While Squaw Valley and Kirkwood were enjoying their final day of the season, it was another normal spring Sunday at Alpine Meadows. It just wasn’t quite spring yet. A small little disturbance blew in yesterday afternoon, bringing in small amounts of snow, wind and winter-like conditions for the morning. While the visibility at the top of the mountain was completely enshrouded in fog before lunch, the right goggles and a lot of mountain experience could lead you to some very nice snow conditions.
It also appears that the Alpine Meadows management has become very intent on listening to its customers, and taking meaningful actions to keep the soul alive at Alpine Meadows. The decision to run Roundhouse today was one of those moments. In fact, for the first two hours this morning, Roundhouse was much more busy than Summit. Even after the clouds began to clear, a number of families chose to continue to take advantage of Roundhouse’s offerings. Kudos to the people that made that happen. The Alpine Meadows faithful appreciate that the local staff is keeping it Alpine.
We can tell you about some of the best lines today, but that will all change before the lifts spin again at Alpine next Friday. The groomers were ripping this morning with 1 to 2 inches of new snow freshening and softening the surface. Once you located the top of Alpine Bowl and survived the first 5 turns in the blind, visibility returned and the surface was the best I have encountered the entire season, short of our few powder days. Werner’s offered similar conditions, with no visibility issues.
Off piste conditions were extremely variable. In general, the best choices were the ones that were skied in well yesterday. Trees and rocks were helpful navigation tools. Our top choices today were Palisades, North Peril and God’s Knob. Once the sun came out after lunch, the Keyhole and Lower Saddle areas also offered up some great turns.
Of course none of that matters. Alpine will look different by the time it reopens next Friday. Spring returns with a vengeance this week. Temperatures are expected to be near the mid 60’s by Thursday, with not much of a freeze at night. The most recent communications indicate that May 11th is closing day. At the moment, the next 16 days are looking dry and rather warm, so we don’t expect any more extensions. If you haven’t been paying attention, Alpine Meadows will be the only ski area open in Northern California for the next two weekends. The length of the season at Alpine Meadows was an important consideration in our Unofficial Passholders Survey, with 48% of respondents selecting it as one of the primary reasons for choosing Alpine Meadows. Kudos again to the managers that understand the importance of keeping it Alpine.
We have a lot of pictures today…a few from Mark and a lot from Valleygirl. Even with Alpine not operating over the next few days…we have some other posts in the works for this week.
Double whatever you’re paying Valleygirl and make her Mayor of StokeValley 🙂
Compensation comes in snow flakes! Thanks ULLR, you make life sweet!
I wish I there but I have to get people in the Sthrn Hemisphere excited with some flakes this weekend. (Then we snowgods can chuckle as they run around predicting if it’l be a bumper or bummer season 🙂
A few things, my legs are thrashed , my face hurts from smiling big , the stoke… Oh the stoke, I will sleep deep and lastly – ski you Friday.
Your mouth might be tired too! Rest up.
rofl !
He doesn’t stop yabbering!
Can I pick the tie?
Bob, get a brown cardigan designed by the Society of Certified Practising Beancounters.They’re way cooler 🙂
Hey, where’s the accountant dude from Spoil our valley?
farmer went to the local bar ….
He sat next to a woman and ordered a glass of champagne.
The woman said:” How strange, I also just ordered a glass of champagne”.
” What a coincidence ” – said the farmer, who added:
” It is a special day for me …. I’m celebrating”
” It is a special day for me too, I am also celebrating!” said the woman.
“What a coincidence” said the farmer.
While they toasted, the man asked: ” What are you celebrating?”
” My husband and I are trying to have a child for years, and today,
my gynecologist told me that I was pregnant”.
“What a coincidence!” said the man. ” I’m a chicken farmer and for years all my hens’ eggs
were infertile, but now they are all set to lay fertilized eggs. ”
“This is awesome” said the woman. ” What did you do for your chickens to become fertile?”
” I used a different rooster ” the farmer said.
The woman smiled and said: “What a coincidence”
🙂
Dear UA,
I’m certain KSL read UA and decided ‘oh, we better open Roundhouse’. Thanks UA and the team at Alpine.
What stoke!
can you let KSL know that the long lines at KT and AM were texting and calling as they waited and chanted “Keep Standing in Line”. No one blames Patrol! We’d probably like a in tune exec to come out and explain that the lift is likely to open at ….am, and thanks for understanding. Personally I’d offer a 2 for 1 coffee deal or 2 for 1 Coors Light (we know they’re in the back of the Raptor 🙂 or some upsell, or a discount on 2014/15 passes or something, but that’s just me. Cripes, I’d give a prize to the best group that chants Keep Standing in line.
Please keep the stoke stoked, and of course, how can you advertise “South Squaw is open”? Keep the AM brand and the logo.
Thanks A.M for opening Roundhouse especially for families and the older generation to lap the hill and avoid the weather up top.
