New Terrain Opens

Hello Skiers and Boarders,

I am happy to report that this morning clouds covered the sky and winds were blowing. This was the situation during the morning hours. It even snowed on us as we stood at the top of Summit Chair. I counted the flakes that dropped for a dark sky above. My count added up to less than 100 flakes, but they were white.

This afternoon the sky is once again blue, however winds are picking up over the ridge top. Indications are that winds were blowing between 46 and 59 miles per hour at 2:15pm this afternoon. Perhaps this is foretelling a weather event in our future.

There were a number of rather excited skiers and snow boarders on the hill early this morning. The excitement was over new terrain that opened today, and other terrain that appeared to be in preparation for opening in the very near future. The new terrain that excited us the most was the opening of the road that returns skiers to the base of Summit Chair from Sandy’s Corner. Snowmaking had been going on for a few days in an effort to cover this return road.  As of today we do not have to return to the base of Summit by skiing as fast as we can around the base of Roundhouse, or down Tiegel, in an effort to gain enough speed to climb back to the Summit base area without walking, taking our skiers off and walking, or sidestepping.

There was an area at the mid-station of TLC that had been a short, very firm, mogul field in need of grooming. This was at the top of Weasel Run just as one started down to the skiers left of the slope. It was not new terrain, but more friendly terrain after it has been groomed.

We have been anxiously awaiting the opening of Charity. The snowmaking crew has been making snow on this run for a few days. Today, two snowcats were working away moving snow and packing down the slope making it ready for grooming, and hopefully opening to the public. Upon opening this can will count as new terrain.

My report from the morning hours that I skied is that we enjoyed a few runs of soft groomed snow that easily held an edge. We skied from the top of Summit through a narrowly groomed path in Alpine Bowl and then down through Red Trail (Dance Floor) and/or Weasel Run. The light was flat so trekking out into the firm mogul fields was not for everyone, but I am often tempted to try the snow off piste. I actually enjoyed the moguls in Alpine Bowl, but one had to ski them very slowly peering over each in search of bushes or rocks on the backside. There were more rocks than I had seen two days ago, and plenty of shaved ice to trick me up, but I enjoyed the challenge. Other areas were icier and offered more sliding opportunities then turning options. It might have gotten better in the afternoon when the lighting was sharper and the peaks and troughs of the moguls were more visible, but in the morning hours the flat light turned peak and troughs into smooth highways.

Now for the good news ( fingers crossed) snow is on the way. How much and when? See the information provided to me below.

From our weatherman Mark Fisher:

This is from the Sacramento office of NOAA. It’s the first actual Winter Storm Warning of the season. Technically, Alpine Meadows is not on the west slope, but since the ski area sits right at the crest, it’s pretty close. Historically, Alpine Meadows weather better fits the west slope forecast.

…WINTER STORM WARNING IN EFFECT FROM 7 PM PST THIS EVENING TO
10 PM PST WEDNESDAY ABOVE 4000 FEET…

* WHAT…Heavy snow expected. Total snow accumulations of up to 10
to 19 inches above 4000 feet. Local accumulations of up to 24
inches over the highest peaks. Winds gusting as high as 45 mph.

* WHERE…Western Plumas County/Lassen Park and West Slope
Northern Sierra Nevada above 4000 feet.

The Reno office has only issued a Winter Weather Advisory:

…WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM 10 PM TUESDAY TO 1 AM PST
THURSDAY FOR THE TAHOE BASIN ABOVE 7000 FEET…

* WHAT…Snow. Snow accumulations 2 to 8 inches for the Tahoe Basin
and eastern Alpine County above 7000 feet, with localized heavier
amounts up to 10 inches. Winds gusting as high as 80 mph along the
Sierra crest and up to 30 mph in the Basin.

* WHERE…Greater Lake Tahoe Area.

This forecast is probably more applicable to Tahoe City, Truckee and other areas significantly past the crest

Enjoy your day,
Andy

Editors Notes:  The official operations blog posted today indicates that Charity will be open tomorrow. Also open tomorrow will be Alpine Bowl Chair (ABC). That would have been great to have last week, but better late than never. Tomorrow looks to be the first real powder stampede of the year. Unfortunately, my doc that I need to see was only available tomorrow morning at 8:45am. Scheduling that appointment allowed me to forecast the 3rd of January as a powder day three weeks ago. Funny how that works…there will be other pow days. Hopefully they will offer more off piste terrain that is not currently icy moguls. Be safe out there tomorrow morning! – Mark