Day One at Alpine

The word on the hill this morning was that most cars were turning into Squaw Valley and that the lift lines were ridiculous. The parking lot at Alpine never really filled, but the line on TLC at the beginning of the day was pretty darn long. I do not think that was a surprise to anyone. TLC did open at 9, as did Meadows and Subway and the beginner carpet. Roundhouse opened around 1pm, but I had just left, foregoing my first ride up Roundhouse until tomorrow. Mark sent me a note indicating that the snow was variable, but it still sounded like he was having fun. Today was my first day of skiing this season, and I have nothing bad to say about the experience. Of course, putting on boots is always a thrash on the first day, but I survived. As soon as I looked at the mountain from the top of the steps, I knew I was home. It was one of those perfect mornings where no tracks are visible on the slopes and snow crystals sparkle in the sunshine. A good number of people arrived early and stood in a long line waiting to be first on the mountain. We took it slow, breathing in our surroundings and grateful for the huge storm that left such a thick white blanket of snow over Alpine’s slopes. My first couple of turns were on a nice soft groomed surface that covered Weasel Trail. After a while skiers pushed the softness aside, and we were left with a pretty firm surface, but I was not going to complain. I was a little tentative leaving the groomed slope, but it did not take long to realize the untracked conditions were pretty good. We broke through a thin crust that was covered with last night’s powder, allowing us to enjoy laying down fresh tracks. We played in the off-piste snow to the side of Weasel and then took a few runs of Meadow and Subway. I know it does not sound exciting, but we were surprised by the number of turns we could make off these short chairs. We enjoyed clear skies, white mountains, and fresh tracks on day number one. Does it get in better? I was sorry to miss making some fresh turns coming down from Roundhouse, but there is always tomorrow. Now that Roundhouse is open, perhaps they will begin turning Summit sooner than originally scheduled. There is always hope. People seemed to be calm and in a good mood during the time I was on the slope or waiting in line. I hope the rest of the season follows today’s lead. Enjoy your day, Andy

Mark’s Notes: Roundhouse finally opened at 1:00pm. The entire line at TLC then moved to Roundhouse. There was some grooming of Rock Garden, Red Trail and the runouts. Off piste the snow conditions were variable. Shaded snow skied like boot deep powder with some areas of crustiness. Sun baked areas skied like heavy snow. Nice to note those 7 new huge fan guns on Red Trail/Dancefloor. That really will speed up how quickly Roundhouse can be opened.

Crews were working on Summit after they got Roundhouse squared away and the latest ops blog does indicate they hope to have it for Sunday, with a probable delayed start.