The Memorial Day weekend ski days are now over. From here on out, we transition into the “novelty season”, where Alpine Meadows is only open three days a week. That’s far better than over at the Palisades side, which is now open zero days a week. How will that all play out? First let’s talk about today.
Mercifully, the rain and lightning storms never materialized at Alpine Meadows during operating hours. NOAA was calling for an 80% chance of heavy rain. It probably did that somewhere in Tahoe. The day started with clear blue skies and warm temperatures. I did a token lap on Summit first, because I thought if I suggested going straight to Sherwood at 8am, people would think I am a total nut job. It’s okay if you think that. My goal for the day was to maximize my laps at Sherwood, today being its last day of operation this season.
Tower 19 was pleasantly soft at 8:08am and that gave confidence that Sherwood would be just fine. Although this was the final day for High Traverse, I wanted to not waste any time hiking. I have all summer for that. So directly to Sherwood we went and then proceeded to do 15 laps straight on Chute Zero before Andy, the liftee, broke the news that Sherwood was closing. We had a fine set of slush bumps going there after so many laps there in the last 6 days.
Today was also the last day for The Chalet. The BAP’s were gone, but there was a delicious grilled cheese and $5 Coors Light to prep for some Scott laps. It’s too bad that The Chalet doesn’t always offer such reasonable pricing on food. I might spend more time there if they did. Thanks to Melanie for being there most of the season to prevent starvation.
Here we are on May 29th and Gentian Gully is still skiable. Sure, I’ve mentioned that there were a lot of moguls and debris in there. But after 6 days in a row of putting is several laps there, we developed a pretty good wiggle. You certainly had to know your way around that zone, or risk getting cliffed out or needing to do some bushwhacking to get down. Typically it’s the willows at the bottom of Promised Land and all along Subway that catch you late season. They are still 80% covered this year.
Obviously, I have been super focused on maximizing fun at Sherwood and Scott for the last couple of weeks. Starting next Friday, only Summit, Roundhouse and Hotter Wheels will be open. I am mostly certain that Hotter Wheels will only be to the mid station. I’m sure that I will find some new areas to focus my attention off of Summit or Roundhouse. My memory banks are sort of at a loss here, as I am not certain that I have ever done lift served skiing at Alpine Meadows during the month of June. If I did, I believe that the most likely date was in 1995, but I can’t be certain. I’ve got some vague memory of a promotion that got you a $25 lift ticket if you brought a can of corn. I got my first digital camera in 1994, but don’t seem to have any of those photos anymore.
• We have seen over the month of May that Wednesdays and Thursdays became the busiest days of the week, as the Palisades side was closed, making Alpine Meadows the only Ikon destination in Tahoe. So the upcoming weekends could be busy.
• That said, more people will be finding other things to do during the month of June. The local bike trailheads are now looking more busy than ski area parking lots. Kids will be finishing school, meaning that families will be making other travel plans. The lakes are getting warmer, campgrounds are opening, and beaches are looking inviting. People that still want to ski fall into the category of “novelty skiers” or the diehards.
• The hardcore diehards are already making the move to Mammoth for the month, where more mountain is available, and it’s open 7 days a week. I am no longer in the hardcore diehard category. With 171 days in so far this season, I am not feeling the need to travel.
• There are a number of people showing up that are definitely the novelty skier type, and I have no problem with that. I note here that several local campgrounds are now open, giving visitors the option to have a camp trip and a ski trip all in one vacation. Any veteran of the Mammoth summer season has probably done that, but it’s unusual for Lake Tahoe.
• The massive park buildout at Terry’s Return has continued. I’m curious to see how this plays out. I think it’s a good thing for a certain breed of skier and rider and may attract some visitors. I do have a concern for making sure we still have a good exit from the Palisades zone and preserving access to Medium Yellow, as these offer some of the best late season skiing. I also noted today a massive pile of snow near the water tank at Kangaroo. This used to be the location of a showcase booter that was fun to watch from the Summit line or Sun Deck. We debated whether it was a booter or just snow storage for keeping the runouts alive. It actually could be both.
