It was another transitional day at Alpine Meadows as we seemingly went from late January conditions immediately to the types of temperatures we normally see in May. So the conversion of last weeks powder into this weeks corn snow has been unpredictable. If you listen to the scientists tell you about climate change, it’s not so much about warming, it’s about the creation of an environment of extremes. Very warm temperatures and minimal overnight freezes has impacted the corn development cycle.
The end result is that the snow crystals don’t get a chance to grow as large as we would like, and that means the snow can hold a lot more water at the surface. That results in surface tension where the water meets the skis, and that sticky feeling that leads to the chicken head bob maneuver.
So what does that mean for skiing? The groomed slopes are skiing pretty well, as the grooming machines and multitudes of skis and boards have consolidated the snowpack, leaving less room for water. Off piste, the grooming machines don’t consolidate the snow. Skier traffic and overnight freezes usually make consolidation happen. Consequently, much of the off piste snow has become “manky” or rotten, leading to even less skier traffic. It also holds more water. So it would be great to get some good freezes overnight. We should see that Wednesday and Thursday night.
Also, maximum solar radiation and less skier traffic has resulted in sun cup formation, which is something we see more typically in May. Right now they are no big deal, but I prefer seeing them skied off each day, as they will get deeper!
Most everything off of Summit was soft immediately this morning. That’s a good thing as the groomed surfaces were molten corduroy, where the surface melts after it has been groomed. Fortunately that crust was very thin this morning. Sherwood was also ready pretty much immediately. Scott was maybe an hour behind.
By mid-day, there were limited areas that still skied pretty well. Mostly that includes steeper north facing terrain. Good examples would include Medium Yellow, High Yellow Gully, Lower Yellow, and the Palisades zone. The problem is the runouts back to the lifts, all of which were quite sticky by mid-day. If the Alpine Bowl Chair were open, you could avoid those sticky runouts. If the Yellow chair were running, you could avoid those runouts. Hmmm.
The next few days will be slightly cooler with continuing winds. Several lifts and the B2B went on hold this afternoon due to wind. Colder overnight freezes should improve things before we get a big weekend warmup. The models are still advertising a shift to another bout of winter about 8 days out, which is worth watching.
The Rumors Are Flying About Paid Parking For Next Season
It is not a secret at all that too many people wanted to ski at Alpine Meadows and Palisades this season. A number of factors contribute to that: pass sales, STR’s, relentless marketing of the gondumbla, and an amazing winter for Tahoe. That has resulted in major traffic jams and running out of parking capacity during the peak season of mid-December to the end of February. While we all hoped for an announcement of an expansion of ski area offerings for Ikon pass holders, or a limit on Ikon pass sales in the Northern California region, or some other pass solution, none has appeared.
Instead we have heard hints from management that parking reservations and or paid parking would be the solution to our problems. I heard from several sources this week the rumor that paid parking will indeed be coming to Alpine Meadows and Palisades. Specific numbers and other possible details were mentioned this week. What has been said is that all upper mountain lots at Alpine Meadows will be paid parking next season on weekends and holiday periods. The number that has been widely spread is $50 per day. Those same rumors suggest that Deer Park and Hidden Valley will still be the free parking option.
Northstar lost a lawsuit several years ago after implementing a paid parking plan after pass sales for the next season had already begun. I am guessing that free parking at the lower lots gives Alterra a leg to stand on and avoid a similar suit.
Ultimately, Alterra makes these sort of plans for your average family that only visits less than a dozen days a year. But for those that are local and ski many days, or families with kids committed to team programs, this is potentially an expensive setback. Paid parking would be required somewhere around 50 days per season, costing a family another $2500 per year, after paying for passes, team tuition, lockers, equipment, etc. For my family, parking would become the most expensive part of our ski season. Sure, we could just not ski on weekends…if we never wanted to ski with our friends that still work regularly or our family that comes up for a weekend.
It’s plain and simple. Alterra has oversold their capacity, in particular in the Northern California market. Yes, hotels and airlines have done this for years, counting on a small percentage of travelers not showing up. But Alterra has far exceeded that comfortable margin. It’s not okay. There should be some accountability for these mega-pass corporations.
