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California/Nevada 2020-2021 Tahoe Ski Resorts/Conditions/Meetups
- Thread starter Andy Mink
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I'm heading up next week for Tues/Weds/Thurs at Northstar, if anyone's up that way. My wife's knee is still bothering her, so no skiing for her, maybe all year :-(
Primo spring conditions @ Alpine the past few days. Lost the sidehill traverse out south again.. was nice for the past 3 weeks to not have to hike or sidestep the saddle to get out the ridge. Groomers were rippin this afternoon, did an outer lap around 2:00 that was full on hero snow. Thinking tomorrow should be more of the same!
Smooth corn around the trees out past CB
Smooth corn around the trees out past CB
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Squaw (Silverado) - March 1
I was able to make it out about 12:30 and ski to close, took cable car up and hit Silverado immediately.
On the first run down Land Bridge to check things out I noticed two things at once- low coverage underneath some of the drops around China Wall (aka don't take that risk even if it snows another foot) and on land bridge itself, they had groomed rather lightly (presumably to maximize coverage- for those who have hiked Silverado canyon in the summer you know it's not much of a road, more of a creekbed you ski on). So a lot of bunny hops. If you are in there in poor lighting or later in the day in the shade, be very very careful if you're carrying speed over the flats. As I saw at least two people find out the hard way. One of whom really ripped down Katmandu brilliantly and had a yard sale on the trail. Too bad.
In the light, Trail 90 skied very well..not corn but soft enough to be about as easy as it ever gets. Bailey's was a little less nice...the choke towards the bottom (I think it's called Medusa, but it's where it crosses under and aligns with the lift line a bit with China wall Skiers right and Iron Curtain skiers left) there are some rocks showing. Avoidable, but again, careful in low light and/or high speed. I made a third pass down Trail 90 when losing the light and it became much more unpleasant much more quickly.
Flowing the sun I shifted over to the Far Side and it was not quite corn, but close (just had been skied a bit much) and very nice. I repeated the run starting higher up on Broken Arrow and traversing down the closure line and found it the best run of the day in good quality corn. Then being a bit of an idiot, I stayed skiers right of land bridge to ski down the face above the lift maze, not thinking the light would be gone. Thus followed 15 minutes of rather miserable sideslipping and falling leaf turns. I don't know the name of the area (it's just the face above the lift maze, whereas Oregon trail comes in from lookers right) but avoid avoid avoid if it doesn't soften.
I've never seen the area with as low coverage as we have now, but it's extremely skiable, as remote/backcountry feeling as ever and I am really impressed at the work that was done to open it. The ramp built for the lift is a thing. as FYI, the section of Oregon trail below Iron Curtain wasn't exactly where I normally recall it being, so if you're planning on hitting that area after a snowfall and using the road to get out, might want to scout it first.
Finally, the creek gully at the bottom of the canyon holds excellent snow (suspecting it never sees the sun) and is very fun as gully runs go. It's the area where the cat road goes skiers right and the gully is to the left maybe 2/3 of the way down the canyon. Highly recommend vs the cat run.
After they closed Silverado I hit Siberia (pretty good off skiers right) and Headwall (north facing). The first 500-700 feet are still pretty nice but below that it gets pretty variable. For those with more flexibility I suspect Heavenly or Rose would be nice above 9k. Unfortunately my passes are for Diamond Peak and Ikon. Of note, on my final descent I saw folks coming down the West Face / Moseleys area of KT22 and even with the afternoon sun there were lots of horrible sounds involved. Being a Ice Coast Guy I love hardback but only if it's smooth, and this ain't that.
Let's hope for some snow. In meantime, Spring conditions in Silverado are great spring conditions. Just be mindful of rocks in the chokes.
I was able to make it out about 12:30 and ski to close, took cable car up and hit Silverado immediately.
