tseeb
Well-known member
Monday 4/24/23
I skipped last week’s new snow as weather did not look like what my wife would want for her return to skiing after her head injury 15 1/2 months ago. Then on Sunday while checking bindings on skis she wanted to use before hot waxing them and mine, I found a crack in mounting plate around a screw on both of her Salomon heels. When I told her about it she took it as a sign to not go even though skis with binding problem causing her fall and life-threatening injury had been checked out and the screws that allowed toe to slide were replaced with bigger ones. And since she thought she would need new skis to go again, I offered her demos at Kirkwood, but she stayed home where she has been enjoying daily hot yoga and Pilates classes as studio reopened 4/15 after being closed for more than 3 years from the pandemic.
My friend whose family has had place at Kirkwood for almost all of their 50 years of operation and I loaded Cornice both mornings at 9:45. They are only running chairs 5, 6 (Cornice), 10 (Wall) and 11 (Reut) during week and this is their last week of Mon-Thu operation. They will run lifts May 5-7 and 12-14 and have been running chairs 1-4 on weekends. CA-88 and Carson Spur on way to Kirkwood.
We thought it would be warmer. Greg was only wearing short sleeves under a Hawaiian shirt while I was wearing a thin jacket over long-sleeved base layer. Overnight low was 29 and there was a breeze out of the E. We lapped Cornice 7 times, skiing Zachary, Janek and Sentinel a couple times each before exiting on Monte Wolfe which had a narrow groomed path.
We took two laps on Reut, skiing Shotgun then Race Course/Short Spoke finding N-facing softening and slightly lower angle allowing for higher speed. We returned to Cornice for two laps before taking a long break outside on plaza where Greg got his skis waxed and we moved from sun (too much) to shade (too cool) before I took short walk to car to get a hat for me and my extra jacket for Greg.
After three more laps on Cornice, including one run on Olympic, we moved to the Wall about 2 PM for three laps. We tried to help a boarder who was climbing up the Wall looking for cell phone, but didn’t spot it from chair or run. Patroller helped him by hauling board he’d left at bottom of steep face to bottom then up chair and giving it back to him near top where he eventually found his phone.
After one main Wall lap, we skied run of the day going over top of Norm’s Nose to Conestoga twice. It was a little slow getting to top, but steep, super well filled in N-side skied great. I though Conestoga was smooth corn on first lap when I skied the left side but Greg noticed groomer tracks that I found unskied on right side on second lap. We skied a last run on Chamonix from Cornice before quitting at 3 with 24K. I stayed at Greg’s (4+ bedroom) cabin, partially earning it by shoveling for an hour on N-side of roof where weight of snow is affecting opening of upstairs doors and windows.
Tuesday 4/25/2023 Still a lot of snow in my friend's neighborhood. Notch on right side of roof is where we shoveled.
My drive to skiing was 175 miles and 200 minutes shorter than previous day, but we loaded Cornice at same time which may have been a little early even though Kirkwood reported overnight low of 32. Greg found long sleeve base layer to go under his Hawaiian shirt while I wondered if I was going to be too warm with mid-weight fleece vest over a mid-weight Smartwool zip turtleneck. There was no wind, but snowpack, especially on N-facing and even on E-facing held its freeze longer. We took eight laps on Cornice, finding best snow on Sentinel. Greg alone on Sentinel. There are people standing at top, but it was not hard to find run to yourself.
On one lap my friend coached a young lady who was not sure about steepness by telling her everything else was worse. Off the traverse back to chair at bottom she nearly followed others heading for lower/lowest return which I recommended against. We decided to check it out next lap taking an ill-advised very firm right branch of lower Sentinel past the still buried safety meeting cave before finding E-facing corn was very good. The lowest return had been groomed one cat wide and usual whoop-DE-doo crossing gully is less severe than usual due to slightly different path and gully being partially filled in, but it still requires straightlining before high speed turns entering and exiting gully. Bowls past Sentinel run are open even though Timber Creek base and chair are closed for season.
We moved to Reut for three laps finding N-facing Conestoga/Shotgun still firm. Very consistent slope, perfectly groomed Wagon Trail was good enough that we repeated it suffering the slow chair for a third lap. We moved backed to Cornice, skiing Sentinel where I would end up doing lowest return five times, once taking high traverse from top of Sentinel into a smooth corn face in the Palisades, and a few times cutting left before end of Sentinel run to make steep corn turns. I lost Greg on last run and was going to go to car for a hat to be able to sit outside for lunch, but instead he joined me at the car. After lunch we skied Cornice four times including once into steep face between Janek and Olympic. About 230 we moved to and skied the Wall twice. We found the main Wall face and Norms Nose still a little firm so for our last lap we skied very good corn in E-facing Eagle Bowl where flat exit was still fast enough to allow easy return to base.
