It was another gorgeous day in the Sierra Nevada mountains, specifically in Alpine Meadows. I thought I would mention that tonight there is a full moon showing itself in a clear, dark sky. Take a few minutes to stop and enjoy the bright, full moon sitting in the midst of a dark sky. A little Zen time never hurt.
The first couple of trips up Summit Chair included a light, cool breeze. I did not have enough under my jacket, or the vents were open, causing a chill against my skin. It was not enough to complain about, but the topic did come up during a conversation on the chair. Warmth was not far away and continued to mount into the late afternoon. 48 degrees at the beginning of March on the summit of Ward Peak is just too high a temperature. Lower down on the mountain, the heat meter rose to 50 degrees.
The first couple of runs indicated that the overnight temperatures were just around freezing. It was cool enough to freeze the wet spring snow from the day before. The slippery firm surface did not last long. This was especially true on the sun-baked slope known as Sunspot. We treated ourselves to a few laps on Sunspot.
Alpine Bowl was groomed to perfection. It was somewhat slick for the first few runs, but it also softened not long after the opening hour. There were some gouges in the groomed surface in Wolverine Bowl, but these filled in as skiers pushed softening snow into piles with each turn.
I found Yellow Trail to be delightful in the early hours as it softened sooner than other lower-level trails. To diversify, I tried God’s Knob. The corn snow was very good, but the entrance to the slope is just about bare and has obstacles. Along the way down, they are just waiting to shred the base of your skis. It takes concentration to maneuver down this short slope.
Beaver and Estelle Bowls were open today. This included High Beaver and Upper Estelle. I did see several people with a board or skis on their backs hiking along the ridgeline. I also noted several people heading to Low Beaver Bowl and skiing in the moguls under Idiot’s Delight. I did not venture that direction, but I did ski down the short slope under Tower 19. It did not look great, but it skied well. I do love spring snow. Many areas of the mountain can now be considered topped off with spring corn.
I did ride Lakeview once before noon. The only trail I attempted was Mountain View. It was very firm at the time I skied over its groomed surface. There are many bare spots along with vegetation that is popping through the surface.
In my opinion, many mountain guests were moving downhill too quickly. We did see someone who appeared to have been hurt from a collision with another skier at Sandy’s Corner. Collisions are inevitable when people are skiing or boarding too fast. This is especially true in the spring when conditions are variable and often difficult for some to master at speed. Slow down!
The afternoon beckoned people to slip on a T-shirt and sit on the deck, soaking up sunshine. It was a warm spring day. Tomorrow looks like it will be the same.<
Enjoy your day.
Andy
Regarding the accident at Sandy’s Corner this morning, it was sad how people could not see the need to slow down near that zone. Three or four patrollers were there trying to focus on stabilizing the patient, while some idiots zoomed by at mach looney, hoping to set some sort of record or something. The last thing patrollers needed at that moment was for a second accident to happen.
I’ll say it again, I would love to see patrol start managing some season passes because yelling at people and waving poles is not working.
IDK about more of the same tomorrow. I’m seeing a good clip cooler with gusty winds and the chance of an angry inch
There are Strava segments all over the mountain. And I’ve heard folks on the chair – amateur skiers – talking about trying to beat each others top speed. Fixated on the metrics. Terrible. There is a way to reach out to Strava to mark segments as hazardous. I bet this contributes. And the Olympic spirit.