Hello Skiers and Riders,
It was an awesome morning on the slopes at Alpine Meadows. Snow conditions are excellent (cold winter pack). Walking from the locker to Summit Chair this morning all I could hear was the squeaky snow under my boots. It was cold, in the teens, and the sun shone down from a clear blue sky. There were clouds floating by as the morning progressed, but nothing to disturb the incredible beauty of a mountain filled with white snow. Tracks were everywhere from yesterday, but we still found a few untracked lines to broaden the smiles on our faces. The groomers did an excellent job last night making for some fast corduroy turns early in the morning. However, I spent most of my time in the soft light snow off piste. It was chopped a bit from yesterday’s crowd, but soft and light making skiing through it easy as pie.
I did not hike this morning, but there were plenty of people hiking off into the distance in all directions. Skiers were in Palisades (still a little thin), Lower Saddle, High Yellow Face, Our Father, and the Sherwood Cliffs. Others were off to Beaver and Estelle. It looks pretty rocky coming out of Estelle and perhaps not really worth trying to get to the parking lot from Estelle, but everything else is pretty well covered. We spent time under Alpine Bowl Chair, in High Yellow and the lower Sherwood Cliffs, North Peril, Wolverine, The Face, Sympathy, God’s Knob (a little thin at the top),and Yellow Trail (where we found some untracked lines that were too good to pass up).
The mountain appeared to be wide open for skiing and in excellent condition. It felt like mid-winter this morning, although it is not. We can still use more snow. Hopefully Scott and beyond will open soon.
Enjoy your day,
Andy Wertheim