It’s another one of those days that was tough to call a powder day. The snow levels ran at about 6000 feet overnight and 6-8 inches of new snow fell at Alpine Meadows overnight. But at the peak of the storm last night, the winds at Summit also topped out around 115 mph. The clouds broke and as the lifts rolled it was a bluebird day with new snow that some will classify as powder and some will insist was cement. It also was a holiday weekend, so it was rather busy. The secret today was to find the zone you liked before the crowds did.
Summit, Scott and Lakeview saw delayed openings this morning as the new snow pack was pretty touchy. There was evidence of a lot of snow movement due to control activity this morning, whether that be explosive charges, Gazex or just simple ski cutting. We saw some good sized runs at Lower Saddle, Peter’s Peril, Art’s Knob, Shuttle Cornice and the gullies of South Face. It’s no wonder that patrollers took some extra time today to make sure they had things right. We certainly appreciate it.
For me, the zone today was Lakeview, which saw just enough wind to buff out the snow, and honestly to reduce its depth a bit to where the density did not matter as much. It also helps that we timed our arrival just right, being able to get in some really fun laps before the line got too long. Fortunately this was the time period where Summit had not yet opened and a lot of people were waiting in line, freeing up terrain on other parts of the mountain.
That said, there was a ton of variability, especially on longer pitches. I kept hearing the same story from several locations: Scoured at the top, perfect buff in the middle, and heavy at the bottom. Outer Limits, South Face and Gentian Gully were all examples of that description.
The groomed slopes were perfect today. Fun and fast for sure, there just weren’t that many. People seeking a groomer day might have been disappointed that the few slopes groomed late on the swing shift were overcrowded, being a holiday weekend. Yesterday, the upper lots did not even fill. Today they were full, as was Deer Park, and they were working on Hidden Valley at 10:16am, according to the tweet from Mountain Ops.
That meant that when the powder was chewed up, it was a matter of finding the lifts that offered the best balance between shorter lines and good cut up snow. Still by 12:30, I called it a day as the number of family visiting this weekend has now increased exponentially. I had to sequester my self upstairs for a quick break to get in a report today. Again, big kudos to Patrol and mountain ops for prepping the mountain for a safe day as quickly as possible today.
Reading Between The Lines
Yes, there is another storm, the “Big One”, that is on tap for tonight and potentially lasting into Wednesday. As I mentioned on Friday, it’s not just a front passing through like we saw last night. This is a low pressure system spinning off the coast that will send waves our way. It never really moves in and brings a ton of cold air with it. You may have noticed that even the marketing department has not used the “powder alert” lately, instead just referring to “new snow”. One piece today just just said “precipitation” is expected this week. Here’s the GIF showing the motion of the low pressure system through Wednesday.
This mornings forecast discussion was in particular alarming as they were seeing snow levels potentially at 7-8K feet overnight. This afternoon things seem a bit more reasonable. Here’s the snow level forecast for the next few days:
The GFS and the GEFS ensemble forecasts are showing the potential for about 36″ of snowfall by Wednesday. The Euro and Canadian models are a bit less optimistic, showing higher snow levels and totals only to about 24″. The Winter Storm Warning seems to encompass both of those possibilities:
…WINTER STORM WARNING NOW IN EFFECT FROM 7 PM THIS EVENING TO 10 AM PST WEDNESDAY… * WHAT…Heavy wet snow. Snow accumulations of 4 to 10 inches at lake level with 2 to 4 feet above 7000 feet. Winds gusting as high as 45 mph in valleys with gusts 100 mph over the ridges. Wave heights up to 4 feet on Lake Tahoe.
Note the wind potential here. It’s almost a certainty that we will see some lifts on windhold on Monday and Tuesday! Looking into the longer range, the GEFS keeps us drier into next weekend with the possibility of more storms as February ends. See you out there tomorrow.
We also thought Lakeview was just right this morning!
I’m in the camp that called it cement. Still fun!
The wind came up later. Made the D chutes amazing. Softened out all the rubble