tseeb
Well-known member
1-3" was predicted for Thu/Fri 4/3-4. I was not sure whether I should have gone to Sugar Bowl where I had a free M-F ticket or Kirkwood, where my pass was valid and is a 60 mile shorter drive to South Tahoe where I was staying. I ended up at Kirkwood as the highest chance of precipitation was predicted to be between 1 and 4 pm on Friday so I wanted the higher altitude. It started raining in San Jose at 5:30 AM, but I had outran the storm when I got to Tracy at 7 AM and was at Kirkwood in 3 hours and 10 minutes, my quickest drive of the year. They had groomed four steep runs on Cornice chair so I made 7 high-speed laps on them in my first hour. I moved to The Wall, then the Backside before coming in to 7800 for a $3 beer. It started snowing at noon, snowed hard at 1 pm, but did not accumulate much on the mountain although I did see a hairy dog covered with snow. I ended up with 28.5K and joined my friend and his family for dinner and a hot tub at timeshare on top of Kingsbury Grade, between Heavenly's two NV bases. It snowed while I was there and was cold enough for 1/2" to stick to my SUV's roof and a little less on windshield.
Sat. morning Sugar Bowl reported 1-2", Squaw and Alpine 1" and everyone else zero. Both Sat. and Sun. mornings, I was on lifts before 9 AM, starting at Stagecoach the first day, the Tram the second. There was less than an inch new on top of the groom on Olympic at Heavenly that skied well enough that I repeated it three times. I took a couple of runs on Dipper including one into Killibrew Canyon where I skied E-facing Bob's Boulevard and dropped into a little of Stateline Chute. Ski patrol was shoveling snow onto some of the exit, but walk from where snow ended to where it started again was at least 250 yards. I met up with friends on Sky chair where we took some runs together, then returned to Stagecoach base for lunch. Cloud cover on Sat. kept temps cool until 2 pm. Then more clouds and a NE wind kept it cool until 1 pm on Sun.
On Sun, I was about 60th in line for free passholder BBQ for the first 300 at East Peak Lodge. I had pulled pork sandwich($13.50) that comes with coleslaw plus beans, Gatorade, cookie and chips (average about $4 each) for a total value of over $30 with tax. From Olympic chair, I noticed and skied Cloud 9 run from top for the first time in a long time and found good, mostly overlooked, long, N-facing fall line. Stagecoach base does not look like it will last much longer and North Bowl chair and Boulder Base may be done for season. I rode long slow North Bowl chair once on Sat. and twice on Sunday finding good snow and almost nobody in Boulder and North Bowls. On Sunday, I did three quick laps in Motts Canyon between 2:30 and 3, when it closes for the day. I made it to Tamarack Lodge for 1/2 price Happy Hour beer at 3:30, then got on chair and skied to CA base via CA trail, Maggie's Canyon and still open in the afternoon Face. Over 32K vertical each day.
On Monday at Kirkwood, it got very warm by 11 AM. Even though The Wall was still skiing well after noon, the flats at the bottom got sticky and I was OK with leaving about 1 PM with almost 15K vertical as I needed to be back in Bay Area before 5 PM. It was 88 at my house when I got home before 6 pm and seems even warmer today where I had to give up on mowing lawns to watch Giants try to win third home opener they have been part of this spring. Since we have company staying with us beginning next week until after until Easter and no storms in sight, I may be done for the season unless I make it to Kirkwood's closing weekend at the end of April or to Bachelor or Whistler in May. I ended strong, skiing 11 of the last 15 days.
Sat. morning Sugar Bowl reported 1-2", Squaw and Alpine 1" and everyone else zero. Both Sat. and Sun. mornings, I was on lifts before 9 AM, starting at Stagecoach the first day, the Tram the second. There was less than an inch new on top of the groom on Olympic at Heavenly that skied well enough that I repeated it three times. I took a couple of runs on Dipper including one into Killibrew Canyon where I skied E-facing Bob's Boulevard and dropped into a little of Stateline Chute. Ski patrol was shoveling snow onto some of the exit, but walk from where snow ended to where it started again was at least 250 yards. I met up with friends on Sky chair where we took some runs together, then returned to Stagecoach base for lunch. Cloud cover on Sat. kept temps cool until 2 pm. Then more clouds and a NE wind kept it cool until 1 pm on Sun.
On Sun, I was about 60th in line for free passholder BBQ for the first 300 at East Peak Lodge. I had pulled pork sandwich($13.50) that comes with coleslaw plus beans, Gatorade, cookie and chips (average about $4 each) for a total value of over $30 with tax. From Olympic chair, I noticed and skied Cloud 9 run from top for the first time in a long time and found good, mostly overlooked, long, N-facing fall line. Stagecoach base does not look like it will last much longer and North Bowl chair and Boulder Base may be done for season. I rode long slow North Bowl chair once on Sat. and twice on Sunday finding good snow and almost nobody in Boulder and North Bowls. On Sunday, I did three quick laps in Motts Canyon between 2:30 and 3, when it closes for the day. I made it to Tamarack Lodge for 1/2 price Happy Hour beer at 3:30, then got on chair and skied to CA base via CA trail, Maggie's Canyon and still open in the afternoon Face. Over 32K vertical each day.
On Monday at Kirkwood, it got very warm by 11 AM. Even though The Wall was still skiing well after noon, the flats at the bottom got sticky and I was OK with leaving about 1 PM with almost 15K vertical as I needed to be back in Bay Area before 5 PM. It was 88 at my house when I got home before 6 pm and seems even warmer today where I had to give up on mowing lawns to watch Giants try to win third home opener they have been part of this spring. Since we have company staying with us beginning next week until after until Easter and no storms in sight, I may be done for the season unless I make it to Kirkwood's closing weekend at the end of April or to Bachelor or Whistler in May. I ended strong, skiing 11 of the last 15 days.
