Wind Hold

Hello Skiers and Snowboarders,

The word of the day is “wind.” Although it was not as bad as I expected at the top of Summit Chair at nine o’clock this morning, the winds have been increasing all afternoon. As of this hour, 2pm, all lifts with the exception of Roundhouse, and the enclosed Big Carpet are on wind hold. The anemometer at the top of Summit is evidently not working, therefore actual wind speeds at the top of the mountain are not available online. The Palisade Crest weather report, on there app, shows winds exceeding 100 mph. The report, however, also says that “ crest snow conditions not reported”. I am not sure what that means, but something is amiss with the weather reporting at both resorts.

I am not sure what is dropping from the sky on the hill at this point in the afternoon, but I can tell you Hwy. 89 at the base of the Alpine Meadows Rd. is wet. It is not white. It is raining along the Truckee River. The Alpine Meadows side of the Palisades app. shows snow at the lodge, rain at 8000 ft. and partly cloudy at the crest. Confusing at best.

The best news of the day for me was that the crowds of people I expected to be in line at the ski lifts this morning were not to be seen. There were plenty of people on the hill, but lines were basically non-existent. I should say that they were non-existent, during the time that most lifts were turning. One by one lifts were put on wind hold. When I left the ski area at noon, there was a line increasing in size at Roundhouse, as many lifts were no longer operating.

In my opinion, the skiing was pretty good during the morning hours. It was snowing lightly with low clouds, making the light flat, but the few inches of new snow that had fallen overnight made the surface soft. Roundhouse and Summit opened a few minutes early. This allowed those first in line to have fresh tracks on the groomed surfaces of Dance Floor and Charity. If you could discern where a mogul’s head was located in the flat light, then you could turn in the trough where soft snow had accumulated to some degree. If you were having difficulty seeing the moguls in the flat light, then you might not have had such a good time. Dropping into a trough and shooting up the side of a mogul that you did not see and dropping back down into next trough can wreak havoc with a person’s back. We did our best to avoid moguls and other bumps on the mountain. Seeking soft, relatively smooth slopes, was my goal today. I tried to ski in, or close to trees, to increase visibility.

Skiing between trees on Peril Ridge, Rolls and Knolls, God’s Knob, met most of my conditions for the day. The lower portion of Standard Run off Scott Chair was very nice with soft turns and small moguls that were visible. The upper portion of Standard Run is very bony and should be avoided, or skied with extreme care. Bobby’s Run was groomed with a relatively soft topping. We made a number of trips over God’s Knob taking advantage of a smooth surface in which we could make fresh tracks in a thin layer of new snow.

I enjoyed skiing through the trees to the right of REDACTED where fresh snow was waiting. Just remember not to pass the closed signs and drop into REDACTED (it is not open). By the way, although we use the name REDACTED, or REDACTED, for an area accessed by Roundhouse Chair, or from higher up the mountain, it has a name that was given to the area by ski patrol many years ago. The official name, I was told, is Larry’s Lunge. The area was once used by ski patrol for beacon training.

I thought the snow in the Peril Ridge area was very good especially since I was able to ski through the trees. On the other side of the ridge between Sunspot and Alpine Bowl we were able to enjoy turns in new snow. I did not ride Alpine Bowl Chair today, but I was told that Pygmy Forest, and areas below Our Father, were sweet.

I noted a good number of people taking breaks in lodge areas to dry off, or warm up, or snag a beer.

The Chalet was pretty packed later in the morning.  It was more packed than this photo indicates..

I am hoping the storm is not over, and that we will wake to a new layer of white in the morning.

Enjoy your day,
Andy

Note: I want to correct a couple of mistakes I made a few days ago. First, Gary Murphy’s wife is Kathy Murphy not Cathy Murphy. Her name is spelled with a “K” not a “C”. Second, on Thursday I said that the Squaw Valley side of the mountain was shut down for the day other than for a couple of lifts. I was incorrect, the mountain was mostly closed until 10:45 or so. Thank you Paul for pointing that out to me. I try to be accurate with out daily reports, but sometimes I make mistakes.