Luck Of The Irish?

Truth be told, if I were willing to do one of those DNA testing services, I would test out at something like <2% Irish. So it was not just luck that we happened to be at Alpine Meadows for what might have been the best powder day of the season today. It’s probably more likely that we are at Alpine Meadows every day, and eventually some of them turn out to be far better than expected.

Last night the winds at Ward Peak gusted to 125 mph and the sound of rain falling in Truckee made me a little bit skittish about the quality of skiing today. Looking out the window this morning and seeing puddles mixed in with the 2 inches of snow in the driveway was a sign that even the Honda snowblower would not be up to the task. But the closer we got to the ski area, the colder it got, and it was just dumping snow. That first run of the day was in hero powder like we have not seen yet this season. Sure it was deeper last Thursday, but this snow ranged from boot top deep to knee deep in most locations, and deeper if you knew where to hunt.

A Powder Day Even Mark Could Like

I know, I have a reputation for being a powder hater, especially when it interrupts a great spring corn cycle. But today was not your typical spring powder day. There were a number of contributing factors to that. Many people were likely bamboozled by the wet and heavy snow that fell overnight at lake level and below. There was no media hype for this storm from the usual web sources or TV weather personalities. A snow day was not in the cards for local schools, and if schools don’t call a snow day, then a lot of businesses will also not call a snow day. The number one factor that helped today was even though operations next door were limited in the morning hours, the shiny boxes were on a delayed opening. The sky also stayed 95% sun free all day. These factors came together in a way that allowed us to still find fresh turns inbounds at 1:45 as we were headed back to the lodge.

For the first three hours of the day, it was that old school midweek Alpine Meadows powder day that we rarely see anymore.

The best skiing of the day was not necessarily at the Summit lift and that was odd. It seems that a lot of that earlier snowfall when the winds were howling settled in points farther east at Alpine Meadows. Scott Chute was a joy to watch this morning. I want to give a huge shoutout to the guy in the shamrock suit that launched that huge back flip near tower 7, stomped the landing and then avoided tower 6.

I would expect that most parts of the mountain that non-regulars are going to find on the mountain will be completely skied out by the time lifts close in five minutes as the people did find their way to Alpine Meadows eventually. The point forecast has another 2 to 4 inches of snow overnight, which will just be a minor refresh. I would not arrive tomorrow expecting a repeat of today.

There are several lifts that did not open at the northern annex today, and therein lies your hope for tomorrow. As one of my friends likes to say “Go north, get rad, get famous.”

One More Storm In This Series

There is one last storm in this series and I am not counting on it, as the storm door is swinging shut. The timing right now would bring in most of that snowfall on Wednesday night overnight. The model trends have been to weaken that storm. The latest GEFS run still had 8-12 inches of snowfall possible. That said, the most recent point forecast shows only 1-3 inches possible. It looks like a fairly minor refresh if it holds together at all.

After that we seem to be in a dry slot well into next week. The models want to bring back a big trough for the last week of March with the possibility for another storm or two. I’ll believe it when I ski it.

Thank you to all of my friends that skipped today, ensuring it would be an amazing day on the slopes 🤣