We quit at 3:15 with 24.5K. After dropping Greg at his place, I drove to South Tahoe where for $15 Pyramid Peak Ski and Snowboard Rentals replaced cracked heel mounting plates on my wife’s skis, and after checking the demo binding heels plates I was concerned about re-installed heels on my rock and steep chute skis. I thought I’d have to shovel some snow off garage roof at cabin, but snow near Stateline has mostly melted in last 2 1/2 weeks except where it has been piled along edge of road or is very shaded. Instead I spent 30 minutes removing very little snow along edge of driveway and nearly a garbage can full of pines needles and other debris. I’m planning on joining friends at Palisades the next two days, hoping it’s not a mistake getting first California use of my Ikon after two good Spring days at Kirkwood.
I skipped last week’s new snow as weather did not look like what my wife would want for her return to skiing after her head injury 15 1/2 months ago. Then on Sunday while checking bindings on skis she wanted to use before hot waxing them and mine, I found a crack in mounting plate around a screw on both of her Salomon heels. When I told her about it she took it as a sign to not go even though skis with binding problem causing her fall and life-threatening injury had been checked out and the screws that allowed toe to slide were replaced with bigger ones. And since she thought she would need new skis to go again, I offered her demos at Kirkwood, but she stayed home where she has been enjoying daily hot yoga and Pilates classes as studio reopened 4/15 after being closed for more than 3 years from the pandemic.
My friend whose family has had place at Kirkwood for almost all of their 50 years of operation and I loaded Cornice both mornings at 9:45. They are only running chairs 5, 6 (Cornice), 10 (Wall) and 11 (Reut) during week and this is their last week of Mon-Thu operation. They will run lifts May 5-7 and 12-14 and have been running chairs 1-4 on weekends. CA-88 and Carson Spur on way to Kirkwood.
We thought it would be warmer. Greg was only wearing short sleeves under a Hawaiian shirt while I was wearing a thin jacket over long-sleeved base layer. Overnight low was 29 and there was a breeze out of the E. We lapped Cornice 7 times, skiing Zachary, Janek and Sentinel a couple times each before exiting on Monte Wolfe which had a narrow groomed path.
We took two laps on Reut, skiing Shotgun then Race Course/Short Spoke finding N-facing softening and slightly lower angle allowing for higher speed. We returned to Cornice for two laps before taking a long break outside on plaza where Greg got his skis waxed and we moved from sun (too much) to shade (too cool) before I took short walk to car to get a hat for me and my extra jacket for Greg.
After three more laps on Cornice, including one run on Olympic, we moved to the Wall about 2 PM for three laps. We tried to help a boarder who was climbing up the Wall looking for cell phone, but didn’t spot it from chair or run. Patroller helped him by hauling board he’d left at bottom of steep face to bottom then up chair and giving it back to him near top where he eventually found his phone.
Tuesday 4/25/2023 Still a lot of snow in my friend's neighborhood. Notch on right side of roof is where we shoveled.
My drive to skiing was 175 miles and 200 minutes shorter than previous day, but we loaded Cornice at same time which may have been a little early even though Kirkwood reported overnight low of 32. Greg found long sleeve base layer to go under his Hawaiian shirt while I wondered if I was going to be too warm with mid-weight fleece vest over a mid-weight Smartwool zip turtleneck. There was no wind, but snowpack, especially on N-facing and even on E-facing held its freeze longer. We took eight laps on Cornice, finding best snow on Sentinel. Greg alone on Sentinel. There are people standing at top, but it was not hard to find run to yourself.
We moved to Reut for three laps finding N-facing Conestoga/Shotgun still firm. Very consistent slope, perfectly groomed Wagon Trail was good enough that we repeated it suffering the slow chair for a third lap. We moved backed to Cornice, skiing Sentinel where I would end up doing lowest return five times, once taking high traverse from top of Sentinel into a smooth corn face in the Palisades, and a few times cutting left before end of Sentinel run to make steep corn turns. I lost Greg on last run and was going to go to car for a hat to be able to sit outside for lunch, but instead he joined me at the car. After lunch we skied Cornice four times including once into steep face between Janek and Olympic. About 230 we moved to and skied the Wall twice. We found the main Wall face and Norms Nose still a little firm so for our last lap we skied very good corn in E-facing Eagle Bowl where flat exit was still fast enough to allow easy return to base.
We quit at 3:15 with 24.5K. After dropping Greg at his place, I drove to South Tahoe where for $15 Pyramid Peak Ski and Snowboard Rentals replaced cracked heel mounting plates on my wife’s skis, and after checking the demo binding heels plates I was concerned about re-installed heels on my rock and steep chute skis. I thought I’d have to shovel some snow off garage roof at cabin, but snow near Stateline has mostly melted in last 2 1/2 weeks except where it has been piled along edge of road or is very shaded. Instead I spent 30 minutes removing very little snow along edge of driveway and nearly a garbage can full of pines needles and other debris. I’m planning on joining friends at Palisades the next two days, hoping it’s not a mistake getting first California use of my Ikon after two good Spring days at Kirkwood.