tseeb
Well-known member
Mt. Rose reported 19-20” new, although only 1-2” in the last 12 hours. Rose had claimed 12” new the previous morning when it had barely started snowing at most Tahoe areas. Tony Crocker and I parked very close and at 8:30 were at the ticket window on the Slide side of the mountain, where free demos of next year’s ski from 5-6 manufacturers were supposed to be available. The only ticket seller had stepped away from his booth and when he returned told us the free demos were moved to other side due to expected strong winds, already starting in parking lot. We were on the lift by about 8:35 and skied one run on Pioneer Glades on the Slide side. The snow was deep enough in some places to not always feel hard layer underneath, but you still found it on almost half the turns and we also found some hard obstacles. Lower down it got better and there were some short untracked sections. Next run we went down Mt. Rose side where we were supposed to meet group at 9. We did not find group, but since east-facing Slide side opens at 8:30 and Rose side does not open until 9, we found a lot of untracked following Express run and liftline down. We did not find organized group or guides so we did one more lap on Rose side in almost untracked trees between Sunset and Lower Lakeview to end up closer to demos, which were in upper parking lot.
The Fisher rep was first and both he and I were in a hurry so I took out a pair of 182 Wateas with a 106mm waist and some tip rocker. They skied very well on groomed and in fresh snow and provided more float than my 99 waist 180s. We ran into another EpicSki participant from Sun Peaks, Canada, while loading the chair. We skied tracked powder, first on the Pioneer Glades side of Silver Dollar, then crossed over and found untracked on the left side of the run and I crossed one more time to get some low-angle untracked just above the bottom of the lift. Next run we poled out to Olympic Trees, where we found some steep, lightly tracked deep snow and a few obstacles. Then we skied back to Rose side where we again hit trees between Sunset and Lower Lakeview and were able to go left far enough to ski back to demo tents and avoid stairs between main lodge and upper parking lot.
Then I took some 110 waist 186 Big Sticks, which had both tip and tail rocker. I probably should have gone for the biggest ones they had as when we skied down to chair, Tony, who was on similar size Rossignol S7, noticed the Chutes, except for three entrances had opened earlier than projected 11:30. We had a very short time to get used to new skis before approaching the Jackpot entrance, highest one open on Rose side. There were rocks to avoid, even on demos, and we traversed into El Capitan, the chute that starts the highest. The choke looked narrow and possibly rocky so we kept traversing. We were advised by two guys filming that, after avoiding a rock on entrance, the next chute was good. It was great; many steep untracked turns in knee deep and dry powder. The runout to Chuter chair was also fun. Next run we poked around to find the highest open Chute entrance on the Slide side, which was Yellow Jacket. The run looked somewhat tracked so we followed a high traverse to the left. Tony dropped into trees while the Canadian and I found untracked steep powder in an open area a little further out. Our last Chute run was entering on Jackpot and linking a couple of short steeps to end up in untracked past Cardiac Ridge. I found a good place to scope out drop-in, but Tony and the Canadian come in a little hot behind me and uncovered granite. I dropped in cleanly into a very steep area between two rock. I pointed Tony towards an even steeper area between rocks and he had a ride. We kept left and found more steep untracked trees and I went further left to get one more untracked pitch before the runout. We returned skis to reps who remarked about how long we were out. They were happy with my bases both times, but Tony said they did not look happy to see his S7s after the Chute runs.
We went in for lunch about 1 pm and found some of the EpicSki group on the top floor. After lunch we decided to take our skis up the Rose side, then ski down and pick up more demos. The wind was really starting to howl over the top and we debated whether we should ski down to car on Slide side. But we decided to try to get one more round on demos first. Not only were we too late for demos, we were too late to go up Rose side as chair had closed due to wind. We’d heard wind was less on Slide side so we waited about 10 minutes for shuttle to take us to ski there. The shuttle driver said Slide side had also closed due to wind so Tony got off bus, while I went to retrieve car. When I returned I took two solo runs up 750 vertical foot Lakeview triple which was running extra slow due to wind. Most people could only handle one chair ride, but my first run down somewhat firm Ramseys was not very satisfying so I repeated the Lower Lakeview run we did when trying to get third round of demos and finished with 20.3K vertical. The three Chute runs in powder are something our visitor from Canada will not soon forget.
The Fisher rep was first and both he and I were in a hurry so I took out a pair of 182 Wateas with a 106mm waist and some tip rocker. They skied very well on groomed and in fresh snow and provided more float than my 99 waist 180s. We ran into another EpicSki participant from Sun Peaks, Canada, while loading the chair. We skied tracked powder, first on the Pioneer Glades side of Silver Dollar, then crossed over and found untracked on the left side of the run and I crossed one more time to get some low-angle untracked just above the bottom of the lift. Next run we poled out to Olympic Trees, where we found some steep, lightly tracked deep snow and a few obstacles. Then we skied back to Rose side where we again hit trees between Sunset and Lower Lakeview and were able to go left far enough to ski back to demo tents and avoid stairs between main lodge and upper parking lot.
Then I took some 110 waist 186 Big Sticks, which had both tip and tail rocker. I probably should have gone for the biggest ones they had as when we skied down to chair, Tony, who was on similar size Rossignol S7, noticed the Chutes, except for three entrances had opened earlier than projected 11:30. We had a very short time to get used to new skis before approaching the Jackpot entrance, highest one open on Rose side. There were rocks to avoid, even on demos, and we traversed into El Capitan, the chute that starts the highest. The choke looked narrow and possibly rocky so we kept traversing. We were advised by two guys filming that, after avoiding a rock on entrance, the next chute was good. It was great; many steep untracked turns in knee deep and dry powder. The runout to Chuter chair was also fun. Next run we poked around to find the highest open Chute entrance on the Slide side, which was Yellow Jacket. The run looked somewhat tracked so we followed a high traverse to the left. Tony dropped into trees while the Canadian and I found untracked steep powder in an open area a little further out. Our last Chute run was entering on Jackpot and linking a couple of short steeps to end up in untracked past Cardiac Ridge. I found a good place to scope out drop-in, but Tony and the Canadian come in a little hot behind me and uncovered granite. I dropped in cleanly into a very steep area between two rock. I pointed Tony towards an even steeper area between rocks and he had a ride. We kept left and found more steep untracked trees and I went further left to get one more untracked pitch before the runout. We returned skis to reps who remarked about how long we were out. They were happy with my bases both times, but Tony said they did not look happy to see his S7s after the Chute runs.
We went in for lunch about 1 pm and found some of the EpicSki group on the top floor. After lunch we decided to take our skis up the Rose side, then ski down and pick up more demos. The wind was really starting to howl over the top and we debated whether we should ski down to car on Slide side. But we decided to try to get one more round on demos first. Not only were we too late for demos, we were too late to go up Rose side as chair had closed due to wind. We’d heard wind was less on Slide side so we waited about 10 minutes for shuttle to take us to ski there. The shuttle driver said Slide side had also closed due to wind so Tony got off bus, while I went to retrieve car. When I returned I took two solo runs up 750 vertical foot Lakeview triple which was running extra slow due to wind. Most people could only handle one chair ride, but my first run down somewhat firm Ramseys was not very satisfying so I repeated the Lower Lakeview run we did when trying to get third round of demos and finished with 20.3K vertical. The three Chute runs in powder are something our visitor from Canada will not soon forget.
