I wanted one more spring trip this season, so I decided to head out to Tahoe to ski Squaw Valley and Alpine meadows... and was lucky enough to ski with some of the locals. It was a quicker trip due to some work commitments, so I only had three ski days. It was well worth doing as conditions were generally really good, and it was a lot of fun. Thanks to @Philpug and @Tricia for the hospitality, and to @Andy Mink, @Tony, and @Chris V. as well for coming out to ski! I hope to get back out there again sometime.
Day 1 - Squaw Valley
First lift of the day on Squaw One - there had been 3" reported overnight to freshen things up. Eventually I met up with Chris V. and headed on up.
Squaw has both a Funitel and a Tram, which along with Squaw One give some options for getting up the mountain.
KT-22 lift in the morning light wih Exhibition lift behind... I'd never ridden KT-22 on a prior visit, but would ride it later in the day
Fog and clouds would roll in and out in the morning. This view is on Siberia Express lift with some clouds/fog and some evidence of new snow.
SkiTalk sticker shot across 4 pairs of skis - mine on the far right. They're Elan Wingman 82 CTi and are a nice all-around ski.
Andy Mink, Philpug, Tricia, and Chris V. at the top of Siberia... we lapped this a couple of times as a warm-up. These folks bypassed a reported 8-10" at Rose to come ski Squaw with me.
Next trip up Siberia the clouds had rolled back in, so we decided we should head over to the "backside" of Shirley Lake and Solitude
Near the bottom of Solitude lift, trying to miss the rocks. The off-piste here was pretty nice with the refresh, but was tough for me on day 1. It had been about a month since I'd skied, so I was getting my "ski legs" back. Chris V in green with Philpug below him.
Looking back up at the area we came down in the sun
We did a couple of laps of Solitude, and one of Granite Chief, and a couple of Shirley Lake... Mostly things were soft and pretty nice on and off-piste. And I got a couple of good pics of the wiggles on Funnel from the Shirley Lake lift, with some clouds still hanging around
After lunch, we skied down to the bottom to take KT-22... the first time I'd ever ridden it... Shown here with the Olympic Lady lift far left... definitely some serious terrain, but we'd ski some easier stuff
From the top of KT-22 you get this view of Alpine Meadows... you can make out the Roundhouse and Summit lifts
This is the sign if you go left off the lift... we went right
View looking up at the area around Saddle that we skied down... there is a narrow winding groomer you can take, but this area was in pretty nice shape and a bit of challenge for me
Day 2 - Alpine Meadows
I got to Alpine about 8:45 and got in line for Roundhouse a bit before opening. It was a warmer and sunnier day, and we'd go looking for soft stuff. I met up with @Tony, his wife Lucia, and Tony Crocker a bit later in the morning, but got a few laps in by myself early.
View of Alpine Bowl... I lapped this several times as the snow skier's left was great, and things softened up further skier's right as the day went on
We mostly skied Alpine Bowl and Wolverine Bowl (shown here from the lift)... I really wished they had an upper lift so you didn't have to ski to the bottom each time, as things got sloppy lower as the day wore on.
Another wiggle at Alpine... a big one. This one is skiers left of Wolverine Bowl. According to the trail map, it's on "Idoit's Delight"
View across Alpine Bowl to the top of the Summit lift
Taking a lunch break with a view of the groomer parking now at the base of Kangaroo lift
Alpine wasn't very busy... not a lot of folks stopping for lunch either.
Day 3 - Squaw Valley again
I was staying at the Squaw Valley Lodge, which has a great location, especially if you get a room in the closest building to the lifts.
Selfie on Red Dog... I wore this Giro helmet with integrated goggles all three days. It worked well for the mixed light conditions.
Philpug and Tricia with a lake view
I did some demo of some Augment All-Mountain 98 skis... the biggest skis I've ever been on (98 width, 187 lengh). They worked very well for soft stuff, and were suprisingly versatile.
With a lot of off-piste nicely softened, even in the morning, we skied Headwall Face... tough for me, but a good adventure. Why do the bumps always look smaller and less steep in pics (and from the lift)?
After meeting up with Tony and Lucia, we did several laps of the Solitude area again. Then we headed over to do Mighty Mite chute (between Funnel/The Attic and Arrete)... probably the narrowest thing I've skied and a good sort of intro chute for me. Tricia heading in here:
Andy Mink above the entrance watching
Tony waiting his turn
Philpug and Andy as Tricia heads down
Tricia taking the higher line coming out
After that adventure, we headed over to Emigrant, just to get one last view
Yours truly at the top of Emigrant with Lake Tahoe in the background... it was a terrific few days and way to end the season!