Looking further ahead, I am definitely more than a bit concerned about the 4th of July weekend being a massive cluster%$#@. People love the idea of skiing on the 4th of July weekend. People love wrapping themselves in anything that looks like an American flag and then skiing down a mountain. The advertising push has been pretty heavy. I heard a fairly well placed rumor this week that there are plans to park out both the Alpine Meadows and Palisades lots, with chartered busses being used to get people from the other side.
Should that be the case, it has the potential to put 10-15k people at Alpine Meadows. According to LiftBlog.com, the combined capacity of Summit, Roundhouse and TLC is 7200 riders an hour, under perfect conditions. Yikes. About two months ago, I set my goal for the season at 183 days, or an even 6 months of skiing. I can get there without skiing that last weekend. Several of my friends have goals that require skiing the weekend of the 4th or doing some trips to Mammoth. I’m glad I don’t have that pressure.
We will have to see how it all pans out. I’m grateful to still be skiing.
This particular period of skiing should be called the Margaret Wertheim period because it was her encouragement that the mountain remained open when so many were closed and there was still good skiing to be had!
I have been searching for any details regarding the can of corn promotion at Alpine Meadows. It was before I had a season pass at Alpine, as I believe we were doing mostly ski club trips to Homewood. I know we were living in Sierra City at the time. My friend called and told me about the can of corn promotion. Finding a couple of cans of corn in Sierra City at the last minute required visiting several neighbors and begging.
I remember that Alpine stayed open until the 4th of July in 1983. That was the winter after the Avalanche and it was a huge one. There was definitely daily skiing through May and a few late spring storms if I remember it right. They were open through June as well but I’m not sure whether it was daily or just on weekends. Sort of think it was daily, but maybe someone else can verify that. This was before the days of corporate ownership so its possible. I still have the blue “I skied Alpine Meadows in July” button. A few were misprinted with skied spelled “skiied”. They became instant collectors items!
Elaine mentioned on our Facebook page that the can of corn promotion happened for several seasons, but did not specify exactly which years. Here’s the July 4th tee from 1983 that I saw in the locker room. I still have a couple from 2011.
Hello, Mark. Thinking about heading to Alpine on 16-17 June. Think there will be enough snow to ski on the blue runs? coming in from Dallas…
Roundhouse should be in operation still and possibly TLC to the mid station
I skied July 4th in 2011. Also nice to see you on the hill Mark. It is fun to go to Alpine and see the old timers who never gave up. They are a bit crusty but really rip. My kind of people who never give up. I will be doing Donner Summit ski areas next year. Spring skiing was more of a thing when it froze at night. It seems that climate change has made it not freeze as much late in the season. I hit 51 days and had a full time job. This is my 45th year skiing Tahoe. Apologies for the number drop but I had to push hard to get over 50 days. Alpine has the best hill in Tahoe. Adding a few more high speed chairs would be nice. Replacing Yellow and Alpine Bowl with one chair with a mid station is smart.
Well, I can answer my own question. Alpine was indeed open midweek in June of 1983. I retrieved my 1983 journal from the back of the closet and found several June entries indicating we skied there on Thursdays and Fridays. Those were my days off. I remember learning to telemark in the late spring slush on practically empty slopes.
That June I was holding down three jobs: night security, scooping ice cream and bartending at banquets…10 hours from Tahoe
Hi fellow Alpine Meadows aficionados. With your indulgence, one more time I’ll mention that state where you wouldn’t think anyone would even ski, where its most prominent ski resort celebrated its 85th year in business with whopping (for there) 399″ of snowfall (normal = 260″), and which, by closing today, May 30, logged its longest season in history.
https://www.snowbowl.ski/thank-you-for-another-epic-season/?utm_source=Mailchimp+&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=22%2F23+Season+Recap&utm_id=22%2F23+Season+Recap
The link shows people who so love to ski, that they were doing it today, even though there appeared to be little to ski. Viva the 2022-23 snow season throughout the west and especially in the Sierras, and here’s to hoping that the forecast upcoming El Niño pattern delivers a another heavy dose of snow and a long ski season in the Sierras and beyond.