Let’s just say that just about everybody seemed to be caught off guard this morning. What was supposed to be a gentle little bit of snow this morning turned into a wild morning snow squall that rolled through between 7am and 11am. Along with it came some very gusty winds that meant zero visibility conditions as the mountain opened. The snow had come in fast and furious. Alpine Meadows Road was not plowed this morning and neither was the parking lot.
Still, much to everyone’s surprise, Roundhouse and TLC did spin and load right at 9am. Visibility was terrible as it was just puking snow and blowing all over. It really helped to have a good knowledge of the mountain. By ten o’clock it let up a bit in intensity and visibility returned every once in a while. There was about a foot of Colorado light snow by that time and all of it was skiing super consistently. That allowed for high speed pow turns that resulted in over the head blower snow in places where that does not normally happen…Rock Garden…Chicken Leg.
Then the dreaded tweet was issued, announcing that Palisades was closed for the day. Suddenly in between wind gusts, you could hear the rumble of Sprinter vans and the low hum of Teslas coming up Alpine Meadows roads, racing from the other side. With the road and parking lot not plowed, the scene was chaotic. Friends reported being stuck on the road for an hour while the spinouts were cleared. These are people that apparently don’t know that the road into Alpine Meadows is a double black diamond run compared to Olympic Valley Road’s green circle.
By 11am, many of those people had figured out how to get to the snow when the breezeway is closed for snow removal. The sun started making some guest appearances and the new visitors were finally able to see the powder they had been skiing right by on their previous run. More popular runs started developing moguls with the increased traffic.
As we thought about taking an early lunch break, yet another tweet was issued. It said something to the effect of “Just kidding…we’re opening KT22 at 1 pm”. We took that as our cue to get down the road before the masses had extricated their Sprinter vans and Teslas from their parking spaces and started the race back to their home mountain.
There’s days where I almost think “this two mountain thing is not so bad”…almost. Today was not one of those days. It’s not capitalism that made America great, it was competition. Mountain consolidation sucks.
We may get one more little shot of winter tomorrow morning before the wetter rain and rainy snow arrive Thursday evening. Six to ten inches is forecast for tomorrow at Alpine Meadows during the daytime hours. It’s probably not going to have the Fabulous Fluff Factor™ we saw today. Here’s the snow level forecast that shows snow levels rising through the day tomorrow:
For what it’s worth, I am taking the day off tomorrow to take care of business. It would have been my 100th day of the season on the Palisades Tahoe app. I’ll fall behind just a bit on the Leaderboard.
Beyond tomorrow, snow levels rise to about the top of the mountain before they drop back down sometime Friday night or Saturday. That’s still what the models are showing. They also show a lot of snow over the weekend and into next week. They also show high temperatures around 35 to 37 degrees. That results in cream cheese conditions. Cream cheese is fine in moderation, but more than an inch or two and it wants to end your season.
Hidden subtext: Stay home this weekend. A trip to Tahoe will likely not be worth it.
Several readers have pointed out over the last week that conditions are somewhat paralleling 1982 right now, the year of the big avalanche at Alpine Meadows. That has got to be on the forefront of mountain ops and ski patrol’s minds this week, especially as we near the 41st anniversary of the avalanche. Hopefully, avalanche control knowledge and methodology has improved to the point where disaster can be averted. That said, rain and heavy snow on top of the lighter snow is a risky combination. Please be understanding of that should there be mountain closures in the coming storm cycle.
Be safe out there.
Agreed……..”Mountain consolidation sucks”. Before the joining of the mountains, the JFP or “joy factor percentile” of skiing Alpine was 97%, and now after the combo, it’s 72%….that’s a fact. And a trend. I read it on the interwebs. So many reasons. Today was just another example.
First of all, “Hidden subtext: Stay home this weekend. A trip to Tahoe will likely not be worth it” is like air: It’s there and it’s good for you, but no one sees it.
I’ve ridden chairs with CHP’s and CalTrans folks, and here’s what I preach to them:
You all can end the circus on Hwy 80 and sometimes 50 by doing the following: Do away with R1. It’s a joke. Chain up or go home. When it’s an R2 event, M/S don’t count for anything. 4WD with “REAL” snow tires and all else, including AWD, chain up. DMV has an online test for drivers thinking of driving during snow events. There are 20 questions (I would be overjoyed to lay them out) and you pass all 20 or you play golf. If you pass, you get a hologram on your license you can flash to the folks in rain slickers and on you go. Otherwise, play golf.
You’re welcome.
Now back up to continue shoveling my roof
Peace
The line at Sherwood looked like Saturday lines but So Face and Our Father were worth the waits.
Was back on Sherwood before the wind shut it down. Between huge wind gusts that almost blew us over, the turns were deep, smooth and perfect
They did blow my wife over!
Drive up access rd early was kinda dicey, truck in front of us had it’s co – pilot’s torso half way out the window barking instructions to the driver when to go straight and when to turn-
IKON pass on sale, does that include Spring 2023 access?
April 10 go date