There is so much to love about this mountain. It has all sorts of different terrain. It has all sorts of different aspects, so something is always good. There’s amazing views of Lake Tahoe, Martis Valley and the Granite Chief Wilderness. It also has a mountain operations team, led by Mountain Manager Jeff Goldstone, that sincerely wants to offer the best product they can.
The Sherwood zone has been challenged this season. It took forever to get enough snowpack so it could open, then it immediately started getting spicy as snow melted. It finally closed a month ago when things almost completely burnt out. Then it snowed 9 feet and we got Sherwood for a couple of days, only for the rain to wash all of that snow away.
Imagine my surprise when a little birdie told me last week that mountain ops was working on getting Sherwood open this weekend for skiing and riding High Traverse. Plans were foiled by the east winds the last two days, but today was the day. It was a treat to just be riding the Summit chair again this morning. I was caught by surprise to get a notification from the UA mobile app that High Traverse was open as we crested D8.
I was drawn like a magnet to Sunspot though, having missed it the last two days. Of course it was perfect. The rest of the run down the groomed slopes was not as perfect, already being a too soft blend of cookies and sugary snow. That was not why I came to the mountain to ski today. So on that second chair ride, I started planting the seeds for High Traverse. First I had to convince people it was open. Then I had to convince people it was ready, putting my complete trust in our patrollers.
I love that mountain ops spent time to send the small groomer through the barn, cutting a safe hiking path to Upper Saddle. Given how icy it has been, I really did not want to have to side step on firm snow.
On that first lap, there were four non-employees and three employees. We enjoyed perfect corn turns in Sun Bowl, then cut left into the lower part of CB Chute. That required just a bit of bushwhacking to get to the road that I think they are calling Sherwood Creek now. It was skis on all of the way to the Sherwood chair, although some parts had some spiciness. On our second lap it was better to cut right into SP Bowl.
I did take some scenic photos at Sherwood:
Access from the top of Sherwood back to the Return Road was tightly controlled by a placement of about 50 red lollipops. By our second lap, patrol did open Our Father to High Yellow Gully and Counterweight Gully. Sasha said he took 6 laps in High Traverse today, which is the most I heard. He kept pushing out further and further for fresh corn. Word is Sherwood for High Traverse may run another day or two.
Midday we did some laps in the Yellow Zone again. The polka music from The Chalet set the right mood for skiing around Yellow. Then the music went back to ultra high volume “Thumpa, thumpa, thumpa” of some DJ mix that was audible in Rock Garden. I don’t love this…please take that back to the KT Base Bar.
Having not gone to Scott or Lakeview the last two days, I needed to check them out. Scott was about as expected. Ridge run is a bit scrappy, and very busy being the only groomed route off of Scott. Bobby’s is bushes and moguls. Upper Standard is burnt out, lower standard is a minefield of lava rock.
The route to Lakeview is Winter Road (rocks and brush), Summer Road (chocolate chips) or the long cross country run from TLC (slow ‘n sticky). We chose the rodeo version of Reilly’s the first time, coming from Sherwood, and Winter Road later in the day.
We did three laps of Scotty’s Beam to end our day. While the top had burnt out, we noticed an unusual entry we dubbed the Reverse Wormhole. Usually the Wormhole goes from Scotty’s Beam to Outer Limits. It worked great. Getting beamed down on Scotty’s was far better than the treachery of Mountain View or the crowds on Outer Limits.
If not for the cold weather the last few days, Scott and Lakeview would definitely be done. I wonder what their status will be tomorrow. I know I would trade High Traverse/Sherwood for Scott…unless they opened Gentian for the non-weekend crowd.
People Keep Telling Me There IS Snow In The Long Range
What is within the 10 day “believable” part of the model runs is too little. Here’s the total snowfall from the last run of the GEFS:
Did you know that Fantasyland has its own dreams? I noted today that there are actually some runs of the GEFS that go out 840 hours. So here’s the model run for total snowfall during that time from the GEFS:
First off, this has no credibility at all. Nobody is going to say the a model has any level of skill that far out. 23 inches of snowfall? That is too little too late.
Skiing is fun. So is riding. Get it while you can. Mountain ops team – you are the best. Jeff Goldstone, watch out because the next time I see you I might have to hug you.
Special morning for me today, as I got to ski with my son Mark (who is normally National patrolling). We only managed 3 laps of the High T, but enjoyed every one! My thanks also to Jeff G and his team for an awesome job!
He doesn’t like to be hugged but try anyway 🙂
What happened to the German beer and the band?
Apparently they were no shows
I like the “Worm Hole” name. It fits the space theme.
My comment of the day has to do with line control at Summit. It’s great that they had someone in this role. However, the main requirement of this job is being able to count to 6. For whatever reason that was a challenge today, and they kept sending extra singles through, leaving them stranded and chair-less as waves of 6-packs kept flowing through the gates. This happened pretty consistently all morning.
Could also hear the thumpa on ridge run. I want to hear the grouse, not a DJ.