Roundhouse Opens

Hello Skiers and Boarders,

Heavy ski jackets, or layers of undergarments, were stripped off by a number of people that hit the hill this morning. The air temperature was in the 40’s at the opening bell and has remained in the mid-forties all day. We were surprised this morning when we found snow still being made on Red Trail at 9am. Soon after the guns were turned off, but it was interesting to see snow being made in temperatures near 40 degrees.

My group of friends have been anticipating the opening of Roundhouse for days. This morning our anxiousness ended as the first day of spinning Roundhouse came to fruition. Our high hopes for a trail or two to be added to the limited offerings we have endured since the area opened were dashed when we realized that the only trail open from the top of Roundhouse was the combination of Rock Garden and Upper Weasel One. Alpine Meadows skiers and riders know that this combination of trails leads to the Weasel Run that is accessed via Treeline Cirque Lift. The issue here is that more people are carried up the hill on two lifts instead of one, but they all funnel down onto the same trail. Weasel Run was pretty crowded at times and even a little frightening to watch from the TLC lift.

Our first few trips down from the top of Roundhouse were quite pleasant. The groomed slope offered reasonably soft corduroy in Rock Garden with more firm areas on Upper Weasel One. Weasel itself had a very nice surface of corduroy this morning. Personally, I was anxious to get off the groomed area and hunt for some off piste skiing. Of course, there were CLOSED AREA SIGNS AND ROPES along the edges of the manmade groomed slope. However, I was able to find a thin area of lightly skied snow between the manmade snow and the closed area signs next to Rock Garden. Some of the snow was firm and breakable, but I was able to make a few, very few, turns in untracked soft snow that felt like powder. Three seconds of this put a smile on my face. Perhaps this tells you a lot about the ski season to this point.

The only other off piste skiing we have been doing over the past few days was along the side of Weasel Run where small firm moguls have formed with brush, small tree tops, and a few rocks nicely placed to make picking over and through them a special event.

I am not sure, but someone mentioned that Yellow Chair would be spinning for the first time this year tomorrow. If this is true, then even more skiers and boarders will be funneled on to the Weasel Run making it even more challenging.

I will let Mark discuss the weather that is coming our way. The word on the street is that it will be warm and perhaps not as white as one would wish. Let us channel thoughts up to our spiritual snow gods in hopes that they will hear that we need cooler weather and plenty of white flakes to fall for the holiday season

Enjoy your day,

Andy