Shave Ice

The ingredients were all there today for making Hawaiian shave ice. We had exceptionally warm temperatures yesterday followed by very cold temperatures with an easterly wind today. That meant that most off piste terrain was somewhere between “ino” and “weliweli”. The parking lots were full and the that meant that the groomed slopes looked very much like that AI photo I used in Thursday’s post. The groomed slopes quickly turned into shaved ice on a slick icy surface. All that was missing was those fancy little cups and flavored syrups. I was craving some passionfruit and guava flavoring.

Summit began the day on wind hold and that meant the morning line up at Roundhouse was pretty long. We have been teased lately with occasional 8:45 openings during the last couple of weeks. Today would have been a good day for that to happen to start spreading people across the mountain sooner. That was not possible today due to the early ups race training on Dance Floor this morning. Two coaches were hurriedly rolling up fencing at Sandy’s Corner before the masses arrived at the top of Roundhouse.

While the temperatures were brisk, we managed to get in one quick “hot lap” on Roundhouse before we realized just how busy it might get today. Typically that first line of the morning is long, but when you come back for the second lap, the crowds are dispersed. Not the case today. The corral was just as full as we arrived back at the base area. Fortunately we noticed that ABC was rolling before any notifications went out. There we went.

The winds were blowing at 45mph and the temperature was 22°, resulting in a wind chill of only 3°. That was somewhat better than the -5° we saw the other day. The main Alpine Bowl run and Terry’s Return were looking a bit busy so we did the long traverse across the sastrugi to the top of Sunspot, where the corduroy was untouched. We managed a second lap there before the line was spilling out of the ABC corral.

It was a chaotic scene on the groomed slopes today and I found myself often making the choice of skiing really bad off piste terrain rather than survival skiing on the slick ice and sugar piles on the groomed slopes. Chicken Leg…did it. Rolls and Knolls…did it. Robin Hood…did it. Truth be told I did about 2/3 of these runs before bailing to the very edge of the nearest groomer, carefully checking my six o’clock for those wearing sequined onesies with fur trim on rental skis.

We chatted on the chair about why so many people chose to go skiing and riding this weekend. No snow in the forecast and no KCRA effect in play. We settled on next weekend being a blackout period for Base passes being the primary reason people piled on for this weekend.

I called it early and got in a nice dog walk in the afternoon. Live to ski another day.

New Dogs, New Tees

The newest version of the Alpine Avalanche Rescue Foundation, or AARF, tee shirts are now for sale at the top of the Sherwood lift. AARF is the organization that supports the avalanche dog program at Alpine Meadows. Tee shirt sales are one of their primary fundraisers during the season. My wife thinks I probably own about 10 of their tees, as well as a few hats. The new ones are are a nice shade of deep olive green, which some people called grey in a different light. They also sport the new AARF logo, making them different than any other AARF shirt you may own. Shirts cost $25 and payment can be made via cash or Venmo. Word is that new hats are also under consideration. Do it!

Whether There Be Weather

Unless you consider the east winds to be a weather event, there is not much in our future. A low pressure system will continue to hang around the southern California and Baja area over the next seven days. We will continue to see a dry pattern with occasional bouts of stronger east winds. They are expected to taper slightly tomorrow before rebuilding Monday and Tuesday. As of this minute we should see a calmer bit of weather with a more spring like feel. By Wednesday we could see highs near the upper 30’s with good freezes overnight. That may improve off piste skiing in sunnier locations.

I spent 30 minutes this afternoon reviewing all sorts of weather models and reading weather blogs. Unfortunately, most of the weather dweebs are focused on fire weather in Southern California rather than talking about the potential for more snow in Tahoe. Of the approximately 25 models I reviewed, only one or two showed any potential for snow in the next 16 days. That only showed on day 15, way out in Fantasyland. Here I thought ‘Dry January” referred to people giving up alcohol for the month. I need to go pour myself a whisky.

See you out there tomorrow.

Notes: In Hawaiian, it is proper to call it “shave ice” rather than “shaved ice”. Also, there was not an actual shave ice truck at Alpine Meadows, just the magic of AI with a little extra Photoshop. Also, Google translation tools will tell you that “ino” means “bad”; “weliweli” means “hideous”. Summit did open about 11:30.