That big storm we expected for Saturday arrived as expected this morning and it is delivering in a big way. Unfortunately that meant that opportunities for skiing and riding were pretty limited at Alpine Meadows. If you are a frequent reader here, you have come to know about these TLC storm days, where you get to decide whether it’s better to brave the longer lines and crowded slopes of Hot Weasel or to slow your roll and enjoy some Meadow powder. Due to high winds and high avalanche danger, neither the Roundhouse or Summit lifts opened today.
Daniel Swain noted that the incoming storm was fairly atypical for a winter storm, carrying a lot of energy in the form of high winds, heavy downpours and lightening strikes in the Bay Area. Further discussion on Xitter, revealed that a rare tornado warning had been issued for San Francisco. This was a sign that things were going to get chaotic in the Sierra by the time the lifts spun, if any did.
The winds were absolutely hammering for much of the day, with peak winds at 159 mph at Ward Peak (the top of Alpine Meadows). Down below at the base area, the winds were calm, until they weren’t. Every once in a while there would be a big blow that would knock over small children and geriatric adults. Here’s the running record of windspeeds at the top of Summit this morning:
The visibility at 9:00am was also a challenge. You could see the bottom terminals of Roundhouse and Summit, but not much else beyond the second tower. The word I heard is that mountain ops people were pulled off the upper mountain this morning due to the combination of high winds, poor visibility and high avalanche danger. We did see a cat loaded with patrollers headed up the hill later in the morning when visibility improved.
Above is the avalanche danger rating reported by the Sierra Avalanche Center this morning. Those ratings do not generally apply to ski areas where the snow gets packed by ski traffic and gets regular control by Ski Patrol via bombing and Gazex. That said, there are some factors that would lead to significant danger this morning. We have a lot of terrain that has not been skied in, a lot of terrain that has been very skied in, becoming icy plates. We have had a lot of new snow falling over the last 36 hours and with those intense ridge gusts, there is going to be a lot of wind loading of some slopes. The possibility of dangerous snow slabs avalanches is in the minds of patrollers. This would be a time to remember patroller Bill Foster (#23), who lost his life during avalanche control on South Face in December of 2012. I am absolutely okay with patrol choosing caution over my need to ski powder.
According to the marketing department posts on social media, over two feet of snow has fallen on the upper mountains. Another one to two feet is expected by the end of this storm cycle on Monday. That puts us well into range of 3-5 feet I had in the forecast in my last report on Thursday. You couldn’t see it, but there was a lot of noise from the Ratnik snow guns firing around the Scott Ridge zone this morning. There still is a lot of work to be done in the loading area. I would not expect Scott for tomorrow, but it should be soon. The weather is relatively calm for tomorrow so Roundhouse and Summit should be a go. The only storm will be the race from the parking lot through the breezeway to get to the Summit corral.
There’s one more little weaker system that should bring a little refresh on Monday, then a dry and calm period heading into the holiday period. There’s a possibility of a couple of weak systems later in the month, but nothing to really get excited about. I am excited about the potential for terrain expansion at Alpine Meadows. Hopefully we will get enough out of this set of storms to get the whole mountain open.
On a closing note, word on the street is that Kate Zaloga will be making her return to Alpine Meadows very soon. If you don’t know Kate, read about her here. Welcome back Kate!
As of 2:00 pm, it’s only the Big Carpet still rolling at Alpine Meadows…see you out there tomorrow.
Back to straight, non-merge lift lines on Summit? Doubt it.
A guy can hope!!!
Kate, you are a legend. So happy you are back. Dana
After skiing Thurs/ Fri missed most of the i80 mayhem and got back to the coast,but a tornado hit just north of Santa Cruz this PM ( in Scott’s Valley)
Wow just watched the videos. Quite a bit of chaos from even a weak tornado.
Kate!!!!!!
Thank you for remembering my dear friend Bill
Good Read.Thank you…
But did Kate secure the genuine purple magic wand?
23 Foster never forgotten… Miss your smiling face Bill