Kirkwood, CA 2/4 & 2/5/2021

[tseeb]

This is a minimalist trip as I’m only staying one night at cabin and did not turn on water or bring laptop to edit photos. So this report is also minimalist and more of a placeholder posted from my phone.

I made it to Kirkwood in 3 hrs 20 min, skied 9:10-4:10 and my watch counted 25 lifts/25.2K. It was busy early, but crowds went away in PM. Coverage, snow surface and weather all very good.

 

[tseeb]

The rest of my story from Kirkwood on 2/4 was that I fell off wind-stripped traverse around the back of The Wall. I was going slow and lifted my downhill ski to go between a couple of rocks where path was not wide enough for two skis. I probably should have stopped and stepped over rocks as I toppled downhill into partially covered, but at least not sharp, rocks. My elbow took the worst of it with some swelling (probably bursitis that I had on one knee a few years ago) and tenderness - no problems moving it. My neck also was violently snapped and I hit hard on hip, back, shoulder and head, all on side injured a couple of years ago in dirtbike crash. I got right up and seemed OK so I skied gingerly over to the entrance to the Notch Chute. I had skied most of it on previous run and watched a snowboarder slide-slip into the very top. I declined the near-vertical 4’ start of a longer slide-slip that was barely wider than my skis.

Instead I removed skis and hiked over to, then skied Sisters Chute, where I took this picture from almost at the exit.

At lunch at the car I took 400 mg ibruprofen and have continued that every 6 hours since. Snowcats were moving snow from lower parking lot that friend who arrived after 9 used the next day.View attachment 1In the afternoon, after crowds had gone way down, I returned to the Backside and poled and side-stepped across the top of the Wave, gaining almost 100 vertical feet to get above rock patch in center of picture. I skied the blown-in snow in the bowl, then sampled the trees, before returning to more open run.

 

[tseeb]

Kirkwood 2/5/2021
I got the closest parking spot to where cats and snowmobiles cross road below Timber Creek lift at 8:45 and was on lift at 9. I complimented operator for opening it early and running it late letting the previous day, when well after 4, they raised the closed sign for me to load a chair behind what was going to be last chair. Temp was up a little, wind was down a bit, but still strong from E/NE over the top and crowd was up and early.

I skied Cornice three times; both Zachary's and Sentinel were in great shape, finishing with edge of bumps on left side of Monte Wolf. I moved to The Wall, where steep face at top had a lot of blocks groomers had knocked off road that was showing some gravel, but I found line without blocks on lookers right with some blown-in snow. Snow to skiers right of chair after steep top was also excellent. I’d told friends from San Jose that you had to be early to beat crowds on Backside so I headed that way. But after riding chair 2 towards there, I couldn’t pass up hiking 80 vertical feet up to Lookout Vista T-bar that ran for what I think was the first time this season. I rode it twice, first skiing S from the top

towards chair 4, where line not much after 10:30 was too long for me. So I rode chair 3, then did hike up to and rode T-bar again starting with NE-facing at the top,

then wrapping around to more E, then SE facing to get back to chair 3. While lightly tracked snow was two or more days old and avoided by most including snowboarders, it was possible to link turns in multiple spots with the right skis and technique.

I met up with and took a few runs before lunch with friend from Minden on chair 2 and saw friends from San Jose on chair 2, but didn’t get together with them until lunch. We shared table outside 7800, where they were also serving inside. We all skied together in PM, starting with a couple of laps on the Reut before we moved to Cornice. One friend from San Jose got called out by Security while in line for Cornice for wearing a mask that was too thin.

Friend from Minden and I skied until almost 4. My watch counted 25.3K and 25 lifts, but I probably rode 27 as T-bar would not count as it was consecutive with chair 2 or 3. I made it home in 3 hrs 20 mins, with a stop for some of Smoked Brats just before 6 at Lockeford Meats since line was not out the door and around the corner as it often is. Traffic going the other way, from South Bay Area towards Sierra, was very heavy. Miles driven on my 2-day minimalist trip was 422 in about 8 hours. Hours skiing (or at lunch while skiing) was 14.

 

[jimk]

Tony, sounds like you made a good recovery after your tumble in the rocks. It kind of highlights an issue that always applies to solo ski days/trips, but maybe even more so during the socially distanced days of Covid. That is the issue of undertaking a long ski outing by yourself for a single day, weekend or longer. For a longer day-trip you have to do a 2-3 hour drive to ski and try to enjoy an active ski day while remaining safe and physically capable/alert of doing the return drive home. In this case it sounds like you got to stop at the cabin after the first day for a good rest/recovery?

I have an older ski friend who was standing on the side of a ski trail in WV about three years ago when a young out-of-control snow rider crashed into him, hard. The resulting blow broke six of his ribs, two in two places, and basically put him in shock. He then drove solo for 4.5 hours to his home with internal pain growing worse by the mile. His wife took one look at him when he got home and called an ambulance. He spent the next two days in the hospital.

