Yes, the weather will continue to confuse all of us over the next few days. After two snowy days last weekend, followed by warm spring days to begin this week, things are already in the process of flipping again. Temperatures reached into the 40’s and 50’s over the last two days, resulting in some very sticky ski conditions. The high temperature for Thursday and Friday are forecast at 21° for Alpine Meadows, hence the prediction for no stickiness for tomorrow.
There was an overnight inversion in the Sierra. When the winds are calm, cold air sinks. Air temperatures at the base area barely reached freezing this morning. They never reached freezing on the upper mountain. That resulted in heavy fog over the lake and valley regions of the Sierra. The snow at the top of the mountain started the day soft and creamy, even slightly sticky right from the first run. Things firmed up a bit toward the bottom of the mountain, but not much.
Skiers and riders at Alpine Meadows may have been confused by the safety message delivered by the Palisadaes Tahoe app this morning. I would guess that they are referring to the other side of the shiny boxes. The base area at KT and Resort Chair sit about 650 feet lower than the base area of Alpine Meadows, and at the bottom of the valley. I have indeed had some very slippery runs down the KT Saddle on spring mornings, as well the Lakeview Run and Knob Hill off of Resort Chair. But at Alpine Meadows, finding a firm slope was actually a challenge today.
Minimalistic Grooming Again 🥲
Yes, it is mid-week, but it is also a fairly busy week, being the week after Easter, a popular spring break time for schools. The slopes are busier than normal, and a high percentage of those visitors are families with kids that are likely taking their second ski vacation of the season. It’s a week where more groomed slopes are better than less groomed slopes, because that is what most people wanted today. Unfortunately it was super limited today.
Above are four areas that were not groomed overnight, and each offer a good alternative to the much busier main routes off of Summit, Roundhouse, Sherwood and Lakeview. Ladies Slalom and Twilight Zone had at least been groomed yesterday, so they were consolidated and somewhat skiable after softening a tad. Sunspot and Robin hood have not been touched since the snowfall of last weekend. Currently they are a rutted manky mess and basically not skiable…at least not fun in any way. It’s definitely a bad look for visitors that are experiencing Alpine Meadows for the first time, and a poor experience for those of us that are here everyday. Yes…lack of personnel…age old story. It’s a problem that Palisades Tahoe needs to solve.
I tried pretty hard to find something to ski today that was not a groomed slope and I failed in my mission. Every time I dropped in to one of my favorite zones, it was instant “stick ‘n sink” into the manky snow. Generally you just couldn’t get enough speed to think about making any sort of fun turns. Steeper slopes may have been a solution, but who wants to commit to High Yellow Gully only to find out someone spilled a bottle of white glue overnight? Ultimately, the only good “off piste” skiing was on the previously groomed Twilight Zone and Ladies Slalom. The weight of the snowcats provides the consolidation of the snowpack to drive out most of the free water, making those runs less sticky.
Like the title says, sticky snow will not be a problem tomorrow. A lack of grooming would be a very bad thing tomorrow, as very firm conditions are expected.
Temperatures Be Dropping, But Not Much Snow
That’s the primary headline for the next two or three days. Temperatures tomorrow will run about 20° colder than today and 30° colder than yesterday. All of that winter gear you put away will need to come back out unless you enjoy frostbite. Winds will only escalate the cold issues. Windchills are expected to be around zero tomorrow during operating hours.
As I mentioned on Monday, the path the low is taking is straight out of the north, mostly over land. So the snowfall potential is not all that great. By Friday we could see up to 8 inches of snow, but it’s likely to arrive in small amounts over time. As an example only an inch or two is expected overnight. That one or two inches will be an important buffer from the icy conditions after the warmer day today. Hopefully it happens. The forecast continues to offer an inch or two tomorrow during the day, the same tomorrow night and again Friday. A secondary low may bring a small amount of snow over the weekend before we warm up again and get another mank cycle next week.
Some are confused as the Winter Weather Advisory does mention the possibility of 18-24 inches of snow over the highest terrain of the Sierra. That only seems likely south of Highway 50, as the low moves more directly through the Southern Sierra. Mammoth will likely see much more from this storm.
See you out there tomorrow…if you’re feeling brave.
Yes, it was quite busy on the groomed runs today and scary at times. It reminded me of early this season with minimal snow, and the WRODS…White Ribbons of Death(s), for runs. So coming off of Summit or Roundhouse and following the main runs back to the lifts, Werner’s, Charity, Dance Floor (see, I know the new names), all lead to the Summit/Roundhouse gauntlet below Sandy’s Corner. My question is, why isn’t Kangaroo Ridge groomed to give the skiers and riders a bit of room in that area. Instead, even though Kangaroo chair is closed, it’s main run and Nick’s get a beautiful grooming every night, with no groomed access to them. Can’t that “groomer time” be diverted to Kangaroo Ridge and maybe Ladies Slalom?
Oh man, I forgot to mention that Kangaroo was groomed again, even though the lift was not running. Word is they have to groom it every day in case someone has a race training emergency. Sometimes you can traverse over to Kangaroo and ski that but today it would have been a 20 minute traverse through mush and mank to get there.
I was late to the party this morning and found myself skiing solo. My expectations were very low, as I assumed the warm overnight temperatures reported on Palisades website indicated conditions would be sloppy and sticky. There were plenty of places on the mountain that almost stopped me in my tracks. Generally, these were low angle portions of trails. Being the optimist that I am, I hunted for places that might not be sloppy and manky. D8 skied just fine, as did Werners Schuss. Mountain View did not hold me back. Alpine Bowl, on the Palisades side of the run, and Terry’s Return let me slide on the surface. On the other hand, the main Sherwood Run was pretty sticky. Expert Shortcut was not really sticky, but it was deep and sloppy allowing me to practice skiing in difficult conditions. I followed a very young person down Expert Shortcut who was in a wedge. She was not having any issue with the snow. I was not out long, but I still enjoyed my time on the mountain and the experience of overcoming tricky conditions. I am not looking for to a frozen mountain if temperatures drop overnight without laying down at least 6 inches of new snow.
Sick of stick…ice baby ice!