Today May Have Been The Best Day Of 2013 At Alpine Meadows…And We’re Not Kidding

It’s a sad commentary on the state of weather over the last 12 months. Remember, we had our first Winter Storm Warning of the year just two weeks ago, where we saw around 30 inches of snow, while Thursday’s storm left another 4-5 inches. Couple that with terrain that has not opened yet for the season, north facing slopes and some very cold temperatures and today became a sleeper powder day.

With absolutely no announcement or fanfare, Alpine Meadows quietly opened the Hot Wheels chair and Weasel run today. Of course if you read UA yesterday, you would have suspected that was going to happen. While some people rejoiced in the expanded available groomer terrain, especially for lower level skiers, others rejoiced in the fact that a whole new world was open today. Terrain that requires the Weasel Run to return to the base also became accessible today for the first time this season.

The terrain under Yellow chair was clearly not for the faint of heart. Although there was a pretty good base of new snow that has had some time to condense into a reasonable base, there were many obstacles waiting to remove p-tex or edges from skis and boards. As we said yesterday, put on a thrasher pair of skis or board and your enjoyment level of the current season will go up dramatically. It helps to have seen the terrain without snow, or to have skied it in low snow conditions in the spring to see where rocks are most prevalent. It also pays to understand that you’re generally safest in smooth or concave areas, and most likely to hit rocks on convex surfaces like ridges.

Skiers and riders with a lot of Alpine Meadows experience have been getting good snow below ABC, Palisades and Keyhole since opening day. Today, a few people noticed that closure signs leading to Deer Camp and High Yellow had been removed. The snow fills in much deeper in those zones and obstacles are much less prevalent. Turns were bottomless and we almost had face shots several times. Instead I kept a sensible speed while keeping a close eye on terrain contours as we enjoyed powder turns…the deepest we have seen since last December.

Snow making crews have been working hard to get coverage down to open Weasel lately. The section from the Chalet through Tiegel Flats is especially challenging to get covered as it is frequently wind scoured and gets a lot of sun. We’re guessing that the grooming team was not expanded to match the expanded terrain. The grooming quality was sub-par today on all groomers. Things were narrower with many curbs, ruts and potholes.

The groomers continued to be a &*^%show today, even with the expanded terrain available. The conditions continued to be downright hazardous in Alpine Bowl, Rock Garden, Dance Floor and Weasel. There’s plenty of general public out there and then there’s the teams. I have no problem with Alpine Meadows teams that have always been there. The addition of more and more Squaw teams and lessons is really disconcerting. Today there was more than ever! Although Squaw opened Shirley Lake and Siberia yesterday, Shirley Lake was not groomed and the Siberia Chair did not actually run, requiring hiking for access – so they effectively have not increased their groomed terrain yet. That means lots of their teams continue to head to the “backside of Squaw.” It’s really not fair to those of us that just want it to be Alpine Meadows.

Thanks to the efforts of the snowmaking crew to get Weasel open today. We know it’s been challenging with weather that was too warm, then weather that was too cold and a limited water supply to boot.