Like A Phoenix…

Like a Phoenix rising from the ashes, the mountain ops team is making miracles happen on a daily basis at Alpine Meadows. It’s been almost a month since we have seen any useful amount of snowfall in Tahoe, but the skiing and riding is still remarkably good. You may not have read to the bottom of my last post where I noted that the seasonal snowfall at our favorite mountain has only been 52% of average at the bottom of the mountain. It’s only through the miracles of modern snowmaking, and lidar equipped snowcats that can use “just enough snow” to keep obstacles covered that we still have about 100% of the mountain open

The Sherwood zone is a great example of this. Every day over the last two weeks, you could look around and think that this is going to be it. Yet teams find one more place to scratch up a bit more snow to keep the Sherwood groomer somewhat covered. That’s important, because losing Sherwood means losing all of South Face and High Traverse, which represents a huge part of the mountain. Many would agree that it’s some of the best lift served spring terrain in Tahoe. Sherwood will typically close when Ski Patrol can no longer get a toboggan out of the Sherwood base area.

The wide view of Sherwood this morning looks like they could hold onto it through the weekend. That said, many members of the skiing public may not agree that conditions are great. I like adventure skiing. On Monday, my buddy Stev and I high fived each other after some fantastic spring corn in Chute Zero. On the other side of the lift corral, two guys were saying “That was horrible!” The sad news is the Chute Zero is likely done after today. There was a rock band extending about 95% of the way across the chute today, and that will likely melt out all of the way today. Starting tomorrow, I will want to explore more of South Face and High Traverse.

Lakeview is still holding on surprisingly well, aided by its more westerly exposure. There is some brush starting to stick through the snow and some dark spots indicating rocks below. Still coverage is far better than Sherwood or the Scott runs that get groomed. Those runs are getting hammered by the midday sun. I have been enjoying Lower Standard this week as coverage is pretty good and it’s pretty well consolidated. I gave Upper Standard a go this morning against the advice of others. It’s essentially a couple of isolated strips down to Summer Road.

Note the lack of pictures from Summit or Roundhouse this morning. The skiing there is great for a few laps, but once the corduroy gets scrubbed, it’s all you can eat cookies. I prefer all you can eat corn. I would like to commend the groomer that got a wild idea to groom the left edge of Red Ridge (aka Upper Ladies Slalom) for the first time this season. It was a pleasant surprise. Yesterday, everything from the Summit top terminal over to Solar flare was skiing fantastic, which was great with Sherwood on mechanical closure. Today, with a stiff northeast wind, that same terrain was loud and bumpy.

There is snow in the forecast, but there’s still some questions. Lets start with the GIF of pressure anomalies over the next 16 days:

First there’s a tiny little low to our south late in the weekend. It’s really nothing right now. Toward the end of next week, a stronger low arrives. Right now it looks fairly dry, bringing more cold air than snow with an over land path. The bigger low toward the end of the forecast period around the 17th looks more promising for snow.

Above is the afternoon model run for total snowfall over the 16 day period. Most of that snow is in Fantasyland. We want to see if that’s still there 10 days out before we start getting excited. That’s not a “game changer”, but it could prevent disaster. Looking at the tail end of the GIF of anomalies, the finishing frames are showing a zonal flow, which indicates this may not be the big pattern change we want. I would like to see the ridge settle in the east, and a trough stuck in the Pacific. I do like the model agreement in the PNA index today. Negative is good.

Some forecasters have mentioned that we are at about the midpoint of ski season. Hmmm. We are 40 days into the season. Another 40 days puts us at mid March. Then again, the Alpine Meadows season was one month late in starting. That would put the end of the season at mid-April. Yes, I like it ending on Memorial Day too, but this is not that kind of season. The quiet whispers that I have heard are April 11th. Get it while you can.

Celebrating Alpine Meadows History

I noted the signboard advertising the 51st anniversary of the Chalet this Saturday. I happened to attend the 50th celebration last season and it turned out to be a lot of fun. So why not do it every year? There will be a cowbell parade again, and some new contests and activities. Later in the day, the Blues Monsters will play on the Sun Deck.

I really applaud the effort here. There’s been a dearth of Alpine Meadows specific activities and celebrations since the hostile takeover. It’s nice to see something going on that does not require a trip to the fake village or KT Base bar next door.

A Big Thank You

The response to our branding change has been awesome. Over the last two days, we have managed to sell almost 3/4 of our stockpile of older stickers at the $1 bargain rate. Some people really met the moment, purchasing as many as ten stickers. Hopefully those get widely distributed to friends, helping more people find their way to Unofficial Alpine Meadows.

I’m working out some prototypes for new stickers…maybe a poll in my next post.

See you out there…