work.
I have no idea how Summit skied today. The line was too long for my tastes at opening, and then the fog and snow settled in later in the day.
There were some lifts off the schedule today: Lakeview, ABC and Kangaroo. I had a quick chat with Mountain Manager Jeff Goldstone about that at lunch. They just have not been able to keep up with these big systems that keep coming back, over and over. We’ve posted pictures of both ABC and Lakeview in their buried state; then they were dug out, only to be buried again. I am super happy that everything else was ready at the opening bell. That gives people choices and encourages them to spread out. That makes everything last longer. Great job team, you are rad.
Challenging Weather Ahead?
We are not done with snow yet. At this minute, none of the upcoming storms will look like the last two monsters. From now through Thursday, no days are snow free. This is good. Smaller shots of continuous new powder are probably easier for your average skier and rider to handle. They also make it easier for mountain operations staff and people that live in snow country. Somewhere between 8 to 12 inches of snow is in the forecast each day.
Friday is where things may get interesting. Snow levels may go up higher than we want to see for Friday. As of today, that prediction is 7700 feet. As of today, the automated point forecast suggest a change back to snow for the weekend. Still, I would not expect a return to Colorado powder conditions for the weekend. If we get back to snow, it will be more of your standard Sierra cement. That’s not as fun to ski and presents some avalanche challenges, as heavy snow on top of light snow is not a stable condition.
The bigger challenge is the total precipitation being output by the ensemble models over the last two days. Here’s the afternoon GEFS for total precipitation through the third week of March. That light orange zone indicates 16-20 inches of precipitation possible. The source of that would be multiple atmospheric rivers, which the models currently predict as aiming right at Tahoe. If we fall toward the southern end of the jet, we likely see that as rain. If we end up on the northern side we see that as snow. Here’s the quick math: 20 inches of precipitation X 10 (usual snow to rain ratio) = 200 inches of snow. Rain or snow in that amount would be catastrophic for California and Nevada. You can stop with the platitude “We need the moisture” right now.
So rain dances and wishes for more powder days are probably not needed at the moment. The possibility of a couple of big AR events bears watching…
Skiing Gentian Gully this morning was a very special treat. Standing at the top looking down at light virgin powder without having to rush to get fresh tracks is a slice of heaven. Taking my time turning between trees with light snow hitting my knees and occasionally my face in a quiet environment created a very special moment. How lucky we were.