On the first run down Land Bridge to check things out I noticed two things at once- low coverage underneath some of the drops around China Wall (aka don't take that risk even if it snows another foot) and on land bridge itself, they had groomed rather lightly (presumably to maximize coverage- for those who have hiked Silverado canyon in the summer you know it's not much of a road, more of a creekbed you ski on). So a lot of bunny hops. If you are in there in poor lighting or later in the day in the shade, be very very careful if you're carrying speed over the flats. As I saw at least two people find out the hard way. One of whom really ripped down Katmandu brilliantly and had a yard sale on the trail. Too bad.
In the light, Trail 90 skied very well..not corn but soft enough to be about as easy as it ever gets. Bailey's was a little less nice...the choke towards the bottom (I think it's called Medusa, but it's where it crosses under and aligns with the lift line a bit with China wall Skiers right and Iron Curtain skiers left) there are some rocks showing. Avoidable, but again, careful in low light and/or high speed. I made a third pass down Trail 90 when losing the light and it became much more unpleasant much more quickly.
Flowing the sun I shifted over to the Far Side and it was not quite corn, but close (just had been skied a bit much) and very nice. I repeated the run starting higher up on Broken Arrow and traversing down the closure line and found it the best run of the day in good quality corn. Then being a bit of an idiot, I stayed skiers right of land bridge to ski down the face above the lift maze, not thinking the light would be gone. Thus followed 15 minutes of rather miserable sideslipping and falling leaf turns. I don't know the name of the area (it's just the face above the lift maze, whereas Oregon trail comes in from lookers right) but avoid avoid avoid if it doesn't soften.
I've never seen the area with as low coverage as we have now, but it's extremely skiable, as remote/backcountry feeling as ever and I am really impressed at the work that was done to open it. The ramp built for the lift is a thing. as FYI, the section of Oregon trail below Iron Curtain wasn't exactly where I normally recall it being, so if you're planning on hitting that area after a snowfall and using the road to get out, might want to scout it first.
Finally, the creek gully at the bottom of the canyon holds excellent snow (suspecting it never sees the sun) and is very fun as gully runs go. It's the area where the cat road goes skiers right and the gully is to the left maybe 2/3 of the way down the canyon. Highly recommend vs the cat run.
After they closed Silverado I hit Siberia (pretty good off skiers right) and Headwall (north facing). The first 500-700 feet are still pretty nice but below that it gets pretty variable. For those with more flexibility I suspect Heavenly or Rose would be nice above 9k. Unfortunately my passes are for Diamond Peak and Ikon. Of note, on my final descent I saw folks coming down the West Face / Moseleys area of KT22 and even with the afternoon sun there were lots of horrible sounds involved. Being a Ice Coast Guy I love hardback but only if it's smooth, and this ain't that.
Let's hope for some snow. In meantime, Spring conditions in Silverado are great spring conditions. Just be mindful of rocks in the chokes.
In case anyone is trying to make a reservation today, Vail according to a person on their new contact phone number at 12pm PST is having an issue with their epimix system that prevented me from login-ing today. Note their password RESET process won't send an email. I was trying to make a reservation for Heavenly the following 2 days. So she gave me a temporary password I need to use at 3pm.
I'll be mainly skiing Little Dipper off Comet Express. Tan pants, teal coat, white helmet, blue boots, blue skis.
Latest wunderground Kirkwood 7.9k elevation forecast at 3pm 3/2/21 shows 30.1 inches of snow over the 10 day period. Would like to see that for what it is worth a ways off. Note the mid 20F temps during snow next week:
I'll be mainly skiing Little Dipper off Comet Express. Tan pants, teal coat, white helmet, blue boots, blue skis.
Latest wunderground Kirkwood 7.9k elevation forecast at 3pm 3/2/21 shows 30.1 inches of snow over the 10 day period. Would like to see that for what it is worth a ways off. Note the mid 20F temps during snow next week:
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I skied Kirkwood on Tuesday and will be at Heavenly today with @Spnole. I have Kirkwood res. for Thurs, but could return to Heavenly if better there.
