The Freeze We Needed…More Snow…And A Non-Answer

We finally got the hard freeze we needed overnight, and that changed everything. It wasn’t such a great thing if you weren’t paying attention to temperatures this morning. The base area began the the day at 26° and the summit area at 20°, after being 14° overnight. That lead to absolutely frigid conditions and very firm conditions for the start of the ski day.

So we took the leisurely approach to things today, rolling into the parking lot at 10:30am, and then skiing right up to the closing bell at 4pm. That’s why this report is slightly later than usual for me. Today was all about knowing where and when to be and what a difference just a small change in aspect can mean when it comes to softening snow.

I did not even bother going to Summit this morning, as the northeast wind was keeping it crisp. After a couple of warmup runs on the sunnier aspects of Roundhouse, we headed directly to Sherwood, once our standard test runs indicated it would be softening. At some point, everything at Sherwood was good today…just some things soften earlier than others. The most important things is that all aspects of Sherwood Face and South Face were consolidated today, and nothing was sticky. It was just a matter of finding those lines that did not get filled with chunder yesterday afternoon.

We picked the perfect time to bail and head to Lakeview, which thankfully was open again today. The corn was absolutely perfect on Outer Limits right away, and other runs as time went on. I was the Chairlift Champion there today, putting in ten runs through the lunch hour. Inner Outer (out of bounds then back to the chair) was dreamy for about four of those runs. It’s easy to get lost there, resulting in a potentially long walk up the road back to Sherwood.

Onward to Scott, again, perfect corn and zero stickies. I really wanted to hit Juniper face, but having skied right through lunch, a quick sandwich at Treats was needed. At about 3pm, we finally made our first trip up Summit. I’m happy to report that Sunspot did eventually soften, offering very fun slush bumps in the last of the afternoon light. As the wind flipped to the southwest, that brought in marine air that quickly formed clouds. Our last couple of runs of the day were quite grey! Contrary to Sunspot, the southern end of the Alpine Bowl groomer did not soften at all today. Did we mention the slush bumps on Yellow? What a great day!

Tomorrow will also start off cold with a solid freeze, just not quite as cold. So delaying your start a bit may not be a bad idea. The opportunities for excellent corn over the next few days is really awesome. Also…being somewhat done with the stickies for awhile is even better.

Snow…Looking More Likely

We’ve been telling you for the last ten days or so that we are not in an endless spring pattern just yet. Another storm moves in around Monday night. Being within the 5 day window, it’s looking a bit more sure. The GFS model has been the champion for this one, at times showing as much as 48 inches of new snow possible. Fortunately that has trended downward to a more reasonable 12 inches. The Canadian model is the naysayer, offering just dust on crust, as does the Euro. So looking at the GEFS ensemble forecast, we get the blended outcome, which currently offers 4-6 inches of new snow through Wednesday.

Looking at the teleconnections, the PNA shows us to be in that same “dirty ridge or weak trough” dilemma for the foreseeable future. The MJO wakes up again and heads into Phase 7 and 8 over the next 10 days. Typically these are the wetter phases in winter. In spring the MJO has less affect on our weather patterns, but nothing is normal about weather this year.

We Get A Non-Answer From The PR Department

Two days ago, my post mentioned the rumors that have been flying regarding the possibilities of paid parking at Alpine Meadows next season. They were not just wild rumors, as the sources are generally credible. Note that I say sources here, not just one. I did get the attention of the Palisades Tahoe PR department, so they sent an email today to set things straight. Here’s a snippet of what that email said:

Palisades Tahoe is currently evaluating all of our options for the 2023/24 Winter Season as it relates to parking and traffic. We are looking at what other resorts have done and what will be most impactful to reduce traffic and be the most positive experience for our guests, employees and community. We are actively researching what makes the most sense as it relates to enhanced bussing, paid parking, reservations system and carpool incentives. We look forward to sharing more as these plans are finalized.

That’s not much of an answer as to what is really going on. But that is the “official not a rumor” explanation of how things might work. I know, you only have 6 more days to renew your Ikon pass at the lowest renewal pricing, and you want to know if you should be buying a full Ikon Pass or the Base Pass. You may also be wondering about renewing your locker or whether or not to put your kids back on ski team or whether or not you should renew your ski lease. Here is a snippet of my response to the above email:

Part of my reasoning for posting any sort of rumor would be to light a fire under management and encourage full disclosure of plans before people renew passes.

The right thing to do would have been to limit Ikon access at PTAM to 5 or 7 days, as has been done at many destinations. Then offer a different PTAM pass for those of us that have not wanted the full IKon experience.

Unfortunately, you’re now getting backed into a corner where paid parking is the only option for traffic reduction. All it will do will be make skiing less affordable and price regular folk out of a place they have skied for years. In the meantime, the roads and lots will still fill with a more affluent crowd that has no trouble paying for parking.