The monsoon continued this morning as we headed out for Day 73 of the Alpine Meadows ski season. As a limited number of lifts rolled at 9am, the winds at Ward Peak were gusting to 90mph, slightly less that the overnight 112 mph gusts. Relative to yesterday, it was a complete ghost town at the ski area. As I took the photo below at 8:45 on a Sunday morning, there was only one human out there, and zero skis in the racks ready for a day of skiing.
We loaded onto Hotter Wheels with the intention of heading to Sherwood, but alas the lift was only open to the mid-station. That would have required a slog across Scott Meadow and then a trip over the mess that is currently Ray’s Rut, with its approximately 17 different traverse lines. Plans for Sherwood were abandoned and we instead took advantage of the perfect conditions on Weasel run. The heavy rains since yesterday created a dense but very edge-able snow surface that allowed for big arcing turns at a high rate of speed with the empty slopes. There is no fear of finding any icy slick spots out there after all of this rain.
Truth be told, the skiing was actually really fun today, with the exception of the wetness. I would go so far to say it was actually a bit better than yesterday, where the fresh wet snow quickly turned into scattered piles of concrete on the slopes. I tested a few turns along the lower part of Hidden Knolls and quickly said “Nope” and made a u-turn back to the groomed terrain.
Did we mention the winds? The mid-mountain winds were gusting to near 50mph this morning, which allowed the rain to be more challenging than usual. I prepped this morning and applied fresh Hestra wax to my gloves, then baked it in with some heat. I paid extra attention to keeping the cuffs fully covered by my jacket to prevent them from wicking moisture inward. I decided to forgo a neck buff, preventing water from wicking to my inner layers. Both of these techniques proved worthwhile today.
Still there were problems. By the fourth lap, I felt a rivulet of water running into my belly button as I exited the chair. How it got there is not a complete mystery. On every lift ride, every fold of my outerwear collected pools of water, which seemed to have worked its way through the zipper of my shell. That superior goggle ventilation created by the partnership of my ski helmet and googles kept me fog free, but once again channeled in enough rain water to create small pools of water inside of my goggles by lap 5.
Where Was Everyone Today?
Yesterday was surprisingly busy on the mountain. When I left, Lot Four was filling almost to Chalet Road, with more cars streaming up the road. I am guessing it comes down to that idea that people had scheduled that “one weekend” in Tahoe and were committed by nonrefundable reservations or promises made to families. They showed up yesterday hopeful that if the mountain reported a few inches of new snow, then it was all going to be fine.
Today was an entirely different story. When I left, there were just a handful of cars in Lot Three, and most of the traffic on the road was headed downhill. I guess people learned that skiing in the rain is not quite as fun as they thought. It’s also likely that their clothing, gloves and goggles were still soaked from yesterday. They probably don’t have a half dozen extra pairs of gloves and goggles laying around like many of us do.
When Does The Snowy Part Get Here?
Monday Update: The forecast below went to 💩 when the jet stream wandered to the north overnight. That resulted in very icy conditions today and a delay to the potential snowfall. Ice ice baby!
There’s always the fear that we go through all of this rainy part of an AR event and never get the benefit of the the snowy part. We have seen a lot of rain over the last 24 hours. The western parts of the Tahoe Region are reporting between 2 and 5 inches of rain over the last 24 hours. We have yet to see a trend downward in snow levels. Fortunately the snow pack is holding up fairly well above 6500 feet. The rain will continue through today.
The automated snowfall forecast tool at the Reno NOAA site has finally been fixed and here is what it is currently showing:
The base area at Alpine Meadows is about 6900′ versus the 7200′ for Donner Summit. Looking at Monday, the snow level is going to be close to base level at opening and then start to drop during the day. No huge totals will result for Monday. As of now, things get much more progressive on Tuesday with the potential for good snow accumulations. That should continue into Wednesday. While a third storm into Friday is no longer in the models, we should see wrap around snow showers into Friday as the low moves slowly away.
The GIF Below shows the last dozen runs of the GEFS, all showing that about three feet of snow by Saturday seems to be the consensus. Yes we need more, but this storm cycle should qualify as the biggest of the season yet.
The low does not get all that far. The low hangs out over the Rockies and the Baja Ridge returns to the coast. Looking at the models now, we stay in that pattern through next week. What that looks like for us is a lot of cold north winds, which will preserve us in a more winter state. Beyond that it looks relatively dry again. It is what it is.
Thinking about it being Day 73 of the ski season at Palisades and Alpine Meadows, we are probably at the midpoint of the season, weather and conditions permitting. In two days, I will hit the next tier of “75 days” which is the point where the only useful reward is ever given, a poke bowl lunch for two. The t-shirts for 100 days are not that big of a deal. The “legendary rewards” for this season are still not announced and that just does not surprise me.
See you out there tomorrow, hopefully for a “not quite as wet” day.
As the song says “Skiing in the rain, I’m just skiing in the rain. What a wonderful feeling, to be skiing in the rain”.
No ice! Way to think positive!