Hello Skiers and Boarders,
Visibility this morning was one thousand times better than yesterday. This afternoon the sun is shining from a clear blue sky. It is beautiful. Good visibility is a real plus when the mountain is covered with moguls that are hiding rocks. The parking lot was not overflowing today, but there were plenty of people on the hill. I am guessing there were fewer on the mountain this morning then yesterday.
If a person hunted for a small patch of untracked powder they could find one, but most of the open areas of the resort were touched by someone yesterday.
I thought the snow surface where it had not been groomed was quite nice. Not all of it, but a good percentage of the mountain had a winter feel to it. Icy patches still exist, but there are fewer of them. The groomed runs were topped with soft corduroy for the first few runs.
The line for Summit looked too long for us lazy locals so we walked up to Roundhouse figuring we would get a good groomed run in before the mountain was overloaded. We ended up having to wait a few minutes as there was a malfunction, or some such thing, with the lift. It gave me a minute to clean snow from the chair that had collected overnight. It also allowed me to take a photo of the skiers waiting for the next chair to come around the bullwheel once the lift cranked up again.
Cathy and Gary Murphy plus Kyle and I am not sure the other person Waiting behind us for the lift to start. All long time Alpine skiers.
Word of the day is “Mogul”. The mountain is filled with bumps except where it has been groomed. I remain amazed at the number, and depth, of moguls that can be created in such a short time. A little new snow, 7″ to 9″ over manmade or a thin layer put down by nature, has created a mine field of bumps. Skiing in all these moguls compresses the spine, tires the thighs, and makes me feel out of shape, but they are fun and challenging.
Lower Alpine Bowl with bushes to turn around to get to Terry’s Return
Moguls on Sunspot
Moguls on The Face and everywhere else.
Did anyone take advantage of the bonus offered to Ikon Pass holders today over on the other side of the mountain. With a reservation, pass holders were able to ride Red Dog an hour earlier than normal this morning. They opened at 8am. A “First Tracks” bonus. Evidently, Thursday is pass holder special bonus day. Keep your eyes open for future incredible Palisades Tahoe Ikon extras. I just noted another offering beginning at 2pm at the Rocker in the Village. $2 PBR. The deals just keep coming.
Speaking of reservations I understand all the Free Parking spaces for the coming weekend have been reserved by Alpine Meadows patrons. Are there paid parking spaces available? Assuming no parking is available for the coming weekend it is going to be one jammed packed mountain.
I think everyone had a good time on the hill today. Sunny skies, good snow,
and more terrain slowly opening. I felt like it counted as a real ski day.
Enjoy your day,
Andy
Paid parking is still available at both Alpine and Olympic Valley. I unfortunately paid for one today at Alpine for this upcoming Sunday. I planned my weekend too late and all of the free parking was gone. Looking forward to hopefully some soft turns
For those that may not look at the official Ops blog, or my updates to my post yesterday…wind is going to be a big issue Saturday and potentially Friday. It looks like an east wind over 50 mph could put Summit on hold at some point tomorrow. For Saturday, it looks like lower mountain only at Squaw and almost certainly no Summit or ABC at Alpine Meadows.
So…you might consider alternative activities for the weekend. For Sunday, there is certainly a chance of delayed operations at both mountains. I know people have powder fever, but it’s looking like it could be a bit chaotic.
Big storms good, and we need it badly, but they do come with some consequences.
First weekend that free reservations ran out, but we can pay for reservations? How many spaces are they holding?
Operations blog this morning stated Summit, Roundhouse, and Yellow would start off on hold. Both Summit and and Roundhouse both stopped Simultaneously I notice shortly after opening bell for several minutes. Too many passholders starting day at Alpine instead of spending more $ over the hill? ( Asking for a friend)
It was a grooming hold. Machines still on hill.