There were three surprises this morning at Alpine Meadows.
The first was the temperature inversion that made it difficult to know how to dress for morning runs. It was cold at the base and warm at the top for the first few runs. I do not have the exact temperatures for the base nor top of the mountain, but I believe the difference was something like 37 at the top and 17 at the bottom. I dressed lightly this morning because I was so overheated yesterday. Even with the lighter gear, I was pretty warm by 10am.
The second surprise was the lack of people on the hill between 9 and 11. There were no lines on any of the lifts at 9am. This is rather unusual for a Saturday morning. The lines increased somewhat by eleven on TLC and Roundhouse, but the Summit line never spilled out of the entry gate, at least while I was on the mountain. The fact that there were no real lines did not mean slopes, especially the groomed slopes, were not crowded. The lack of groomed slopes, mostly due to early season coverage, overcrowds those slopes that are groomed. This frightens me at times when too many skiers and boarders are just going too fast. Therefore, I try to stay off of the groomed runs as often as possible. Of course, the off-piste runs are filled with moguls that are growing in size daily.
The third surprise was a narrow groomed area in the middle of Alpine Bowl. It appeared that one of the snow-making lines at the edge of Alpine Bowl needed repair and most likely required equipment to be driven to the site. I am sure tracks were left in the snow in Alpine Bowl that needed to be smoothed out ending in a narrow groomed area in the middle of the Bowl.
After a morning of skiing, I headed over to the Palisades Village to listen to the Blues Monsters (one of my favorite local bands) play in the Events Plaza. I was surprised once again when I found very few people gathered around to listen to them. Normally the place is packed with people for this band. Of course, they normally play at this venue in the summer. This concert was part of the Palisades Tahoe 75th anniversary celebration. I did not stay for the blowing of the Alpine Horns, the unveiling of a Forged tribute celebrating Palisades Tahoe’s deep-rooted history and legacy. I think there was also a tree lighting ceremony. The music was great. It was warm in the sun in the plaza. I had my shirt sleeves rolled up. The word is out that the upper mountain will have some skiing available tomorrow.
One last thing for today. I have been wanting to take a photo of the Time Warp sign that is present at the base of the Summit Lift. Ski Patrol has left this reminder of the end of last season when it was cold and firm on April 4, 2024. This makes me smile each time I pass it.
Enjoy your day,
Andy
I’m curious if they’ll try to make snow in Alpine Bowl this year given the lackluster forecast to ensure Summit is Intermediate-friendly by Christmas. It seems like the system has not been used in that area since the mid-2010s drought years. Perhaps the pipes are no longer usable?
Although I am not sure where things are at with the current blowout visible in Alpine Bowl, I have not heard anything else about it. The problem is going to be how long we are stuck with this inversion, where upper mountain temperatures are too warm for snow making.
At 9:00 AM it reported 45 degrees at top of Roundhouse , and 20 degrees at that other base. Highest reading I saw anywhere today was Belmont at 54
On Palisades schedule, they plan to open the top today for the first time this season. This includes Siberia, Gold Coast, Shirley Lake, Washushimi and the Mt Run but not the Funitel.