From shorts and t-shirts, to sweaters and down jackets, we tried to adjust to a quick change in our weather. Yesterday, people were skiing in t-shirts under very warm sunny skies. Snow conditions were in full spring mode. Overnight temperatures dropped into the teens and the heavens drizzled a little more than a dusting of snow over our thirsty slopes.
Depending on your location on the mountain, snow depths seem to vary from an inch or two to almost three inches. Snow showers and poor visibility continued throughout the day with spattering rays of sun to occasionally brighten the sky. This afternoon, at 3pm, snow was falling at a light, but steady pace along the Truckee River.
This morning, visibility was poor, at least for my old eyes.
There are days when gray clouds hang low over the mountains, making it difficult to identify changes in terrain. A mogul looks flat, as does a wind drift, or a swale. This might not be a real problem for someone who has intimate knowledge of the mountain, but today it did not matter how well you knew the mountain. Today the light was flat and everything looked like smooth soft powder in front of me. Reality was that the smooth flat looking surface was dotted with very hard, icy, moguls and other randomly frozen terrain features created by skiers and snowboarders. This was the situation this morning. It provided a very rough ride for those testing slopes that were not groomed.
We did find some relatively smooth trails with a thin layer of new snow. I enjoyed Red Ridge off Roundhouse for a couple of runs early in the morning. Ladies Slalom was a mixture of firmly groomed snow and softer snow. I did not go over to Sherwood, but friends did and reported that the groomed trails were pleasant. A thin layer of new snow skied well until too many skiers and boarders tore it up. On the other hand, Power Line was miserable according to my source. This same source indicated that Outer Limits was pretty good for a run or two.
The left side of Bobby’s was pretty good for a couple of runs, but I cursed when I skied through Scott Meadow. Scott Meadow should have been soft and smooth because it is a slope with a low angle, but frozen ruts from yesterday made the ride very rough. At about eleven in the morning, the sky cleared just a little bit, so we rode up Summit Chair. At the top, as if to verify the poor visibility offered earlier in the morning, a sign telling us to follow the green dots had been stuck in the snow.
Although the lighting was still not good, we did timidly enjoy Alpine Bowl because it seemed as if a little more snow covered the surface in the bowl making the ride smoother and softer.
In general, areas that had not been groomed overnight sported hard icy moguls for anyone brave enough to tackle their slope. I watched a number of skiers and boarders tackle The Face with its large frozen moguls offering a very rough ride. A couple of people mentioned that Weasel Trail, with its relatively low angled slope and nice grooming, was one of the better trails, especially as it became skied out.
I only skied until a little after 11 today, so I cannot tell you if conditions improved in the afternoon, but temperatures did not rise above 30 degrees and winds increased as the afternoon progressed, indicating that the underlying surface remained frozen.
The Palisades app indicates we may receive a couple more inches of snow overnight, but tomorrow just looks like it will be cloudy without snow falling.
Enjoy your day,
Andy