Two Mountains

No, this is not the essay that the title implies. It will not be a study of the differences between Alpine Meadows and Palisades Tahoe. It’s also not the piece I was intending to write today. My plan for the day was to continue to share the passion that I have for skiing, even when conditions are less than ideal – you know “all skiing is good.” Today that was not quite the case, and that is somewhat my fault.

The problem is that the skiing was really fun yesterday, probably too fun for our own good. Sunspot, Tower 19 and Tower 21 were all skiing dreamy creamy, as the sun had really softened things up to the consistency of whipped creamed cheese. But I also noticed the ruts I was leaving behind and the roller balls following me down the hill. Those are a bad omen of what’s to come. Yes, it got warm yesterday, too warm. You know this because every hint of ice was gone from the Alpine Meadows parking lot this morning. Some of those ruts I hit today, I created yesterday.

Here’s the actual numbers from yesterday between 2:00pm and 3:30pm:

Yeah, that is not ideal. Then overnight temperatures dropped to freezing at the snow surface and those ruts and roller balls are well preserved, as in rock hard ice this morning. Areas that were not quite as soft yesterday still had a crispy glaze.

Typically, I’m at Alpine Meadows every morning, ready to tackle some early corduroy, allowing my older body parts a chance to warm up. It’s not long before I am craving the more engaging off piste terrain. Try as I might, there was very little off piste terrain available during the morning hours. I did not say none, it’s just limited. The Pygmy Forest and Palisades zones are great but the moguls are getting bigger each day. The D Chutes and North Peril are good but you’re then committing to moguls the rest of the way down that were awfully firm this morning.

From Roundhouse and Hotter Wheels this morning I checked Yellow, Rolls and Knolls and East Creek, all with teeth jarring results. I found a new helpful alert on my Apple watch over the last few days. I will get a “Loud Environment” warning whenever conditions are particularly scrape-y. It makes me chuckle every time.

Still, all skiing is good, and that brings me back to the theme of “Two Mountains”. It’s a week where you have to decide whether you want to ski those lovely corduroy groomed slopes, or if you want to enjoy off piste terrain away from the crowds.

For maximum corduroy enjoyment: You should be arriving early at the mountain and be waiting in line by 9:00. The best groomed skiing will happen between that time and 11:00 am. Because the groomed terrain is still quite limited, it gets pretty well scraped clean by mid-morning. After that, it’s firm pack and sugar piles. It’s not likely that we will see more grooming until they can pump out some additional snow on Werner’s and Charity. Overnight lows for snowmaking are not ideal this week but may improve next week.

For maximum off piste enjoyment: You should be arriving at the mountain around 12:30 and ski until 2:30. Much more of the mountain will have softened by this time and you have to worry less about whether or not you have met your dental deductibles this year. This time of year, the shadows are pretty deep by 2:30 and terrain can start crisping up again.

So there you have it, two different mountain experiences. You are more than welcome to combine them, taking a long lunch break in between. That’s too long of a lunch for me.

Today was the first day of making parking reservations for the upcoming weekend. It was no trouble at 12 pm and at 5:30pm, there were still free reservations. In other news, Mountaineer services start this weekend.

Whither The Weather

It could be worse. For 15 runs in a row, the GEFS has shown some snow within the 16 day range of the forecast. Some of the other models are also starting to see a disturbance in the force. Right now, it’s not enough to make a huge difference. The afternoon run only shows the potential for a foot. But it’s better than snow melting.

The GIF below shows the 500MB pressure anomaly. The one I showed last week was all reddish brown and even black for the entire run. In this run, we see some weak depressions moving through, indicated by the blue colors. This is a sign that the VRR, or Very Resilient Ridge, is maybe going to give way to bigger storms.

Here’s what that looks like in the PNA index today. Two days ago we saw a lessening of the positive PNA and now we see that decrease happening sooner, with the decrease taking the PNA to at least neutral. You can also see that now more than two of the ensemble members are seeing this change (more red lines in negative).

We are not seeing a big storm yet, but we do seem to be moving, in baby steps, in that direction.

It’s Not Too Late For Giving Tuesday

I’m publishing this post later than I would like but it is still Giving Tuesday. The fact is that all of the causes below deserve your donation every day of the year. Here are some ideas:

• Alpine Avalanche Rescue Foundation – AARF is the non-profit that supports the Alpine Meadows avalanche dogs
• Achieve Tahoe – Provides year-round outdoor recreation activities for people with cognitive, sensory, and physical disabilities
• Sierra Watch – The Keep Tahoe Truckee True movement is dedicated toward making Tahoe work for everyone, not just investment capitalists
• GoFundMe For The Jones Family – We have been highlighting this effort for former patroller Casey Jones and his wife Tina

Myself, I would love to support each and every one of these causes given unlimited funds. Unfortunately, like many, I wonder if I will have health insurance next year or if I will even be able to afford an avocado.