Kirkwood started out sunny and E-facing groomers skied great early, but some clouds, wind and not very high temps prevented further softening until late in day when sun came back out. On Backside, besides usual groomer Elevator Shaft, they also groomed a path below hike-to Covered Wagon and Hully Gully, which I thought was best run of day. The entrance and big chopped off moguls at the top of the Wall were better than expected, but below that it never softened enough. First picture is Covered Wagon. Groomed path under wispy clouds just right of center.
Elevator Shaft to left and Hully Gully just to right of Sunrise chair on Backside.
I never saw many people on Wall chair or run. The paths that meet in lower center and are not shiny were scary firm.
Kirkwood started out sunny and E-facing groomers skied great early, but some clouds, wind and not very high temps prevented further softening until late in day when sun came back out. On Backside, besides usual groomer Elevator Shaft, they also groomed a path below hike-to Covered Wagon and Hully Gully, which I thought was best run of day. The entrance and big chopped off moguls at the top of the Wall were better than expected, but below that it never softened enough. First picture is Covered Wagon. Groomed path under wispy clouds just right of center.
Elevator Shaft to left and Hully Gully just to right of Sunrise chair on Backside.
I never saw many people on Wall chair or run. The paths that meet in lower center and are not shiny were scary firm.
^^^
If I've said it once, I've said it a thousand times... ski reosrts are not supposed to be shiny!!
If I've said it once, I've said it a thousand times... ski reosrts are not supposed to be shiny!!
Ooooo.... I like that on sooo many levels. Stealing it!
Looped Little Dipper fall lines today 10 straight times. Cloudy all day but light not too bad. Bumps larger more solid given 3 weeks now to grow, but still very edgeable skier tracked packed powder given the 9k+ elevations and in some areas I have a lot to do with the bump forms. Not as many people on LD as it is certainly intimidating now if one cannot flow. Some very enjoyable lines that will return to tomorrow. Motto today was "Stops-a-lot". Somewhat variable and inconsistent technique today though overall ridiculously exhilarating fun.
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Shiny is better than liquid as it makes you go faster. You just need to make sure your edges are sharp.
And it's a lot better than brown. Both of these pictures are from Kirkwood in early April 2018.
Today was a very good day at Heavenly although a little more sun or warmth would have improved it. @Spnole and I met well before 9 AM opening and got his Buddy ticket sorted out. Our longest line of the day was waiting for Gunbarrel to open, but it worked out as friend (in Chargers helmet) I used to work with and wife wife joined us and avoided the part of line behind us.
We skied with them for a couple of hours as they live at So. Tahoe and have new puppy and not the best knees and usually quit well before 11. They made it to NV and we all skied Perimeter and it may have been my first ride on new, but still slow, Galaxy lift. The runs of the day were Milky Way Bowl which we skied three times and North Bowl which was good enough that @Spnole and I repeated it even though we both had eaten our sandwiches on the first long slow chair ride. We met @markjs on Dipper chair when he noticed the pugski sticker on my skis (placed there on Peak-to-Peak gondola during Whistler gathering by @Near Nyquist). He joined us for Milky Way Bowl and was surprised how good it skied. Then while @Spnole repeated 'easy' route into Mott we'd done earlier, @markjs and I skied Bill's which I like better than trees farther left we'd skied earlier. Lines on Dipper and Sky chairs were the shortest I've had all season. Pictures taken on California Trail by @markjs.
Great day today at Heavenly with @Tony Great guide and a wealth of knowledge. Guided me safely through Mott Canyon twice and showing me some new spots. Snow was variable but temperature and crowds were perfect. Thanks @Tony for your hospitality. Have made some great new friends here this trip. Thanks to everyone on this board for your kind words and willingness to help out!!
Just try to come over more often! You know where to find us, it's normally in all the wrong places
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It was fun skiing with both of you today, glad I ran in to you (thanks Phil). Hitting Mott sure got me warmed up and overall it was pretty good. We do need some snow though, Ellie’s and the Palisades look a bit sketchy. Nice to meet both of you today, I hope @Spnole enjoys his remaining time in Tahoe.
