The Best Day At Alpine Meadows In 467 Days

I’ve been dreaming of this day for the last 467 nights. That’s right, this was the best storm day at Alpine Meadows since December 26th, 2012. We saw multiple tweets today proclaiming this was “best day of the season”, “best day in 2 years” and the “best day in 3 years.” No matter what, it was a day not to miss. Many people chose to make it a “work optional day” and quite a few people were enjoying spring break.

The lift corrals were full of smiles this morning listening to the avi bombs go off. As the nine o’clock hour approached, both the Roundhouse and Summit corrals were full. The Alpine Meadows patrollers and grooming crew had made sure the mountain was ready and safe, allowing Roundhouse, Summit and Scott to open right at 9. We thought we were going out for the 12″ of new snow that Alpine Meadows had reported, but it turns out that the correct report was probably closer to the 16″ inches that Squaw had reported this morning.

That was plenty of snow to create face shots and over the head powder puffs all morning. It was some of the lightest snow we have seen since opening day, so the cut up powder was just about as fun as the fresh powder. We would venture to say the cut pow skied even better on the lower angle terrain, as it allowed for much more speed.

There were far less people on the mountain than Sunday, and the snow kept falling for most of the day. The new snow did not provide much new accumulation, but the snow showers prevented the sun from cooking the snow. We didn’t feel any heaviness until about 3pm, but that was probably more due to tired legs.

We had fantastic runs today in Gentian Gully, Dead Tree, Seldom Slides, the D Chutes, Skadi Hill and Gunners Knob. We also heard several people proclaim High Yellow as “the best ever”. It was very easy to find fun and put a smile on your face today.

It was snowing again at Alpine Meadows this evening, and the wind was also kicking up. The temperatures are also supposed to be cold tonight. These three things should come together to help reset the mountain for another great day tomorrow. Alpine tweeted this afternoon that Sherwood will be open again Friday. A friend poached the Sherwood side this afternoon on the way home. They reported that the snow on the Sherwood side was very wind affected, but that coverage was good. Alpine Meadows groomers have been pushing snow around and prepping the groomed areas for the last 2 days.

BA’s report today says there could be another 3-6 inches tonight. There’s another storm Thursday night but it is excepted to weaken, offering little accumulation. We then should see a warmup over the weekend, with temperatures in the 50’s. That’s pretty much the way we see the models too. Tomorrow morning looks like your best chance to get in one more powder day. Do it!

There’s pictures today from Valleygirl, Oznorts, and Mark.

Stormy view from Oznorts GoPro

Soft cut up snow in Lower 40 was fantastic. Photo by Valleygirl

Oznorts checking out what Alpine had to offer for his first run.

Mark surveys the powder atop Gunner’s this afternoon. Photo by Valleygirl

Many happy laps to Gunners today. Photo by Valleygirl

Valleyson enjoys a brief moment of sun near Condo Run. Photo by Valleygirl

Alpine at its finest today! Photo by Valleygirl

Valleyson exits Lower 40. Photo by Mark

Valleygirl enjoys Gentian powder turns. Photo by Mark