Moral of the story, it's always great to ski and travel with a buddy. But I know that's not always possible for those of us who just gotta get our ski fix Connecting with your friends on second day was a good move.

 

[Tony Crocker]

Moral of the story, it's always great to ski and travel with a buddy. But I know that's not always possible for those of us who just gotta get our ski fix

Jimk would be shocked by the proportion of my skiing that has been solo. I have the data to make a good estimate but my gut reaction is at least 1/3. On this page I list my top 12 lift serviced powder days and my top 12 vertical days. Of those 24 days 9 I was solo and 7 more I was on a trip with other people but not skiing with them on that particular day.

 

[tseeb]

In this case it sounds like you got to stop at the cabin after the first day for a good rest/recovery?

I have an older ski friend who was standing on the side of a ski trail in WV about three years ago when a young out-of-control snow rider crashed into him, hard. The resulting blow broke six of his ribs, two in two places, and basically put him in shock. He then drove solo for 4.5 hours to his home with internal pain growing worse by the mile. His wife took one look at him when he got home and called an ambulance. He spent the next two days in the hospital.

Moral of the story, it's always great to ski and travel with a buddy. But I know that's not always possible for those of us who just gotta get our ski fix Connecting with your friends on second day was a good move.

I did spend night in cabin with heat (it was 37 inside the first time I checked vs. 33 outside after I had already shoveled some snow from driveway after turning on heat), limited Internet and TV. I did not turn on water since I was only staying one night and turning it off adds to the time getting out the next morning and increases amount of cleanup required. I had a gallon jug for brushing teeth, washing up and making instant coffee using microwave. Dinner (and part of lunch the next day and dinner the next night) was grocery store frozen pizza I'd bought on previous trip. Driving to cabin adds 45-60 min from/to Kirkwood. I thought about taking camper and staying in SnoPark ~5 miles from Kirkwood, but it is near 8600+' Carson Pass and camper needs to be re-loaded onto my truck and it would be a slower trip from San Jose to Kirkwood so not sure if I would have come out ahead.

If I couldn't have gotten up from my fall, it could have been a while before somebody found me and I'm not sure if there is cell service there. There is no service on bottom half of Backside and I've been turning off data to avoid using up my battery searching for service. At the entrance to Notch Chute, I saw a couple well below me on the boundary line traverse that didn't look like they knew where they were going.

Not sure if you remember story of my dirtbike crash, but it was one of the few times I was riding with a friend on private property 11 miles from home in hills SE of San Jose. After crash, I rode dirtbike first up a hill that many 4WDs can't make if it's been raining, then down a steep and rutted dirt road for about a mile to where I store it. Then I drove my SUV 10+ miles (with the first 2 miles on a private, but smoother dirt road) to Kaiser with friend following me on his street legal dual-sport. I had three broken ribs and broken collarbone. The Dr. who saw me come in thought I was moving well enough to drive the less than 10 miles from hospital to home. I had a lot of pain overnight and when I returned for follow-up and better meds the next day, they found a lung collapsing and kept me for 3 nights, my first and so far only hospital stay, I rode dirtbike today with our White German Shepherd following me far enough behind that she did not see, but did appear to smell, large bobcat that crossed my path.

I told friend from Minden when we separated moving from Reut to Cornice and I took Waterfall where there is an exposed traverse and turn you need to make the name of the run I was taking and to tell patrol if I was not at lift in 10 minutes. The safest part of skiing with these friends is that the two from San Jose are terminal advanced intermediates so I dialed run selection back a lot. The friend from Minden said Sentinel Bowl off Cornice is about his limit, but he is under 60 and in good shape so he may improve as he gets more days.

How come nobody has given me a hard time for skiing this Thursday and Friday vs. last week when Heavenly opened to the top on Thurs. by 10:30 with 22" new (although snow later in week was not as dry as Mon-Wed)? As they say hindsight is 20-20. If it wasn't for COVID, I probably would have stayed with friend near Truckee and gone to N* last Thurs where they had delayed openings with 32" new. Friend who went to Squaw last Thurs. and I don't think ever got above Red Dog had to spend unplanned night that he said was worth it.

 

[Tony Crocker]

In a storm that heavy and violent it was a lucky break if Heavenly opened much. Northstar would have been the only place with good odds of full operation so if you couldn’t stay with friend in Truckee I can see why you took a pass on last Thu/Fri.

