Today is the day that we remember the heroes of Alpine Meadows, being the 43rd anniversary of the 1982 avalanche which killed 7 people. A weak atmospheric river Pacific storm has been hammering the mountain since yesterday morning, bringing a rain & snow mix for most of the last 24 hours. Then around 7:00am this morning, the temperatures started crashing and the snow and winds created a perfect set up for a “free refills” sort of ski day. We skied until the Roundhouse lift finally closed at 2pm due to winds. It seemed an apt way to honor the many heroes of Alpine Meadows, spanning its entire history, not just that one fateful day.
Roundhouse was the top of the mountain today. At the top of Roundhouse is a cross, which has been the site of Sunday church services at Alpine Meadows over the years. For this reason, many locals call the open slope below “God’s Knob”. We have always called it “Sunday School”, as the freestyle team kids would pass by the church services and yell “Going to Sunday School!” But the cross is actually not there as a part of any church. It’s a monument.
I had always been told that the monument was there to honor the 7 people that died as a result of the 1982 avalanche. But today, I noticed that there was a little bit more to that monument. Here’s a photo of the plaque:
The first three mentioned in the dedication – Bernie Kingery, Jake Smith and Beth Morrow – did indeed lose their lives in that big avalanche 43 years ago. I expected to find 7 names there today. The inclusion of Craig Badami is interesting. Badami was the son of Nick Badami, the BVD underwear heir that purchased Alpine Meadows in 1970. Craig actually died in a helicopter crash near Park City Mountain Resort in 1989. CB Chute, just over Upper Saddle is named for Craig. The answer that makes sense is that the Badami family likely had something to do with the installation of the monument, but there is just about no information about that online. Maybe a reader knows?
“If you seek their monument, look around you.”
I love that. Myself and others consider Alpine Meadows our church. There is not a view in the ski area that is not magnificent. Some might argue that the view to the north has been destroyed by those shiny boxes. Then again, those shiny boxes do glint in the afternoon sun, making a string of lights leading up to KT-22. Every lift ride at Alpine Meadows provides a vista unmatched by any other Tahoe mountain. At every other mountain you’re looking at an ugly faux village, a freeway, overdevelopment around the lake or an airport. I am humbled to be here every day of the ski season in my church.
How Was The Skiing?
It was slightly limited, with only TLC to mid and Roundhouse offering skiing for the rest of us. It was slightly late, with delayed openings due to lightning in the area and a more productive than expected round of avalanche control. My hopes were not all that high after seeing the text from Mark_The_Skibum this morning:
How many times this week can we tell you it was better than expected. Although the 8 inches of snow that fell overnight was absolutely Sierra cement, once the temperatures dropped, the other 7 inches or so that fell during the day skied like velvety hero powder. While it never felt all that deep, it was repeatedly silky smooth due to continuous snowfall and the heavy winds that kept things all buffed out. So ultimately, the last run at 2pm was every bit as good, or better, than the first run at 9:35am. Had they not closed Roundhouse due to winds at 2pm, this would have definitely been a “bell to bell” mandatory day.
The crowds were not bad. I worried it might change, seeing the KT-22 line showing 10-20 minute wait times while Roundhouse showed 0-2 minutes. But the shiny boxes were not open to facilitate mountain transfers and there’s always that important concept of “Go north, get rad, be famous.”
This Storm Is Not Done Yet
I am not sure we are even half way done with this one yet. The Winter Storm Warning continues through 11pm tomorrow. There’s a lot of snow still on tap. Below is the level headed GEFS point sounding for snowfall through Wednesday for Alpine Meadows upper mountain:
The point forecast for Alpine Meadows is equally enthusiastic based on the latest model run, but it also tends to be a bit more flighty:
Apparently Mother Nature had an April Fools joke in mind. Here’s the updated forecast numbers from the point forecast Tuesday morning:
- Monday night: 9 to 13 inches possible (Actual: 1-2 inches)
- Tuesday: 12 to 18 inches possible (Now: 0 inches)
- Tuesday night: 1 to 3 inches possible (Now: 0 inches)
Taking a third look at this, the numbers very greatly depending on exactly which point you click for Alpine Meadows. The numbers above represent mid-mountain, which is in the Sacramento NOAA region. My wife uses a point closer to the base area, which is in the Reno NOAA region. It still shows number like yesterdays. We shall see…as I have been coaching, those point forecast numbers are volatile.
Snow levels are supposed to be colder too. Snow levels drop below 4000 feet, which is great for skiing but bad for travel. If you are not here yet, give up now. That said, I theoretically need to get to Reno tomorrow afternoon. 🤔
Looking at the long range, the trough makes a super slow exit through Thursday, leading to a fair weather weekend and a more spring like pattern.
We ended March with 84 inches of snowfall at the base of Roundhouse, which is 115% of average. That hardly qualifies as a March Miracle, but it is nice in that it brings the season-to-date number up to 78% of average. Snowfall from today and tonight will be measured tomorrow morning and included on the April 1st data, as per usual.
Today was fun, see you out there tomorrow….although the Northern Annex might be even better than Alpine Meadows.
We must never forget! Mother Nature had her way with us that day 😪
Thank you Mark; I appreciate you remembering those we lost, they loved Alpine Meadows as much as we do.
I never ski Alpine on storm days because the two best lifts always close, and one of those has bad visibility anyway. Red Dog had lines as long as 20 seconds. Far East and Resort chairs- no lines. KT was 5-10 minutes. Good visibility was limited to the trees bordering West Face- but fantastic wind buff snow. Last run down East Gully off RD was wind blown perfection. One of my best days of the season!
Still such a sad day for so many of us. Bernie, an amazing caring person, was mountain manager then, and saved so many employee lives that day. He encouraged everyone working that day to leave before avalanche control work was to be done that afternoon, except for those that needed to stay. The avalanche control work never had a chance to start as the natural avalanche occurred.
As I was supervising lift operations that day, I got all the lift ops, including myself, off the mountain and down the road. Two lift ops ask to stay and work with the upcoming control work. Jake stayed to be a road guard using a snowmobile to transport himself to one of the required positions, and Beth stayed to work next to Bernie in Base 4 and scribe the upcoming work.
They never came home that night along with four other non-employees. I see their names now, and think that Jake and Beth might be skiing with us tomorrow, but tragically lost their lives that day, far too soon and too young. They were both exceptional human beings.
As I understood it the monument was intended to honor the names of the Alpine family that were lost up until that time, it was installed shortly after Craig’s death. At that time Nick lost heart about being in the ski business which had been inspired originally by Craig. He also abandoned the Galena project which was going to become part of the portfolio of ski areas under the Badami
name.
Thank you Jim for adding that detail. Maybe it’s time to add Bill Foster.
Thank you Mark for pointing out these sage words. Sometimes I think Alpine Meadows is too blue, though a rich horizon blue is my second favorite color. As our most wise leaders often say “We share the spirit of these legendary mountains with the world”.
Thanks for this tribute and also for your dedication to this blog. It’s absolutely great!