Not An Ideal Day

Another splitting spring system dropped another round of snow overnight at Alpine Meadows. It was not the storm you were dreaming about. Due to the splitting nature, the snowfall was about half of what was forecast, and the density of the snow was not what we hoped due to higher snow levels and high winds. So yes, there was 8 inches of new snow on the ground this morning in some areas of the mountain. It was not a powder day – it was more of a chowder day.

For me, at this time of the year, an ideal day is a spring corn day. The conditions are relatively consistent and predictable. Visibility is generally better. You can repeat the same runs over and over without them becoming complete trash. Contrast that with the “good powder” we had last weekend. Sure it was awesome for about 4 runs a day before it got cooked by the sun and shaped into a million moguls by powder hungry crowds. Ultimately these spring powder or chowder days turn in to shorter ski days, unless you are really into chunder and moguls. But in the coming three days, more snow will fall. It may be good, it may not.

I skied many areas of the mountain this morning, with the exception of Summit, where visibility was questionable. The people that did ski it will spend some time telling us all how great it was, and I am okay with that. Most of the reports I heard said it was good wind buff, but that it got rutted up pretty quickly. Over toward Palisades and Pygmy Forest, the new snow was not deep enough to cover the large moguls in those zones.

Lower on the mountain on Roundhouse, Scott and Sherwood, the conditions were variable. We found nothing that felt like powder skiing. It was more like skiing in wet sand. In some areas of the mountain it actually felt bottomless, while in others you were still hitting the frozen chunder below the new snow. It was probably a better day to be on a surfy snowboard rather than skis. I spent my time alternating runs of soft groomers and checking out different off piste options. By 12:30 I was done looking and ready to move on from skiing for the day, dreaming of just 8 days ago when we could lap perfect corn all day at Sherwood.

More Snow For The Weekend

Part two of this storm is still on tap for the weekend. A Winter Storm Warning has been issued from Friday evening through Sunday evening. As of now, snow levels are supposed to be lower, running 3500-4500 feet. If that pans out, we should see better snow than what we saw today. But then today was also supposed to be better. The models are pretty scattered and inconsistent. Here’s the comparison.

I keep nudging you toward the GEFS Ensemble, as that has been the best model this season, where the conservative forecast is the safer bet. There is no one huge heavy dump of snow expected as we have seen, but the heaviest snowfall is expected for Friday night into Saturday. The forecast discussion and the WSW do not mention 100 mph ridge gusts, but they did not yesterday and they reached 105mph overnight. There’s likely to be some lift closures due to winds. Checking out the GIF below, which shows the 500mb height anomaly, note that it’s a pretty strong low.

The other thing to note is that we get some ridging early next week that will offer a brief return to spring. As of now, another low moves into a drier slot over Nevada later in the week. That brings the potential for cold north winds and inside sliders. In the longer term the ridge builds back in toward the second week of April.

One Month To Go At Alpine Meadows?

It’s March 28th today, and according to people in the know, April 28th is currently set as closing day at Alpine Meadows. That has not been officially announced yet and the caution has been given that it could be extended. A post on Facebook today indicates that there has been 145 inches of snowfall so far in March, which is double the 53 year average for March. That would seem like a reasonable justification to push the closing date farther into May. But if we’re not going to get a longer season, I would love to see one final month of spring skiing. Weak storms through April and no spring skiing would be a sad ending to the season.