KSL is sure getting a lot from their subscription to UA 🙂
Mark
your survey clearly reminded KSL that it’s important to extend the season: AM has the terain at this time of year, unlike the awful conditions (and crowds) on Granite Chief/Shirley). As important are the number of voting Squawites who’ve realised AM really has a soul of its own.
UA is making a difference! They’re listening!
Leaders in the community are emerging, and some crews in the lift line should get together over a few drinks and dinner. Brainstorm.
Denver’s local press has picked up this story. The real story is that only 60 people across the country contributed about $150 a head to pay ….wait for it …. legal and admin expenses. Lol. But no-one’s asking:
– what support has SVSH given to SOV;
– if IOV’s success depends on KSL’s success and snow, who’s assessed if KSL’s proposed business model will succeed?
http://summitcountyvoice.com/2014/04/28/can-squaw-valley-slow-the-development-juggernaut/
Cripes I’s ben busy in Nu zeeland m’ate.
https://www.facebook.com/CardronaAlpineResort
Anyway, I’m taking advanced bookings for your winter. We take cash, Mastercard or Valleygirl’s burnt offerings. Don’t try sacrificing any executives coz we send them right back 🙂
Saw this on my fb feed, UA, and thought i’d pass it along
Friends of Squaw Valley Needs your Financial Support
The Friends of Squaw Valley (FoSV) was formed in 2012 in response to the Squaw Valley Real Estate (SVRE) proposed village development. Our mission: Seek an improved and vibrant village that thrives economically while serving both locals and visitors yet retains aesthetics and community character.
What we have done so far:
Gathered input from community meetings, surveys, and feedback from friends and neighbors, allowing us to articulate our vision and values and to identify key elements of successful, sustainable Alpine ski villages; not to “just say no” to the developer and the County.
Hired three consultants (an architect, a land use planner, and a former county planner) to define the elements of successful ski villages that might be applied here in Squaw Valley.
Developed design guidelines for the proposed village that are continually being provided to the Design Review Committee to shape the Jan.2014 Revised Specific Plan.
Submitted responses to both the original 2012 Notice of Preparation (NOP) and the revised NOP earlier this year. Created a synopsis of individual comments to the NOP and placed it on the FoSV website http://www.friendsofsv.org
Produced minutes of meetings attended in order to keep the local and distant members of this community current (also on the FoSV website)
Helped effect a reduction in size of the SVRE proposal by over 30%.
What we will continue to do:
Gather input and develop additional design guidelines to make certain this (or any future) developer builds a welcoming, sensible, and successful village of which we can all be proud.
Critically analyze the draft EIR (due late this fall) to ensure community issues are considered, significant impacts are mitigated, and that all conditions of approval protect the community, its character, and its future.
Continue to hold periodic informational meetings for the FoSV membership and the community at large as various key milestones are approaching and significant events are occurring.
In addition to countless volunteer hours, to successfully accomplish our mission, we require knowledgeable paid professionals: social media consultants, EIR experts, ski village planners, and lawyers.
We need your financial support to continue our work. Please send your generous tax-deductible donation through our website donation page http://friendsofsv.org/donate/ or write a check to our fiscal agent, Sierra Nevada Alliance (with FoSV in the memo line) and mail to FoSV, PO Box 2823, Olympic Valley, CA 96146
Thank you….Friends of Squaw Valley
FoSV ‘admit” they were formed in response to the big village which KSL itself chose to scale back (an admission they went too big in my book). Why are people biachin about the IOV: – Sweet baby Jesus it hasn’t been born yet!
– King Herod’
Another rare frog was added to the endangered specie and the fish ain’t biting either, according to an article from Montana,
IOV says it’s not going tit for tat with KSL and it will simply focus on incorporation while Heidi couldn’t get Vito to rise to bait either. Don’t you just hate it when the fish don’t bite??
Great to see FoSVs achevements.
(Meantime back at SOV HQ they’re wondering why the PR machine didn’t know the SEC and FBI were about to issue a press release about Hewlett Packard’s interesting book keeping. OMG what horrid timing. I hope those ads were cheap.
At lease Van Nort managed 2 real ski towns, which is something these SOV people “forget to mention’. SOV forget Elfron is an engineer and she was a mass transit expert for the Federal Government. I think Schectman is a director of lift companies, and SOV forget that. Liz Day is on the Mutual Water Board. The town planning lawyer and the finance whiz Vito have very impressive resumes. So who says the town can’t run itself?
Here’s some stoke pics from just now on my and Robb’s and Debbie’s facebook feed
https://www.facebook.com/mbansak
I was just looking at those myself. For those that don’t know, Matt is a site sponsor. He’s also a incredible photographer and skier. His session today with Robb Gaffney is incredible.
click the link on his linkie thing on the right and be taken to amaaazing pics.
Mark,
I’m perplexed by the number of people ‘speaking for the community” especially as
* FosV’s press release says they helped reduce the plan by 30%: yet we hear and read they weren’t talking to KSL; “Call me” they say, as KSL says “No you call me first”. If they weren’t using the telephone, were they using telepathy?