 

[Sbooker]

Kirkwood looks interesting. I've not been there but will be sure to check it out next time I'm in that area. (I'm assuming Covid will be just a memory at some point).
Your second and third pics are interesting. In the third picture there are 4 big rocks with chutes between them. Are they the rocks at the left (lookers left) of the second pic?
Is Kirkwood generally more suited to advanced/expert skiers than the other Vail hills at Tahoe? That obviously north facing area at the top resemble the top area of Mammoth. Would it be generally similar in gradient?

 

[tseeb]

The big rock to left of Wall chair in second picture is Thimble Peak, the highest point of Kirkwood and generally unskiable. The four rocks in the third picture are called The Sisters and are W of the chair, or to lookers right. There are chutes in between these rocks. One is called Once is Enough and it’s extreme, usually requiring a straight-line with a mandatory air on exit. You can see some of Heart Chute between 1st and 2nd big and tall rocks. It is more reasonable than Once when filled in, but I have never done it. Google Once is Enough Kirkwood for some videos. The top of Kirkwood is comparable to top of Mammoth in steepness, but does not as much steep vertical and does not have as many main runs. The Wall chair is expert only in all but best conditions and The Cirque on the other side of Thimble Peak (really the NE side as more intermediate Backsde/Sunrise with long slow 1200 vertical quad chair is on E side) is only open for Extreme Comps. The Wall chair and main run also named The Wall face almost directly N.

Kirkwood has many more (and more challenging) steeps than Northstar and more than Heavenly, which is a lot bigger in acreage. But there are not many dining or lodging choices and only two high-speed lifts and one is a beginner/low intermediate lift of 500’ vertical. The other high-speed quad is 1,320’ vertical Cornice that usually has two main groomed runs, E-facing Zachary’s and more N-facing Sentinel, and many ungroomed choices, especially with traverses/short to moderate hikes. Northstar’s Backside has longer and more choices for groomer zoomers when conditions are good. A lot of Kirkwood is steep for top half, them flattens out for bottom half. Kirkwood gets more snow than other Vail Tahoe areas, but they open it later and cut back operation, then close it earlier as they don’t make enough money on it.

 

[Tony Crocker]

Kirkwood has been a stepchild ski area with several owners, despite having the most reliable snow in the Tahoe region:
1) It''s usually #1 in snowfall, occasionally a bit less than Sugar Bowl or the top of Squaw.
2) The best snow preservation areas are Kirkwood, Mt. Rose and the upper half of Heavenly.
Put 1&2 together and Kirkwood has the most consistent snow at Tahoe and conspicuously so in below average years. Therefore it's extremely annoying that Kirkwood closes in mid-April, particularly for passholders like tseeb.

So why the lagging attendance vs. other Tahoe areas?
1) Limited lodging/dining infrastructure as tseeb mentioned. South Lake Tahoe is one of the top apres ski destinations anywhere so that's where the majority of visitors stay. The 45 minute drive from SLT to Kirkwood is over two mountain passes and can be a real ordeal in bad weather.
2) Kirkwood is a bit stratified in terrain, very good for beginners and experts, but the proportion of terrain in the comfortable intermediate zone is much less than most areas and particularly so in comparison to Heavenly.

 

[jimk]

Kirkwood looks interesting. I've not been there but will be sure to check it out next time I'm in that area. (I'm assuming Covid will be just a memory at some point).
Your second and third pics are interesting. In the third picture there are 4 big rocks with chutes between them. Are they the rocks at the left (lookers left) of the second pic?
Is Kirkwood generally more suited to advanced/expert skiers than the other Vail hills at Tahoe? That obviously north facing area at the top resemble the top area of Mammoth. Would it be generally similar in gradient?

I don't get to the Tahoe region very often. Have skied a day or two at Sugar Bowl, Homewood, Squaw, Alpine, Heavenly, and Sierra at Tahoe. I have about ten days at Kirkwood from three different visits there between 2005 and 2015. My first cousin had a condo there. The more I skied Kirkwood, the more I liked it. Lots of nooks and crannies, especially if you're willing to explore across the long, high traverses. The heart of the ski area served by The Wall and Cornice chairs features some very beautiful and interesting black diamond terrain. Everything in the picture and quite a bit more.

 

[tseeb]

I don't have very good drawing tools or skills, but I tried annotating jimk's picture. It appears to be taken on Zachary's run so Cornice chair and another mile of easily accessible steep, inbounds ridgeline is behind person taking the picture. One of my favorite powder lines is to right of Sisters and it's reachable with a short hike from Cornice chair or gravity by going behind The Wall.

 

[jimk]

Yeah, so of the ski areas I've been to in CA I have enjoyed Kirkwood the most. One good day when I was there I was gushing about it at the bottom of the hill with a guy running a demo tent. He said, "you ought to see Mammoth." I've yet to make it to Mammoth:-(

 

[Tony Crocker]

Usually Mammoth is better. But Kirkwood is better for powder days. Kirkwood was the site of my first bell-to-bell powder day on March 13, 1987.