The word of the day is wind! We have had so many calm days this year that I had forgotten what it is like to be skiing and riding lifts in a stiff wind. Winds at the base of Alpine were blowing between 11 and 28 miles per hour at 12:45pm. On the ridge top the winds were howling between 76 and 102 mile per hour. I had to take care to keep my skis lifted up above the horizontal position riding up both Roundhouse and Treeline Cirque. If I failed to keep my skis in the correct position, gusts of wind attempted to flip me off the chair. This was a good reminder to make sure the safety bar is down. High winds and warm temperatures were tied together today. At 12:45pm the temperature at the base of Alpine was 45 degrees and 35 degrees at the ridge top.
There seemed to be more cars in the parking lot today compared to the last few days, but the lot remains only partially full. I thought lines at the base of the few lifts that are running would be longer today, but they really were not long at all. The fact that the gondola was not running today due to the high winds might have kept some skiers and boarders off the Alpine slopes. I looked at the lifts open at Squaw, and found a total of 10 were in operation. All the open lifts were at the base area. The upper mountain appeared to be closed, although the Funitel was running. However, the wait times noted on the Palisades app, when I checked at about 1pm, indicated 0 to 2 minute lines. Maybe everyone was having lunch or shopping in the village. I do believe there were some special events going on in the Village today including an offer to ski with Jonny Moseley.
Moderate to light lines on the Roundhouse Lift in the late morning
There is a very special event scheduled for today at Alpine. A snowshoe tour followed by a Bavarian Dinner at the Chalet. I understand it is not sold out and that there are some openings remaining for tonights festivities. Meet at the Last Chance Bar in the main lodge and then enjoy a guided snowshoe tour to the Chalet. A four course dinner follows your snowshoe hike. I have spoken to people who have done this in the past, and they indicated it was very enjoyable experience.
When the slopes get crowded and the winds blow strongly, it is time for a break in the Chalet
I thought the snow surface on Red Trail was a little more firm this morning than it was yesterday. Of course it changes during the day as skiers and snowboarders shave off the topping and create piles of sugar with slick spots in between. I actually thought the snow in Weasel was a little better this morning. It seemed softer, but the sugar piles built up fairly deep by 11am..
There were a good number of ski team members on the hill today. I understand some of them were supposed to be in Squaw, but the gondola being on wind hold, had them starting out on the Alpine slopes. I did see a bus load of team members heading over to Squaw before lunch. Perhaps they went over for an afternoon of training.
Enjoy your day,
Andy
Yes, windy indeed today. Following up on your post from the other day… mid-morning I found myself boarding Roundhouse on chair #1. The lift operator asked us to wait so he could shovel the red loading line. I asked if that was the reason for the gap between chairs. The response was no. Apparently the cable is spliced together between the first and last chairs and that is why they don’t have a chair in that section. Learning something new each day, and thankful for the opportunity to ski laps on Not Weasel.
Even without the B2B open today, they found their way to Alpine Meadows. I had some great laps on Red Trail where the wind was filling in the wind buff. I had some not so great runs where the wind was blowing over 6 year olds. It definitely was a bar down kind of day.