Top Ten Things We Love (Or Loved) About Alpine Meadows

It’s time to wrap up the calendar year of 2013, the driest year on record around Lake Tahoe. While the snow has not been the best, we’ve made the best of it. Part of that happiness is due to the mountain that many of us call home. There’s plenty of things to love about Alpine Meadows. Here’s our top ten list:

1) Fewer Lifts With Less Uphill Capacity

Clearly, Alpine Meadows has fallen behind in the race to build more, better, bigger, faster lifts to access the mountain. While visitors to some mountains might see this as a downside, many Alpine Meadows regulars know that it is one of the things that makes Alpine Meadows great. There is not a lift that runs to every peak and peaklet. Getting to some of the best terrain may take some effort in hiking or traversing. Even though it may only take a few minutes of work to get to some of Alpine’s best terrain, 90% of skiers and riders never bother with leaving the main trails. Building a lift to Estelle Bowl, or replacing Scott with a high speed six would change the nature of skiing and riding those zones. The potential realignment of Hot Wheels will potentially radically increase traffic in the Sherwood Cliffs area. Mountain managers have recognized this difference for years upon years. We hope Alpine Meadows doesn’t build too much fast, convenient access to keep up with the neighbors.

2) Open Boundaries

There’s a ton of great terrain in bounds at Alpine Meadows. When snow conditions are right, there is plenty of  terrain to keep you busy. But in a normal season, when it actually snows naturally, there’s some great options to get away from the crowds or to find untouched lines days after a storm. Clearly, you will want to know exactly where you’re going, how you’re returning to the resort, and be appropriately equipped with avi rescue gear. While a handful of resorts offer a few backcountry gates each, Alpine Meadows offers nearly unlimited opportunities for exploration.

3) Hidden Lines

There’s inbounds hidden lines and terrain around Alpine Meadows that some people never discover. Many of these are not named on a map. We share some of our most favorite lines with only  a few other people each season. We love that you can take one of these lines, which may even be visible from a main trail or chairlift, and come back a week later, finding only your own tracks.

4) Multiple Exposures

In a regular year, with the entire mountain open, you can always find something good at Alpine Meadows. It’s easy to avoid the sun or follow the sun, as required by the current snow conditions. If conditions are firm on Roundhouse, you just need to head to Sherwood for the morning. An east wind that scours Alpine Bowl will also fill the D Chutes very nicely. There’s always something that is skiing and riding well.

5) High Traverse

When the conditions are right, you can get incredible access to inbounds terrain that will likely never be served by a lift. While many people choose to hike to Upper Saddle to access High Traverse, as the name implies, you can often get there with zero hiking. Returning for another lap only requires a quick ride up Sherwood and Summit.

6) Corn

Sure, we get powder days at Alpine Meadows, but as the last two seasons have shown us, we sometimes have to wait a long time. Corn snow at Alpine Meadows is much more predictable. Alpine Meadows seems to be at the perfect elevation to get a lot of freeze and thaw cycles each spring, allowing for perfect corn conditions. By following the sun and changing elevations, it’s easy to get a full day of amazing corn conditions at Alpine.

7) No Required Parking Shuttle Or Village Slog

It’s easy to park at Alpine Meadows. You don’t have to park in a remote lot and board a shuttle bus to get to the chairlift. You also don’t have to walk through a village, dragging your gear and the family to a gondola that will get you to a chairlift. You can arrive in the lot and be riding Summit within 10 minutes, including a quick stop at Treats for coffee.

8) Treats

No day at Alpine Meadows is complete without a cookie from Melanie at Treats. I am frightened to think about the number of pizza bagels and lox bagels we have bought over the years. It’s easy to imagine a world without Treats, as we did that a few year’s ago. JMA thought they could recreate the Treats experience and created the Viva Treats revolution in the process. We’re glad to have Melanie and the gang at Treats back in place in the Alpine Meadows breezeway.

9) The original Ice Bar

The current Waffle Hut turned “Ice Bar” that serves up over-priced snacks and beverages is not the thing that we want to remember. It’s that old Ice Bar shack on wooden skids that had the charm we want to remember. Back then , the brats were bigger than the buns, and you could still get by on just a few bucks for a pizza bagel or PBJ. The Ice Bar is still an important part of a spring afternoon at Sherwood. Working on your goggle tan, the views of Twin Peaks, and the refreshing quality of a cold beer never changes at the Ice Bar.

10) It’s Not Squaw Valley

Back when I was about 12 years old, I was really stoked by the Olympic history at Squaw Valley. I can remember demanding that my parents take me there when we went to Tahoe. But as the years went by and I learned to love skiing more and more, it was the skiing that became more important to me. That’s when I decided that Alpine Meadows was the place to be. The same terrain, with more variety, fewer people, cheaper tickets…I have been hooked ever since. Yeah, some of that has changed radically, and it is scary…FreeAlpine!

What does your top ten look like? We would love to see your comments.