tseeb
Well-known member
Hoping this is my low day of the season. I met friend who has place at Kirkwood in Tracy, where he left his car, a little after 6. But the Carson Spur between us and Kirkwood was closed and with big storm incoming it seemed like it may not open until Tues or Wed. Friend called Caltrans maintenance station who'd given him good info before from near 99/88 and they had no ETO so we headed N of 99 thinking of Northstar where my friend had never been (and it sounded like may have been better call).
Before we got to Sacramento, the Spur has re-opened so we headed from Sacramento to Kirkwood via Fiddletown. At chain control on 88 they said there had been an avalanche and Spur was closed again with no ETO. We only had a couple minute delay before it reopened and got the last and closest parking to chair 11 (which loaded for 5 minutes) in VIP lot, but it was 10:45 before I was heading to lifts.
Kirkwood reported 6" new and we had 3 laps on Cornice before it closed due to howling winds over the top. First run was Janek which was OK. Second and third runs were steeps between Janek and Olympic which was excellent steep wind-affected powder. But as expected Cornice closed. I took two laps on Solitude before meeting friend in overcrowded Monte Wolfe lodge. After eating my sandwich and chips in lodge, we heard announcements that Carson Pass between us and So. Tahoe cabin would close (Spur was done after 3rd closure of day) soon so we rushed to car and had 1 1/2 hour drive for the 35 miles. Pass seemed to stay open so we could have skied more, but we didn't want to risk spend night in Lodge at Kirkwood. 5.6K vertical
Before we got to Sacramento, the Spur has re-opened so we headed from Sacramento to Kirkwood via Fiddletown. At chain control on 88 they said there had been an avalanche and Spur was closed again with no ETO. We only had a couple minute delay before it reopened and got the last and closest parking to chair 11 (which loaded for 5 minutes) in VIP lot, but it was 10:45 before I was heading to lifts.
Kirkwood reported 6" new and we had 3 laps on Cornice before it closed due to howling winds over the top. First run was Janek which was OK. Second and third runs were steeps between Janek and Olympic which was excellent steep wind-affected powder. But as expected Cornice closed. I took two laps on Solitude before meeting friend in overcrowded Monte Wolfe lodge. After eating my sandwich and chips in lodge, we heard announcements that Carson Pass between us and So. Tahoe cabin would close (Spur was done after 3rd closure of day) soon so we rushed to car and had 1 1/2 hour drive for the 35 miles. Pass seemed to stay open so we could have skied more, but we didn't want to risk spend night in Lodge at Kirkwood. 5.6K vertical