You probably know some people that say things like “Those weather forecasters are never right!” Here at Unofficial Alpine, we have been telling you for a while that actually, they do a fine job most of the time. BA, at Tahoeweatherdiscussion.com, actually called for the first big storm of the season around this time way back on October 1st. Last week, he made some people guffaw by calling for up to 3 feet near the crest by the end of this week.
It’s only Tuesday and Alpine Meadows is reporting 36″ at the summit. Boreal and Sugar Bowl have also reported similar numbers. We still have at least one more wave to go tonight, expected to bring another 8 inches or so. Great job BA, and other local forecasters that understand that weather is a mostly predictable science.
So people went skiing today and reported great coverage for the early season. Alpine Meadows posted some pics of Travis Ganong. My Facebook page was littered with posts from friends making turns at Alpine Meadows, Sugar Bowl, Donner Ski Ranch and Mount Rose. Sometimes having a real M-F job sucks.
In the race to open lifts, there’s currently two contenders:
• Squaw Valley will open Searchlight for one day on Thursday, October 25th from 10am til 2pm for a special event fundraiser for the Squalpine Ski Team Foundation. Tickets will cost $10 for passholders and $20 for non-passholders. Proceeds will go to travel funds for teams at Squaw and Alpine. It’s really hard to actually call this an “opening”. Although it seems cool to support the cause, you have to wonder if it is also a marketing ploy to claim “first resort to open in California” this year, even though it will not continue beyond Thursday.
• Boreal is prepping to open for Friday, October 26th with the Castle Peak Quad for sure and a possibility of Accelerator to the top. Unless we return to summer temperatures, you know Boreal means business and they will be open daily if they can possibly do it. I sure hope the Boreal crew gets it together to spin Castle Peak tomorrow or by 9am Thursday to beat the Squaw marketing machine. Boreal deserves its usual “first to open” title.
Here’s the view over at Mount Rose today, where it was a bluebird powder day:
And here’s a more complete gallery from Alpine Meadows today. Today’s photos are courtesy of Jason Anderson. Click on any picture to start a slide show.
Anyone want to hike the backside this afternoon?