We all know those people. They are the ones that are always waiting for the “good snow” before they commit to skiing. Consequently, they usually ski one or two weekends a season. After seeing every local newscaster in the Northern California region talk about all of the new snow, and getting 42 emails about “8+ feet of snow”, they said “This is the weekend!” AirBnB reservations √ Parking reservations √ Dig out the skis you have been using since the last Bush administration √ This is “that” weekend, the one with the “good snow”. They are all here, and that’s okay. I still went skiing, along with several of my friends that share the addiction to sliding on snow. We also know how to share the mountain.
It’s was a challenging day for the mountain yesterday, due to an extensive power outage. Today’s challenge was getting people onto the mountain, and operating with a slew of people on the hill and two significant lifts off the schedule. A strong southerly wind was there to start the day, and it increased as the day went on. Winds gusted to over 80 mph at the crest, at a direction that is not favorable for the Alpine Bowl Chair. Over on Scott Ridge, winds gusting, often over 40 mph, kept the Scott lift closed for the day. I have often said that the mountain can absorb a lot of people, matching the capacity of the parking lot pretty well. With Scott and ABC of the schedule, there were some longer lines to endure if you wanted to ski or ride today.
The good side of that wind blowing today was that the shiny boxes were on windhold on the Alpine Meadows side. So even though the parking lots were full, and most of the upper mountain lifts were on hold by lunch, on the other side, not much of the overflow crowd found their way to the Alpine Meadows side. They couldn’t ride the shiny boxes, nor did they have a parking reservation to drive on over. That left the shuttle bus as the only option. Word on the street was the line got pretty long for the shuttle to Alpine Meadows.
The skiing was actually quite good, especially if you understood how to follow the blowing snow. It was a good day to stay off the groomed slopes, spending more time skiing and less time standing in line. Those lines often extended beyond the corrals, becoming a little chaotic, especially at the Summit corral. In hindsight, although the Summit line looked longer, it may have been shorter overall. Their were frequent stops on Roundhouse and TLC due to frequent misloads and unloads.
Due to the winds, there was a return of some great windbuff skiing today on many slopes. I did make one lap over at Sherwood just to check out the corn harvest. It’s getting close and was soft today. But Sherwood often has some of the biggest lines, so it was one and done there. Lakeview was meh, as were the Scott groomers, accessed via Lakeview.
Tomorrow looks like it will be very similar to today, with the greatest chance for snow not arriving until after the mountain closes. It will be partly cloudy, progressing to mostly cloudy with a slight chance of snow showers. The winds will still be an issue, with some lifts on hold probable. As of now, looking at the availability of parking reservations, both free and paid are still sold out for tomorrow, so not many people have opted out for Sunday just yet. My guess is after an extensive day of standing in line today, the dropout rate will increase tonight…maybe. I will be there tomorrow either way.
There are two more overlapping little shortwaves threatening snow through Tuesday evening. It’s possible they will suffer the same fate as today’s wave, which turned into just about nothing. The most recent model run shows a chance of 3-6 inches of snow by Tuesday. The GIF below shows that 13 model runs ago, the models saw as much as three feet of snow from these storms, then the models came back to their senses and have pulled way back.
Once those are done, we are again looking at a string of spring weather for a week or so past Tuesday. I’ve made it pretty clear here that I am a big fan of spring snow, so I am not complaining. See you out there tomorrow. Time to spring forward to night…
That’s one cool cloud photo. Perhaps it’s time for the UA Photo Archive were we can download a jpeg for a fee?
Sent!
You nailed it in the first paragraph. Great job making the best of a crowded day.
Great first paragraph. The crowds were intense and somewhat baffling. As someone who had a season pass at AM through the seventies and part of the eighties, but now owns a home in OV, and skis 70/30, I find it amusing that Alpine locals assume that everyone skiing at the OV side is consumed with using the b2b to infiltrate AM amusing. The majority of my OV friends have never been in it, and the only reason they ever ski AM is when kids have comps there. And my AM friends haven’t heard of KT. Seems like the only ones using it are tourists, and me
LOL us Alpine people sneak over to the other side to ski over there too when it’s not busy. I’m not afraid to admit that.
I don’t like crowds and recognize people want to enjoy the same thing I do. No need to be bitter.
Which is what this article says…even though you know it’s going to be extra busy, go skiing. Modify your routine to avoid traffic and longer lines. Enjoy time in lines with friends rather than worrying about the singles line.