Weekend Two Of The 2023 Alpine Meadows Summer Session Is Now Complete

The second weekend of the 2023 Alpine Meadows Summer Session is now complete, and it was much better than many people hoped for. The weather forecast looked dismal, with Saturday and Sunday both showing heavy rain in the forecast. During the time that lifts were spinning, that did not materialize. Today, it may even have been too sunny, making ski conditions pretty sticky by 11am. Looking at the webcams from home at 12:50pm, there is no line at either Summit or Roundhouse, even though the lots were nearly full again. So it got sticky.

I know “Spring Skiing Capital” and all, but it is my duty to re-educate you that the month of June really is summer. I know, Mrs. Frances taught you in third grade that summer starts with the summer solstice, which happens to be the longest day of the year. Meteorologists see it differently, splitting the months into four neater divisions that actually make a lot more sense. Mrs. Frances probably was not a meteorologist. Here’s a handy graphic that you can use to help you out:

So as far as summer skiing goes, it’s pretty phenomenal. Not convinced? Reese caught this photo of Casey Cane in the D Chutes this morning.

There was plenty of good stuff like that over the last three days. None of that matters, as Alpine Meadows will once again change a whole lot over the next four days, and skiing next weekend will look different that it did this weekend. You could even notice those changes day to day over this weekend. Keeping the lower mountain afloat will take another round of significant snow management to build up the ramp areas at TLC, Roundhouse and Summit. I watched that process going on last Wednesday and Thursday on the webcams.

Where does the snow come from to keep the base area going? Snow farming. Last week, grooming machines stripped as much snow as possible from Kangaroo and stockpiled it near the race shack. This week, a similar campaign was held, stripping as much snow as possible from the Meadow and Scott area and bringing it back to a stockpile near TLC. Just looking, those stockpiles should keep things going next weekend. Further down the line, snow would need to be pushed down from higher up the mountain. It’s not just the base area that melts out, the area at the top Roundhouse is getting rather thin too. Thanks to all of the mountain ops people that are continuing to work to make this summer ski session possible.

What To Expect For Next Weekend?

UPDATED TUESDAY: As of today, it looks like we are going to see the threat of thundershowers abate by Wednesday or Thursday of this week. The good news is that means more sun. The bad news it that snow will get stickier quicker, plus the rate of snow melt will increase.

• Yet another cutoff low is expected to float down the coast and be off the Southern California coast by next Friday. This is the setup that keeps pumping monsoon-like moisture into the Sierra Nevada. You may not have noticed it at the ski area, but parts of the Sierra are seeing epic thunderstorms with heavy downpours, lightning and hail this month. It’s been enough to cause localized flooding and mudflows in some areas. Hail last week decimated our newly recovering garden at home. So expect that there will still be ongoing possibilities for thunderstorms next weekend. Fortunately all of the storms so far have been wet enough to dampen most of the fire potential.

• By next weekend, off piste terrain below the top of Roundhouse is going to be very limited. I put in about 25 laps on Ladies Slalom this weekend, avoiding the congestion on the groomed runs. By next weekend, I would expect we will probably lose Ladies Slalom, Yellow, Gunners Knob, and Rolls and Knolls. Being north facing, Sympathy Face will likely survive. The Face and Waterfall also may not make it to next weekend either. Skiing off of Roundhouse will be mostly on groomed slopes from here on out. Higher on the mountain, I expect that just about everything up top will hold on, with the exceptions being Solar Flare and Tower 19.

• If the demand for skiing and riding continues to be strong, all routes back to Summit and Roundhouse are going to feel a lot more crowded as options dwindle. A friend mentioned this weekend that they were noticing a lot of out of state license plates in the parking lots. I took the time to look today and I concur. Ikon tourism is real, and people from all over are coming to use their Ikon pass at Alpine Meadows, and Mammoth for the rare summer skiing opportunity. I heard this frequently this weekend: “here today and Mammoth tomorrow”, or they did Mammoth yesterday before coming to Alpine Meadows today. It’s not like the old days, where ski areas had to beg people to come skiing late season.

I’ve got some bike riding plans this week and a notification for jury duty. Hopefully it will be more of the former and not the latter. See you Friday.