tseeb
Well-known member
I wasn't sure if I was going, but wanted to get more skiing in before my CO trip at the end of the month. When I checked CA road conditions Friday evening and saw chain controls on everywhere about 9 pm, I went to bed thinking if I woke up at 4 and it was still snowing, I'd go. I woke up at 4:30 and saw chain controls had come way down on 50 and 80 and was packed and out the door shortly after 5:30. On the way up, I heard about ice on 101 near SFO and that Heavenly was claiming 7" new. Chain control started at 3,000 feet, but traffic was not that heavy or slow so I arrived So. Tahoe before 9:30.
I parked in the back of Harrah's, thinking I would come down Firebreak to end the day and walked to the gondola. I skied down Big Dipper Bowl and went up Dipper Chair and skied Dipper Woods into Motts where I went down Under The Gun on the Killbrew side. On the south-facing slope the snow was not deep enough to cover the hard layer, but it was untracked 3-4 inches. The track out of Killibrew was barely covered where it faces south and east, then fast through the trees back to Motts. Next run I came down Burnt Snag where the snow was deeper, but tracked out unless you stayed close to trees.
Next lift up I rode with a Dr. from Reno who took me into Stateline Chute on Killibrew where there was an honest 7" and the bottom right was untracked. We did that again later with his brother who is an instructor at Heavenly and I took a much more exposed entry and again found deep untracked snow skier's right. We also twice skied across the top of Motts and dropped into the Y and cut over to the lower half of Rocky Point where snow was deep and it's steep enough to have to get out of the way of your sluff. The guys I was skiing with liked the bumps on Little Dipper under the Comet chair, but my back was already sore so I stayed in the trees to the gully skier's left of the run about three times before going in for a break about 2:30 at East Peak Lodge which was very crowded due to heavy snow that fell for about 30 minutes.
Nobody was recommending Firebreak so I decided to ski to CA base and shuttle back to gondola. I found more powder in Skiways and Maggie's Canyon and then did one ride to the top of Sky where there was no wind and light snow. I started on Liz's, then cutover to Ridge Bowl and hit Waterfall before coming down skier's left of Gunbarrel where snow was untracked, but new snow got thinner halfway down. It snowed hard a few times during the days and again at 10 pm when I came home from casinos, but they only claim 3" new on 3/16, probably half of which fell during the day on 3/15. 20 runs, all with some powder, 21.9 K vertical
I parked in the back of Harrah's, thinking I would come down Firebreak to end the day and walked to the gondola. I skied down Big Dipper Bowl and went up Dipper Chair and skied Dipper Woods into Motts where I went down Under The Gun on the Killbrew side. On the south-facing slope the snow was not deep enough to cover the hard layer, but it was untracked 3-4 inches. The track out of Killibrew was barely covered where it faces south and east, then fast through the trees back to Motts. Next run I came down Burnt Snag where the snow was deeper, but tracked out unless you stayed close to trees.
Next lift up I rode with a Dr. from Reno who took me into Stateline Chute on Killibrew where there was an honest 7" and the bottom right was untracked. We did that again later with his brother who is an instructor at Heavenly and I took a much more exposed entry and again found deep untracked snow skier's right. We also twice skied across the top of Motts and dropped into the Y and cut over to the lower half of Rocky Point where snow was deep and it's steep enough to have to get out of the way of your sluff. The guys I was skiing with liked the bumps on Little Dipper under the Comet chair, but my back was already sore so I stayed in the trees to the gully skier's left of the run about three times before going in for a break about 2:30 at East Peak Lodge which was very crowded due to heavy snow that fell for about 30 minutes.
Nobody was recommending Firebreak so I decided to ski to CA base and shuttle back to gondola. I found more powder in Skiways and Maggie's Canyon and then did one ride to the top of Sky where there was no wind and light snow. I started on Liz's, then cutover to Ridge Bowl and hit Waterfall before coming down skier's left of Gunbarrel where snow was untracked, but new snow got thinner halfway down. It snowed hard a few times during the days and again at 10 pm when I came home from casinos, but they only claim 3" new on 3/16, probably half of which fell during the day on 3/15. 20 runs, all with some powder, 21.9 K vertical
