tseeb
Well-known member
Kirkwood on Thursday 1/15 was windy and the temperature barely may have reached 40. The cloud from the Sierra wave was parked over Kirkwood until about 3 pm when the sun got under it before going behind the ridge for the day. The wind was out of the east at 30-35 mph eventually leading to the closing of chairs 3 and 4. The Wall also closed early, possibly because nobody was skiing there. The snow surface was very good in most places and a little firm where it had melted and was not groomed. On Chair 4 (Sunrise or backside) the wind was at your back while on the lift, but when skiing down, going into the wind, it felt like 50 mph and I was not dressed warm enough so I left via always excellent Thunder Saddle after one run. The groomers on chair 11 (The Reut) and chair 6 (Cornice) were in good shape with just enough traffic to loosen the corduroy. Even though $39 discounts coupons were available through snowbomb and passholders could buy four buddy tickets for $36 each, it was not crowded. I counted 15 runs and 16K vertical before quitting at 3:15.
Heavenly on Friday 1/16 was better with lighter winds and sunshine on most lifts, but not on the steeper runs where sun was blocked by trees and terrain. There was a 10-15 minute line to get tickets at the tram as almost everyone was using Warren Miller vouchers since it was the last day they were valid. We took a couple of runs on Sky chair. Ellie’s and Liz’s are closed due to lack of snow, but the runs towards Canyon chair were all had nice corduroy and good coverage. We went to Nevada where my buddy on a snowboard enjoyed the new contouring of the Skyline trail which almost eliminates any hiking. After skiing part of Big Dipper run and quickly getting bored with the groomed, I went with a lady from Austria I rode on the chair with to Milky Way Bowl. I cut into the sunny part of the bowl, but we ended up traversing right to where there was excellent wind pack. We skied it again, coming in higher and saw some skiers coming from way higher so we returned to CA and took one of the highest traverses into Milky Way, where we had 6-8 turns in windpack before we started crossing some tracks. We looked at Motts as it and Killebrew were open, but did not go in as there was no sun on the steeper Motts runs and we were concerned they may be icy from warmer weather earlier in the week.
I met up with my friends in the enlarged East Peak Lodge where it was warm enough to sit outside if you could take the sun. After lunch we moved to Olympic chair and skied the top of the downhill twice before continuing once to the bottom of Stagecoach which was already starting to ice up. We also looked at icy North Bowl and very thin Boulder Chute, but decided against them. We skied Stagecoach run where I found some good snow on skier’s right, then we took lower Nevada trail over to slow North Bowl chair so my friend would not have to hike his board from the top of Stagecoach. We went up Olympic and found good snow on Ponderosa which we used to return to Dipper. By afternoon most of the more trafficked runs had a couple of inches of loose snow on the edges where skiers had piled it.
I lost my friends on the way back to CA as I had to take some phone calls where I had service. I skied an alternate return to Sky which was better than more trafficked route, then came down High Roller, which was getting firm, before cruising Ridge, which had a lot of loose snow from skier traffic, to Upper Mombo. A lady I rode the Groove chair with talked about skiing Hogsback as she said all the rocks had been uncovered. Instead, I took Advanced Roundabout, which was very narrow and thin in about three places and I found some good snow cutting the corners on Roundabout including one place where snowmaking had left an inch of two on a steep face. Lower Gunbarrel was closed and the bottom of the Face was OK. I went up East Bowl chair once before seeing my friend at the truck about 3:30 and quit with 20 runs 24.2K vertical.
Heavenly on Friday 1/16 was better with lighter winds and sunshine on most lifts, but not on the steeper runs where sun was blocked by trees and terrain. There was a 10-15 minute line to get tickets at the tram as almost everyone was using Warren Miller vouchers since it was the last day they were valid. We took a couple of runs on Sky chair. Ellie’s and Liz’s are closed due to lack of snow, but the runs towards Canyon chair were all had nice corduroy and good coverage. We went to Nevada where my buddy on a snowboard enjoyed the new contouring of the Skyline trail which almost eliminates any hiking. After skiing part of Big Dipper run and quickly getting bored with the groomed, I went with a lady from Austria I rode on the chair with to Milky Way Bowl. I cut into the sunny part of the bowl, but we ended up traversing right to where there was excellent wind pack. We skied it again, coming in higher and saw some skiers coming from way higher so we returned to CA and took one of the highest traverses into Milky Way, where we had 6-8 turns in windpack before we started crossing some tracks. We looked at Motts as it and Killebrew were open, but did not go in as there was no sun on the steeper Motts runs and we were concerned they may be icy from warmer weather earlier in the week.
I met up with my friends in the enlarged East Peak Lodge where it was warm enough to sit outside if you could take the sun. After lunch we moved to Olympic chair and skied the top of the downhill twice before continuing once to the bottom of Stagecoach which was already starting to ice up. We also looked at icy North Bowl and very thin Boulder Chute, but decided against them. We skied Stagecoach run where I found some good snow on skier’s right, then we took lower Nevada trail over to slow North Bowl chair so my friend would not have to hike his board from the top of Stagecoach. We went up Olympic and found good snow on Ponderosa which we used to return to Dipper. By afternoon most of the more trafficked runs had a couple of inches of loose snow on the edges where skiers had piled it.
I lost my friends on the way back to CA as I had to take some phone calls where I had service. I skied an alternate return to Sky which was better than more trafficked route, then came down High Roller, which was getting firm, before cruising Ridge, which had a lot of loose snow from skier traffic, to Upper Mombo. A lady I rode the Groove chair with talked about skiing Hogsback as she said all the rocks had been uncovered. Instead, I took Advanced Roundabout, which was very narrow and thin in about three places and I found some good snow cutting the corners on Roundabout including one place where snowmaking had left an inch of two on a steep face. Lower Gunbarrel was closed and the bottom of the Face was OK. I went up East Bowl chair once before seeing my friend at the truck about 3:30 and quit with 20 runs 24.2K vertical.