Back in January, I published an in depth article about Alterra needing a third ski area in the Northern California market. That is still true. If they have been unsuccessful in purchasing a mountain, or entering into an operations agreement, they need to work harder on that, meaning offering more cash. It’s the only solution that can make a significant dent into the issue. Read that article again if you need some reminders about other solutions. (TLDR: You cannot run enough busses to make a dent, building a gondola network could take decades)
It’s sad to see that Alterra may instead be using the capacity problem to make a cash grab, increasing profits for their investors. I’m certain we will get gaslighting from the powers that be insist this is the only solution they could think of. What’s more sad is the number of friends today that could talk about nothing today other than ratcheting back to a Base Pass for next season and never again skiing on a weekend or holiday. Alpine Meadows used to be the mountain where locals could come together to enjoy skiing together. Every day it gets closer and closer to being another cog in the corporate machine, just another line in the profit statement.
Hopefully these rumors are not true…but based on the number of people that have shared it…I fear for the worst.
Regarding paid parking, is the objective to price lot of people out of skiing so the roads will be less congested? Skiing is already an expensive sport so let’s make it even more expensive and exclusive. Has there been any word about a season parking pass? Not that I want to pay even more money (oh locker prices have also been increased along with Ikon pass) but maybe that could be solution for the local skier as long as it wasn’t too expensive. My buddy in SLC paid $800 for a season parking pass at Snowbird. At least there they do still have free parking right at the resort.
We’ve solved our problem- skiing Sugar Bowl next year. We’ll really miss Alpine, but not the traffic. It just became unbearable for local folks like us. Paid parking is just the nail in the coffin.
Great post Mark… thanks .
If my memory serves me correctly, Northstar offered free parking at the bottom the year of the lawsuit began .
As you mentioned, it was the bait and switch issue that got them. They (alterra ) could expand the paid parking area up top but eliminating it would cause every pissed off pass holder (that was a member of the bar) to sharpen their teeth, and rightfully so. If it did happen , I would anticipate receiving one of those class action lawsuit post cards in my mail box very quickly . I would gleefully sign it in less than a minute.
It seems that both sugar bowl and Mt Rose are becoming the refuge for local alterra pass holders , I run into them more and more often . None have expressed disappointment or dissatisfaction leaving the place (alterra) behind ….just a sigh of relief and an ear to ear grin.
Fdt .
We have two kids in race teams, locker and full passes. Now we may need to pay to park in addition? This may be the last straw for this family unfortunately. Getting kids to the hill on time for team is hard enough and the expense is out of control.
AM is on public land, under a lease agreement from the USFS under the mission of promoting recreation on our lands. Seems disingenuous and inconsistent with AM’s use permit to me.
Maybe I’m in the minorty on this topic but I mentioned earlier this season that in order to reduce the traffic on the roads people would need a reason to take public transportation or carpool other than for the good of the community. This unfortunately is one of the only ways I can see to reduce the amount of skiiers during busy periods other than adding another ski area. People dont want to take a ski bus when they can park close for free and a third lane on 89 is near impossible to maintain. As for the amount, gotta make it hurt the bank a little in order to stop solo drivers from heading up.. it’s not ideal but I can see why they are doing it. Lets see what they come out with for pricing, location of the paid lots, and timing for this to take place before jumping immediately on the negative points. If it works, I would be happy to park for free and shuttle up to not have 1+ hour drives to Truckee. As for the money grab comments, yea, its a corporation so thats what they do. I also heard that they are outsourcing to a parking company to handle it, so they have to get paid too. Its not the Alpine of the past anymore and thats heartbreaking but times change and so do the things we love.
You should read this post where I did some math on how many busses it would take to make a dent in the traffic problem. It’s just not a plausible solution that works like it does in a smaller more compact setting.
Getting Real About Bussing
Everyone that wants to be politically correct jumps to public transportation as the solution. Mark does a good job with reality check he mentions above. They are oversold plain and simple. ☹️
I’m not trying to be politically correct nor do I disagree with Mark in anyway. The sheer number of buses needed to make a real impact is impossible, but that doesn’t mean that if they run a park and ride it wouldnt help at all. All I’m saying is they are trying to come up with an idea to reduce the traffic, and charging for parking seems like it has already started to do that. Look at the comments, people are saying they wont come anymore or downgrade their pass to not ski on weekends. Its not even final yet and people are backing out. Do I want this to happen? No. Do I like that long time skiiers are being pushed away, no. We love Alpine and noplace else can make us as happy as it has in the past. But this is a new age of Alpine and skiing in general and unfortunately it looks like that comes with corporate takeovers and more luxury SUVs on the roads. I would like nothing more than an answer that works and a 3rd resort in the area may very well be the answer. Homewood would be nice, or Bear valley. We will just have to wait and see how it turns out.
