It’s back to winter again this week. There was some short lived winter-like ski conditions this morning, a fog shrouded mountain…and upper mountain parking lots that were loosely filled. That powder fever just never ends, and with Alpine Meadows being the only lift served skiing available in Northern California today, people showed up…on a Wednesday. (Correction: Heavenly was open today as well) I am willing to lay odds that today was probably the busiest we will see through Sunday due to that powder fever.
It’s been a pretty hectic time for me, with a lot of travel, since I skied last on Sunday. Even though I write a ski blog, and have mentioned it several times last week, I completely forgot about the 8am start today, instead arriving fashionably late at 8:40. The app showed a wait time of 5-10 minutes at Summit in the first half hour, and the top of the mountain was fogged in anywhere above Rock Garden. But the word was that the off piste skiing was pretty good, especially relative to the scratchy and firm groomed terrain. That turned out to be true.
My best guess is that about an inch of new snow fell overnight, and about 4 inches the previous night. So with a choice of skiing groomed terrain with an inch of new snow, or the ungroomed terrain with 5 inches of new snow, off piste was the rule of the day. It was not the heaviest powder, but it was also not the lightest. Fresh tracks were far better than the chunder left from other tracks. So the key today was to know all of those less traveled paths, which those of us that ski Alpine Meadows everyday are more likely to find. We noticed a lot of people today studying the trail maps on the mountain, on the Roundhouse safety bars, or even on paper.
By 10:30, things were getting really tracked up, and the fog was burning off. The powder was turning to mank quickly. That is the nature of these spring powder sessions…very short lived. Still, it felt great to be back on skis. I am grateful for having the opportunity to go up the mountain on a flying chair today, and then slide back down on my skis with a bunch of friends.
Whether The Weather
We are not done with this mini-blast of winter just yet. Chances of snow showers continue tonight, then another wave moves in tomorrow. The point forecast calls for 2-4 inches of snow tomorrow, heavy at times. Word to the wise, it also calls for a chance of thunder and lightning.
Friday and Saturday also call for a chance of snow showers, but nothing worth driving up from the Bay area. It will not be a powder day. Even though the marketing department will put out a blast about “8 Inches of New Snow!” across the social media channels, it will not be a powder day at any time the rest of this week. There’s just not that much in the forecast, and as soon as it stops snowing, it deteriorates quickly. There was 4 inches of new snow in my backyard this morning and it is completely gone now.
Next week, we could see a warmup. That’s what it looks like now, not a hot spell, just more seasonably like spring.