Wierd snow in Silverado today crusty slab with some grip over soft snow. Head wall looks good. Granite Chief not.Funnel doable but probably not fun. 75 & Mosley’s are shiny. Probably closed.
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Besides the flat light yesterday more of the same springy conditions the past few days. Sun angles are still low enough to keep things from burning up too badly but are getting a little more peppery by the day. South face proper and Sherwood groomer are starting to show through a bit.
Hopefully we can pull a little refresh out of this first storm and get the storm door back open over the next few weeks.
Sidehill traverse back open but you’ve got to click out and boot it across the rocks a bit
Winds looking like they might get pretty nasty as the day progresses tomorrow. This is for top of snow king so upper mountains could be rippin pretty good by mid afternoon
Hopefully we can pull a little refresh out of this first storm and get the storm door back open over the next few weeks.
Sidehill traverse back open but you’ve got to click out and boot it across the rocks a bit
Winds looking like they might get pretty nasty as the day progresses tomorrow. This is for top of snow king so upper mountains could be rippin pretty good by mid afternoon
That light doesn't look very flat to me. After Tuesday at Kirkwood where it started out sunny, but clouds and wind moved in and prevented a lot of softening and overcast Wednesday at Heavenly, it was so beautiful at Kirkwood on Thursday that it almost hurt to look. I started at 930 with some laps on Timber Creek and Cornice, then moved to the Backside where I did short hike to try the groomer they've put in below Covered Wagon.
The sky was so blue it was like you were looking into space.
It was a little hazy down low looking towards Central Valley. These people got to top of hike while I still had skis off, but waited for me to go first.
I took my two Wall laps at 1215 and 130. There were still some shiny spots but snow in moguls was good and it felt like an accomplishment to do it.
I also skied Cornice many more times. Groomers were better than ungroomed. I quit at 2:15 and was home before 6. I plan to be back next week.
Drove back home after 2 days bump skiing LD each day. On most runs yesterday in semi wimp mode given faster surfaces and far less miners digging it up, aborted the steeper bottom below tower 10 by ejecting out into Aries Woods off to Jacks. What a total body work out for a septuagenarian, yikes.
Given all the 3 week old ice storm glazed slab surfaces, Kirkwood is likely to have some serious avalanche issues after these cold storms add little that will adhere. Now that we are closer to these storms WU has reduced Kirkwoods forecast snow by 2/3 that follows the same pattern we've seen most of this winter with model forecasts. Just a couple inches now at Heavenly. On a more optimistic note, the midweek storm is still too far away for model confidence. At 9k+ elevations, even north facing untracked groomed surfaces early mornings are now showing signs of a melt freeze cycle.
Given all the 3 week old ice storm glazed slab surfaces, Kirkwood is likely to have some serious avalanche issues after these cold storms add little that will adhere. Now that we are closer to these storms WU has reduced Kirkwoods forecast snow by 2/3 that follows the same pattern we've seen most of this winter with model forecasts. Just a couple inches now at Heavenly. On a more optimistic note, the midweek storm is still too far away for model confidence. At 9k+ elevations, even north facing untracked groomed surfaces early mornings are now showing signs of a melt freeze cycle.
Squaw says high of 51 today
Alpine says high of 34 today
Doesn’t add up as they are next to each other.
Alpine says high of 34 today
Doesn’t add up as they are next to each other.
adds up to 85
Yeah that pic was yesterday.. pretty sure Wednesday was the overcast/flat light day? Been out chasing the sun at Alpine the last 6 days so they kinda blur together a bit, lots of sun for sure.
Today might have been the best day possibly. With the warmup yesterday and a pretty light freeze last night N & W aspects that haven’t really been softening got there with the temps this afternoon. And the wind wasn’t nearly as gusty as predicted, maybe the storm is taking its time moving in.
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