tseeb
Well-known member
Kirkwood reported 19-25” of new snow on Friday plus another 8-10” by Saturday morning. 35 miles away Heavenly reported 5-8” on Friday plus another 2” by Saturday morning. My wife’s and my passes are blacked out Saturdays at Kirkwood and friends that had joined us Friday night in South Lake Tahoe were using buddy tickets from my wife’s pass so we drove the mile and a half to the tram and got on about 9:40.
We thought Saturday was going to be the transition day from winter to spring, but we had clouds most of the day. The sun almost broke through a couple of times, but clouds always returned. We went up to Canyon chair and took a couple of warm-ups there before going up Sky chair and skiing to Nevada. The groomers were in excellent condition as some snow had fallen after they had been groomed and there was also some lightly tracked day-old powder in trees next to the runs. My friend and I sent the ladies ahead on the run that wraps around the mountain to Dipper chair, while we took a high entrance into Milky Way Bowl. There was some day-old powder near trees, but it was not always deep enough to cover a hard layer below.
After waiting a while due to miscommunication, we went up Dipper and skied Milky Way Bowl into Mott’s canyon. We came down the Y, where most of the new snow had been scraped off and it was firm, no-fall skiing. We went up Motts and Dipper and skied CA trail into Maggies Canyon where we found some good untracked, but I also hit a buried rock. We went back up to Sky and I showed my friend new to him Pinnacles run, but snow was not great so we cut over to Ellies, hitting some untracked on the way. We met our wives at Comet chair where they skied the groomed and we skied mostly tracked powder next to the run.
At almost 1 pm, we went into Tamarack Lodge where band was starting to play and alternated the afternoon with fashion show, both were outside where temperature was in the mid-30s. After a lunch break, my wife and friend and I went out for a couple of runs on Dipper chair, where snow was holding up well as it did not get very crowded or warm. We stopped to get my friend’s wife at Tamarack lodge and showed her the long way back; going up Tamarack chair, skiing CA trail, going up Sky chair, then taking Ridge Run to Patsy’s chair. My friend’s wife rode the tram down, while we skied Patsy’s, then took Groove chair and Upper Roundabout as my wife did not want to do the Face from the top. Upper Roundabout was very thin in places, but Roundabout was OK although you could not take any of the West Bowl shortcuts. The lower part of the Face was good, until very bottom where snow got dirty and soft. My watch counted 23K.
We had an early night Saturday, watching the Sharks lose and enjoying the buffet at Harrah’s. My wife and I got to Kirkwood about 10 am Sunday and parked in muddy lot by Timber Creek where there were moderate lines for tickets and lift. We went up Cornice a couple of times to ski Sentinel and Zachary, both were groomed and east-facing Zachary was softening fast. I went up the Wall while my wife went up the Reut. We were supposed to meet at chair 2 to go to the Backside. She missed the traverse so I took a chair 2 run then led her to Backside, where all the runs were groomed much narrower than usual. Backside was scheduled to close previous weekend, but conditions were so good that Kirkwood kept it open until this day.
I skied Backside with my wife a couple of times, but the building line and slow chair drove me out of there into Thunder Saddle and Two Man chute, both with good snow. I went up chair 2 and the T-bar (first time this season) and skied Moon Bowl, where west-facing snow was tricky. It must have been warmer and/or sunnier than Heavenly on Saturday. I met my wife on Backside and skied it one more time with her before taking chair 3 (another first time this season) to get back to frontside. I took the Wall a couple of more times, finding the top of a really high groomed track above Shotgun/Conestoga. We finished a little after 3, going up the Reut together, then going up Cornice and skiing Zachary to Home Run to the car as my wife did not like hike to Sentinel. We got down the hill early enough to stop at Avio winery on Ridge Road above CA-49 for a tasting. 17K vertical.
We thought Saturday was going to be the transition day from winter to spring, but we had clouds most of the day. The sun almost broke through a couple of times, but clouds always returned. We went up to Canyon chair and took a couple of warm-ups there before going up Sky chair and skiing to Nevada. The groomers were in excellent condition as some snow had fallen after they had been groomed and there was also some lightly tracked day-old powder in trees next to the runs. My friend and I sent the ladies ahead on the run that wraps around the mountain to Dipper chair, while we took a high entrance into Milky Way Bowl. There was some day-old powder near trees, but it was not always deep enough to cover a hard layer below.
After waiting a while due to miscommunication, we went up Dipper and skied Milky Way Bowl into Mott’s canyon. We came down the Y, where most of the new snow had been scraped off and it was firm, no-fall skiing. We went up Motts and Dipper and skied CA trail into Maggies Canyon where we found some good untracked, but I also hit a buried rock. We went back up to Sky and I showed my friend new to him Pinnacles run, but snow was not great so we cut over to Ellies, hitting some untracked on the way. We met our wives at Comet chair where they skied the groomed and we skied mostly tracked powder next to the run.
At almost 1 pm, we went into Tamarack Lodge where band was starting to play and alternated the afternoon with fashion show, both were outside where temperature was in the mid-30s. After a lunch break, my wife and friend and I went out for a couple of runs on Dipper chair, where snow was holding up well as it did not get very crowded or warm. We stopped to get my friend’s wife at Tamarack lodge and showed her the long way back; going up Tamarack chair, skiing CA trail, going up Sky chair, then taking Ridge Run to Patsy’s chair. My friend’s wife rode the tram down, while we skied Patsy’s, then took Groove chair and Upper Roundabout as my wife did not want to do the Face from the top. Upper Roundabout was very thin in places, but Roundabout was OK although you could not take any of the West Bowl shortcuts. The lower part of the Face was good, until very bottom where snow got dirty and soft. My watch counted 23K.
We had an early night Saturday, watching the Sharks lose and enjoying the buffet at Harrah’s. My wife and I got to Kirkwood about 10 am Sunday and parked in muddy lot by Timber Creek where there were moderate lines for tickets and lift. We went up Cornice a couple of times to ski Sentinel and Zachary, both were groomed and east-facing Zachary was softening fast. I went up the Wall while my wife went up the Reut. We were supposed to meet at chair 2 to go to the Backside. She missed the traverse so I took a chair 2 run then led her to Backside, where all the runs were groomed much narrower than usual. Backside was scheduled to close previous weekend, but conditions were so good that Kirkwood kept it open until this day.
I skied Backside with my wife a couple of times, but the building line and slow chair drove me out of there into Thunder Saddle and Two Man chute, both with good snow. I went up chair 2 and the T-bar (first time this season) and skied Moon Bowl, where west-facing snow was tricky. It must have been warmer and/or sunnier than Heavenly on Saturday. I met my wife on Backside and skied it one more time with her before taking chair 3 (another first time this season) to get back to frontside. I took the Wall a couple of more times, finding the top of a really high groomed track above Shotgun/Conestoga. We finished a little after 3, going up the Reut together, then going up Cornice and skiing Zachary to Home Run to the car as my wife did not like hike to Sentinel. We got down the hill early enough to stop at Avio winery on Ridge Road above CA-49 for a tasting. 17K vertical.