* these notes by Mr Stepner from a MAC Meeting basically says the timeshare condos are doing their own thing. I’m certain we have stepped buildings from 2 to 6 levels, reduced levels, extra undercover car parking and other concessions. I think the employee housing was on sites we thought they might prefer if other ideas didn’t suit KSL.
+ we were invited to the ‘secret meeting’ on Apr 4th and I’m pretty sure lots of community reps weren’t;
– we member/owners didn’t know AW would represent us in his letter to lafco.
Would whoever is speaking on our behalf please let us know? Here’s a copy n paste of the Mac minutes from the SVPOA site that say our type of places aren’t represented over the last year. So how did KSL decide to move things just like we suggested by picking up the phone with win/win compromises!!!
Discussion of SVPOA Board composition: A suggestion was made
to solicit board members from the SV Lodge condos, The Resort, The
Village condos and other condo developments in order to get a more
diverse representation from the community and/or to get these
residential areas more involved. Another possibility is to have these
HOAs send a designated representative to our meetings in order to
stay current with issues in Squaw Valley, especially now that there is a
development proposal and Incorporation movement. The condos
generally concern themselves with their limited purview and it would
be beneficial to get them more involved with the community at large,
especially with so many changes proposed for Squaw. We will talk to
Emily at Granite Chief Management and invite the Presidents or some
representative from each Homeowner Assoc to come to a meeting
with SVPOA in order to become oriented with our mission. The
purpose of the meeting would be to introduce the SVPOA, give a
brief history of our past work, present our future goals and let them
know how we can work together to achieve mutual goals. The
meeting will take place on Sat April 12, 2014 at 3:30pm. The goal is
for the HOAs to unite and have a stronger voice in expressing our
vision of SV community interests in future planning and developmen
at the very little (if anything) coming from my timeshare HOAs.
One Asst Manager soike about the First Plan and was embarrassed to learn there was a ‘Right Plan”
Other managers and boards didn’t notice things
Let’s see
April 2013 – a year ago – KSL starts its big plan. Soon after inconsistecies in plans show ‘2 sets of plans’ so to speak. One wanted to build on carspaces.
Mid 2013: 5000 people tell KSL “Hey that’s fine with me, we love it”. (Sure).
Sept/ Oct 2013: IOV/FoSV people aren’t talking to KSL they say. “KSL won’t speak to us” they bleat.
KSL cartwheels. hey ‘listened” …to who? They weren’t talking to/with the other ‘community reps”.
New plans in December/January have lots of things moved.
Secret Meeting is held April 4th. 2014
There’s no known meetings of HOA members/owners..
Andy Wirth’s letter to Lafco, with, his voice ‘for the community’, is dated the 7th
The above Minutes suggest meeting HOAs like mine meet with the SVPOA on the 12th.
Hmm. No one’s talking but they represent member/owners and the silent ‘community”?
FoSv claim today they helped reduce the First Plan by 30% …without speaking to KSL somehow. ???
Who’s really representing the employees and those who aren’t in these various groups?
And what do some people mean there’s not enough car parking. How would they know what’s going on?
I’m no rusted on fan of Keep Standing in Line but apparently the next DRC meeting will look if there’s enough parking because some people think they can get more open space and more carparking, …. and whittle KSL down and down and down. ..and drag KSL out and out and out. The DRC is only an Advisory body.
I hope these people know KSL can ‘fix’ parking (and them too).
Thank Goodness those with foresight talked to KSL ages ago in case these transparent tactics backfire, at which point the outspoken in the room will say ‘it wasn’t my fault’ the wheels fall off their bandwagon.
Proceed with care.
what was a president, who lives in Sth Shore, doing and was he fully briefed or fluffed.
We at Keep Standing in Line have true ski out lodging in mind.
With the thousands of mansions planned in the region – 760 in Martis alone – you’ll be able to walk out your door in Truckee, TC or Martis and join the back of the lift line. 🙂
In all seriousness KSL are abysmal communicators of their vision. The NOP and Spec Plan for example reads like the instructions in chinese for assembling a toy, and hey’re baffled why they’re misunderstood.
Just wait for the day when the area is McMansioned and the locals on $8/hour either pony up $500 for a general parking pass or they catch the bus. It’s essental that a town like IOV can deed restrict those who, to date, has assidously refused to say the parking will remain free.
Wow, did you see the DRC and FoSV papers on parking that just hit facebook.
Can IOV subsidise the buses like Placr and Washoe did: about $350,000 each iirc. There goes the surplus Mr Lafco.
Will AM be crowded out by refugees from the limited number of day trippers?
Will RFID boomgates come in – with paid seasonal parking permits.
KSL better tun the AM Day Lodge into a high rise parkng lot where a interconnect lift moves parkers into Squaw for the day.
What do you think???