Day 1 - Squaw Valley
First lift of the day on Squaw One - there had been 3" reported overnight to freshen things up. Eventually I met up with Chris V. and headed on up.
Squaw has both a Funitel and a Tram, which along with Squaw One give some options for getting up the mountain.
KT-22 lift in the morning light wih Exhibition lift behind... I'd never ridden KT-22 on a prior visit, but would ride it later in the day
Fog and clouds would roll in and out in the morning. This view is on Siberia Express lift with some clouds/fog and some evidence of new snow.
SkiTalk sticker shot across 4 pairs of skis - mine on the far right. They're Elan Wingman 82 CTi and are a nice all-around ski.
Andy Mink, Philpug, Tricia, and Chris V. at the top of Siberia... we lapped this a couple of times as a warm-up. These folks bypassed a reported 8-10" at Rose to come ski Squaw with me.
Next trip up Siberia the clouds had rolled back in, so we decided we should head over to the "backside" of Shirley Lake and Solitude
Near the bottom of Solitude lift, trying to miss the rocks. The off-piste here was pretty nice with the refresh, but was tough for me on day 1. It had been about a month since I'd skied, so I was getting my "ski legs" back. Chris V in green with Philpug below him.
Looking back up at the area we came down in the sun
We did a couple of laps of Solitude, and one of Granite Chief, and a couple of Shirley Lake... Mostly things were soft and pretty nice on and off-piste. And I got a couple of good pics of the wiggles on Funnel from the Shirley Lake lift, with some clouds still hanging around
After lunch, we skied down to the bottom to take KT-22... the first time I'd ever ridden it... Shown here with the Olympic Lady lift far left... definitely some serious terrain, but we'd ski some easier stuff
From the top of KT-22 you get this view of Alpine Meadows... you can make out the Roundhouse and Summit lifts
This is the sign if you go left off the lift... we went right
View looking up at the area around Saddle that we skied down... there is a narrow winding groomer you can take, but this area was in pretty nice shape and a bit of challenge for me
Day 2 - Alpine Meadows
I got to Alpine about 8:45 and got in line for Roundhouse a bit before opening. It was a warmer and sunnier day, and we'd go looking for soft stuff. I met up with @Tony, his wife Lucia, and Tony Crocker a bit later in the morning, but got a few laps in by myself early.
View of Alpine Bowl... I lapped this several times as the snow skier's left was great, and things softened up further skier's right as the day went on
We mostly skied Alpine Bowl and Wolverine Bowl (shown here from the lift)... I really wished they had an upper lift so you didn't have to ski to the bottom each time, as things got sloppy lower as the day wore on.
Another wiggle at Alpine... a big one. This one is skiers left of Wolverine Bowl. According to the trail map, it's on "Idoit's Delight"
View across Alpine Bowl to the top of the Summit lift
Taking a lunch break with a view of the groomer parking now at the base of Kangaroo lift
Alpine wasn't very busy... not a lot of folks stopping for lunch either.
Day 3 - Squaw Valley again
I was staying at the Squaw Valley Lodge, which has a great location, especially if you get a room in the closest building to the lifts.
Selfie on Red Dog... I wore this Giro helmet with integrated goggles all three days. It worked well for the mixed light conditions.
Philpug and Tricia with a lake view
I did some demo of some Augment All-Mountain 98 skis... the biggest skis I've ever been on (98 width, 187 lengh). They worked very well for soft stuff, and were suprisingly versatile.
With a lot of off-piste nicely softened, even in the morning, we skied Headwall Face... tough for me, but a good adventure. Why do the bumps always look smaller and less steep in pics (and from the lift)?
After meeting up with Tony and Lucia, we did several laps of the Solitude area again. Then we headed over to do Mighty Mite chute (between Funnel/The Attic and Arrete)... probably the narrowest thing I've skied and a good sort of intro chute for me. Tricia heading in here:
Andy Mink above the entrance watching
Tony waiting his turn
Philpug and Andy as Tricia heads down
Tricia taking the higher line coming out
After that adventure, we headed over to Emigrant, just to get one last view
Yours truly at the top of Emigrant with Lake Tahoe in the background... it was a terrific few days and way to end the season!
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