Hello Skiers,
Rain and thunder were predicted for the morning hours around Lake Tahoe. The good news is that there were no rain drops falling on slopes at Alpine this morning. I did not hear thunder nor did I see any lightening, a good thing when you are sitting on a chairlift. Temperatures began in the low forties and climbed into the mid-fifties in the afternoon.
Skiers and those that snowboard lined up before opening time at the base of Summit, but their numbers were small. This allowed us to make two or three runs on Summit before the line increased to the point that we considered moving over to Roundhouse. More participants arrived as the hours increased from 8am to 9am with additional people arriving by 10am. When the line for Summit spilled beyond the entry gates we decided to remain on Roundhouse. There were clouds overhead, but they allowed sunshine to peek through on occasion .However, most of the time it was gray overhead. Winds were light for the first couple of trips up Summit, but soon they died down leaving the air warm and a little humid.
With reach passing day more and more earth is showing making some trails difficult or impossible to access. Whether or not they are accessible, the areas normally available for hikers, have been closed. Keyhole slopes, Beaver Bowl, Estelle Bowl, and Bernies Bowl are closed for the season. The tops of small trees and rocks are popping up on the non-groomed trails with increasing intensity. Brown snow is the color that has taken over much of the mountainside. Skiing over dirt and fallen tree branches that sit atop the remaining snow fields has become the norm. The surface of slopes that have not been groomed, or well skied, sport suncups. Skiing over suncups can be a pretty rough ride.
Sunspot was groomed and surrounded by brown looking suncups
Although the sky was gray and slopes were not in pristine condition, the skiing was actually still pretty good. The first couple of runs were a little firm, but the surface soon softened into a pleasant spring condition. Moguls of various sizes have grown on most, if not all, off-piste trails.
First run down Alpine Bowl.
Soft large moguls are not always something to avoid. In fact, when they are soft they are easier for me to ski. Personally I like making slow easy turns through a field of large soft moguls. The Face fit the bill this morning, as did Sympathy Face, D6, D7, Peril Ridge, both Palisades, and Medium Yellow. I really enjoyed these trails this morning.
Moguls on Sympathy Face
I did not ski Pete’s Peril, but other did fly through the moguls
Grooming was not perfect last night as the groomed slopes were not perfectly smooth. Small ridges and snowcat tracks were evident. Most likely this was do to the snow conditions at the time the grooming was accomplished. We did ski Alpine Bowl, Sunspot, Wolverine, Werner’s, Charity, Dance Floor, and Yellow testing the groomed areas. All the slopes were more than acceptable with the exception of the number of people on them. In my opinion there have been too many people on the hill, especially on the groomed slopes. I did notice a good number of people playing in the terrain park sliding over metal features and flying off rather large jumps.
Too Many People?
We did return to Summit for a couple of rides before quitting for the day. Although the line looked long it really did not take us very long to get to the chair.
Enjoy your day,
Andy