It’s been a long and difficult stretch for Alpine Meadows over the last three seasons. We just survived our third drought year in a row. The acquisition of Alpine Meadows by Squaw Valley has been a little bit rough. There certainly has been no lack of negativity. We’ve seen it on the slopes, in online ski forums, other blogs, and yes we’re guilty here too. But somewhere during this season, something started to change. The spirit of Alpine Meadows seemed to be alive again. So we’re excited to start this series today, to let Alpine Meadows staff and managers know that we all appreciate their efforts at keeping it Alpine.
We’ll be presenting the top five items one at a time, and in no particular order.
Number One: Late Season Spring Skiing
I used to be one of those skiers that thought the season was over after spring break, sometime around Easter. It just never occurred to me that people might still be skiing in Lake Tahoe into May, or even June. My first exposure to the late season at Alpine Meadows started with a friend inviting me to ski at Alpine, and insisting that I should bring a can of corn with me. That can of corn saved me $5 on a lift ticket, and got me hooked on corn skiing forever. In fact the very next year, my family bought season passes at Alpine Meadows.
Mid-May skiing should have never happened this year. We finished the season with 261 inches of snowfall, roughly 65% of normal. There were some desperate times where it looked like closure was imminent. Yet somehow, mountain managers never gave up. The kept terrain open as long as possible, and even reopened it after it had closed when conditions improved.
We also saw some extensive snow storage and snow farming utilized to keep the Summit and Roundhouse turning. Did we mention Roundhouse? Spring protocol has often included running only Summit. But this year, mountain managers gave us both Summit and Roundhouse. This kept skiing more accessible for families with small children, reduced time spent standing in line when crowds from Squaw Valley headed to Alpine Meadows after Squaw closed, and provided a backup plan when a big east wind shut down Summit on closing day.
Kudos to the Alpine Meadows staff and managers for keeping our spring season alive as long as possible!
Having a chair open at 8 a.m. was another bonus and the extended hour on closing day was a nice touch. Thanks Alpine staff, your the best team on any mountain!
^^^^
She’s right y’know. (But can we hire another snowgod for 2014/15???)
My son,
Three cheers for A.M’s management and staff
….and the other savour of its soul, “Fr.” Mark of St. Stoke’s. 🙂
As a destination skier I don’t know the managers or staff however some standouts were:
– Stephanie from the OV Squaw office building
– the young liftie guy with the wand
– Douglas
– the bus driver who told me all about the history tours, and Grahams was divine
– the people at the secret hot springs
– the AM Crew who gave us a demo day wth their reps …. with powder snow too.
– the lasses who added our $30 resort credit on our passes;
– locals, Gotta love the warm hospitality of the locals.
That’s my 2c.
yes, Cheers! to Alpine Meadows staff and management 🙂
agree with everyone here. Thanks for early openings. Thanks for late closing dates. Thanks for not changing the lifts (hotwheels….). Thanks for working hard to keep it open and great all season. Thanks for keeping Treats!! Thanks for the good times that are so special for me at Alpine – it really is about the soul but we probably don’t need to say that. It’s like calling yourself cool. Thanks UA!!!! Thanks again!!
#1 must be “helping KSL find its soul” through acts of compassion and divine interseccession.
Ooops, cross out that “seccession” word. There’s too much of that.
#2: No poo exploding pipes at AM. All the carp is over the ridge 🙂