Dust on Crust

Before 11am this morning the slopes were for those that do not mind hanging out on groomed slopes. Off- piste was for those that loved to be tortured. Temperatures dropped dramatically over night causing everything that had been soft yesterday to freeze solid as a rock. The heavens actually dropped a very small amount of snow on top of the frozen surface, dust on crust, allowing the lowest angle terrain to be soft when making fresh turns upon it. Anything else just made noise as we slid on the smooth underlying surface (groomed slopes only).

I do not like to be tortured, but I also tire of groomed slopes. Thus, I always seem to want to try slopes that are often best left alone. This morning my skis took me over God’s Knob from the top of Roundhouse Chair. This is a short slope, but it can loosen fillings in short order. A light layer of snow allowed for soft quick turns between jarring rubble from yesterdays skier tracks. It was not memorable, nor was the tour through Rolls and Knolls. For those on the slick firm groomed surface such as Yellow and Ladies Slalom, along with a few other trails, conditions were acceptable. There were a number of comments from members of the group I was skiing with that indicated more than one trail was scored between Zero and One.

Toward the end of the first session, before some went in for a snack, we skied Wolverine. The short area between the top of Summit Chair and Wolverine Saddle was deemed the best run of the day at that time because it was soft and enjoyable for about 6 turns. The sky varied from gray, with some low clouds creating poor visibility, to periods of sunshine lighting up the terrain.

The air did warm during the morning hours, slowly melting the surface. After 11 we rode over to Sherwood where we found too many people on the main groomed run, but softer spring snow. I think it would have been okay off-piste by noon or soon after. We skied off-piste on Power Line where it was acceptable. Sherwood Face was between softening rubble and spring snow. We slid over to Lakeview where we found Outer Limits almost soft, but still more ice rink than cotton candy.

The word we heard today was that Lakeview was running for it’s last day of the season. So we rode Lakeview and waved goodbye until next year. Bobby’s was still mostly slick, but Ridge Run skied more quietly.

There was a dedication this morning in the breezeway. A new plaque was attached to the wall adjacent to a number of others. This one was to honor Nick Badami, who purchased Alpine Meadows, a stand alone ski area, in 1970. In 1975 he purchased Park City Ski Corporation.

Nick helped make Alpine Meadows what it is today, a very special place on this earth. He is known for bringing snowmaking to western ski areas, making it possible to open resorts even during low snow years.

He passed on in 2008, but those of us who have been around Alpine Meadows have fond memories of him. He joins:

• Luggi Foeger who headed the ski school at Alpine Meadows for many years. He has a long heritage in the ski industry teaching and racing among many other talents.
• Byron Nishkian, who was a pioneer in the development of Alpine Meadows and very involved within the ski industry. His engineering firm did the design work for chair lifts at many local ski areas.
• John Reily, who promoted and developed Alpine Meadows.
• Ray Johnson who managed Alpine Meadows for a number of years, and I believe designed and re-constructed the main lodge.
• Larry Metcalf, also involved in the development of Alpine Meadows.

Enjoy your day,
Andy