The Ticketmaster response is to raise fees in response to the market pressure? My shocked face.
I really hope someone at Alterra is reading your blog and something is getting through. I doubt it but I still hope. The paid parking thing is obviously a money maker and will do nothing to solve any traffic problems. On top of that many people from the Bay Area barely flinch at $40-$50 parking. They pay that much in the city. It is the locals and the families with kids on ski teams that will be stretched. Their “world class” ski resort is not sustainable in my mind.
The problem is the runouts back to the lifts, all of which were quite sticky by mid-day. If the Alpine Bowl Chair were open, you could avoid those sticky runouts. If the Yellow chair were running, you could avoid those runouts. Hmmm.
Seriously…Hmmm
My thoughts exactly. But today was kinda epic.
Increasing the price of season passes would reduce the traffic problem and it is a much simpler solution. Another solution is increase the price of passes that include weekends. In general, it would be worth it to me to pay more for less congestion on the slopes and on the roads.
What if movie theaters, restaurants and your doctors office operated like this? Oversell tickets, reservations and appointments and then let paid parking be the gatekeeper. Silliness!!!!
This is late stage capitalism: Buy out your comepetion, create demand, let demand outstrip supply, raise prices, increase profits.
It’s worked for lumber, oil, autos and eggs. Imagine if there was still competition between Palisades and Alpine Meadows?
It’s always super frustrating that improving public transit is never seriously considered. I live on the west shore near both the bus line and the shewoood sometimes-shuttle, and I still couldn’t manage to work out a transit itinerary that was convenient for me (nevermind reliable). If we had direct buses that ran every 15 minutes from parking population centers (read: Tahoe Donner and the Lake) to the mountain and transit priority lanes wherever space allowed people might opt not to drive not because they were priced out but because the experience was actually better. Taking your kids to ski team is much less annoying when they take the bus and you stay home.
I’m most interested by the comments from ppl who’ve bailed on Alpine for Sugar Bowl or Mt Rose. Sounds like a practical, if somewhat heartbreaking, solution. I’m also impressed by the core group, including the authors of this post, who stick with Alpine through the thick and thin of late-capitalism abuses. I read this blog mainly because it prompts happy memories of my youth at the mountain (back when Big Poma existed!). However, after what I’ve read here this season, I doubt I’ll ever make it back to beautiful Alpine Meadows, especially if Alterra’s j@ck@$$ bean counters start charging for parking. I recently moved well south of California’s southern border, and when planning the move I was considering Tahoe as the location of our US home, but I’m so glad I didn’t go that route. Instead I bought in Flagstaff AZ, which offers reasonably decent and diverse food options, college town energy, low state income and county property taxes (lower cost of ownership), and an ok little ski resort that sits between 9200 and 11,500’ elevation, and if you hit it right can offer some fast, soft snow. The resort also offers cheap annual passes and FREE parking. Best of all, it is not, and probably never will be, a destination resort, so there should be no corporate thugs busying themselves ruining the skiing so they can profit on destination travelers’ “out of boot experience.” In happier news, followers of Unofficial Alpine probably are aware that 3 years of La Niña just flipped to El Niño (ocean water west of Peru and Ecuador is running about 7-8 degrees above normal), so here’s to another wet winter in 2023-24 in your gorgeous slice of mountainous paradise and throughout the west, hopefully even down to Arizona’s low-latitude mountains.
If they limit season pass sales, people will complain that they are being excluded. If they raise the prices of passes or charge for parking, people will complain that they are being excluded. If they purchase another ski area, people will complain that they are monopolizing the market and it probably wouldn’t affect traffic all that much anyway. The new gondola really helped reduce traffic just like they promised….not! We all knew that was just going to increase traffic.
I think the free bus from parking lots in Truckee or Tahoe, leaving, say every 15 minutes in the AM would be a good idea and you get your pass scanned when you board the bus, so when you renew your pass In the spring you get a discount based on how many days you used the bus. Or perhaps a free voucher for a day locker would be nice. Instead of dropping people off at the clocktower and making them walk in, they should drop off by the locker room/Funitel/ gondola. If they had a bus lane in 89, you could fly past the traffic while taking a nap or reading, Then it would reach the tipping point where people would be willing to leave their cars behind.