It probably would be a misnomer to call today a powder day. Yes, there was new snow, but not as much as we might have wanted to completely cover stuff up, nor was it the light and dry fun powder you may have been craving after two completely dry weeks. But it is the kind of snow we need right now to build a base and apparently there is a lot more headed this way over the next 4 days .
Yesterday Andy reported that it was a day for fools to explore places on the mountain that didn’t necessarily ski so well. While the slopes were firm and icy, with some areas peppered with icy moguls and rocks – the obstacles were in plain sight. Today all of that was covered by a thin layer of 3-4 inches of snow, with visibility sometimes approaching zero due to blowing snow. Today was a day to ski with care and avoid those areas where hazards lurked underneath that snow. While you may have looked at us from the chairlift yesterday and said “Look at those fools!”, you just did not realize that you were watching two guys on a recon mission.
Obviously, the fresh snow over groomed slopes was the safest bet for the morning hours. Weasel got a grooming refresh on the graveyard shift before opening, so the new snow coating there was thin with a nice base underneath. Charity and Dance Floor had been groomed earlier, leaving more dense powder over the firmer surface below. In no case was there enough new snow to cover the deeper moguls spread throughout the mountain. That said, having skied many of these areas yesterday, I picked out some nice off piste terrain off of Roundhouse where there were some bottomless turns followed by the inevitable ice mogul jolt.
Summit started the day on a wind hold, but opened within the first hour. I can’t give a first hand report, because I couldn’t really imagine what I would want to ski up top. The Belmont sensor at Palisades 8200′ only showed about 3.5 inches of new snow versus the 2.7 inches shown at the bottom of Roundhouse at 6900′. That is not enough to cover the icy moguls we have been skiing all week. Two gents discussing it at Treats said “worst skiing of my life”, while another two bros in the breezeway claimed it was the best powder day ever.
The mountain got progressively more busy as the day went on, with the KCRA Effect in full swing. A surprising number of SUVs with skis were inbound on Highway 89 just after noon, given that it’s only Thursday. We have got Tahoe Live happening next door and I am seeing that there is no more free parking on that side for Saturday and Sunday. At this time (2:30 Thursday), free parking is still available at Alpine Meadows.
How Much Will It Snow?
We are now basically within the window where the models are quite accurate. What I am seeing today is models that are well aligned, both run to run and model to model consistency. Those models went big. We have three lows moving through the area through Monday. Here’s the total snowfall shown by the NAM (one of the best short range models) for total snowfall through midday Sunday. Yeah it shows 3-5 feet of snow, and we need it.
Timing that all out is difficult. There is no for sure way to know when is the best time to either drive to Tahoe, or to plan to leave Tahoe. Here’s the point forecast for Alpine Meadows for that time period:
You can bet on two things. It’s going to be a fustercluck on Donner Summit for much of this time period. There’s some time periods where winds are going to put Summit on hold or where visibility will prevent you from seeing what’s up and what’s down.
Snow levels are going to be below base level most of this time, but not super low. It will not be champagne powder.
Here’s the key thing to keep in mind. On the Alpine Meadows side, it’s basically Summit, Roundhouse and TLC this week. It’s probably unfair at this time to expect any additional terrain to open before early next week. If this much new snow falls, it will take mountain ops and patrol significant amounts of time to do snow safety, build ramps and roads and get signs and safety equipment in place. Typically Scott would be the next lift to open. That snow was being made at the Scott load zone and in East Creek (the Scott return zone) solidifies that it’s most likely. TLC to the top? Maybe… Don’t arrive thinking the whole mountain will suddenly open at once. The good news is that the terrain that is open will become much more skiable. It just will get skied out pretty quickly with less room to spread people out.
Looking out further in the future, this is a temporary aberration in the dry pattern. Once these three lows move through this weekend, the storm door looks to slam shut again. Hopefully we get the upper end of the forecast to actually land on the ground. If that happens, it’s possible you could see Scott, Sherwood and Lakeview on the schedule before we enter the core of the Christmas holiday period. Fingers crossed.
See you out there…
AM and Tahoe generally have the luck of the latitude so far this year. Looks like beginning not far to the south has been skunked this month.
We skied Summit mid morning and most of the afternoon. It wasn’t epic, but there were good turns (including powder) to be had. It was better than the lower mountain IMHO. We explored between Tower 19 and Alpine Bowl, top of Terry’s and D7 to lower Wolverine. No doubt the vis was poor at the opening bell but once the snow and wind subsided it was fine.
Strong work!
Jackknifed big rig late afternoon on I 80 westbound closed it and extended my day trip from Santa Cruz today,where kitesurfing wind has been as scarce as new snow up here. It was fun in alot of places over the hill today,but kids sprung up everywhere out of nowhere after 1: 00 PM.