tseeb
Well-known member
I thought my friend was taking the day off, but he was ready to go shortly after 8 am so we got to Northstar early enough to get decent parking and not require a shuttle. We got on the gondola at 8:30. Northstar reported another l 8” new in the last 24 hours for a 5 day total of 61”. We went up Vista and found some low-angle untracked along the edge of and between runs. I only hit something hard once in four runs. We moved to Comstock and I took my friend down the steep, partially tracked face, just past Tonninis. I did it again, while he cut off earlier and reported more untracked so I followed him the next two runs into his secret spot. It was not as steep as near Tonninis and The Chute, but the moderate pitch was lightly tracked and sustained longer. My fifth and final run I found an even better spot that started with moderate-angle untracked and had a lot of low-angle untracked snow.
My friend's knees were getting tired so we skied down and went up Zephyr chair to ski Home Run, which was marked as groomed on grooming map. It may have been groomed, but was still roped off. Next, we tried ridng down the Highlands Gondola from the Ritz Carlton, but it was closed. So we skied down, arriving back at our vehicles about 12. My friend, who has skied Northstar a lot over the past 10 years said it was the first time in years he did not ski steeper Lookout or Backside. But I think we found better snow off the East Ridge, partially because it is a little higher, partially because it does not need as much snow to ski off trail and it also may get less wind and deeper snow than relatively steeper backside areas. 11 lifts/14.5K
I headed South about 12:15 and made a stop at Raley’s in Incline Village for a sandwich and groceries and on the way out won a couple of bucks playing video Blackjack. I got to South Tahoe about an hour later and made a stop at the cabin to drop off groceries and turn on the heat. I could have been skiing at Heavenly before 2, but spent more time turning on water and starting hot water heater, then started shoveling the 6-8” of heavy snow from the driveway. I also partially cut the 2-3 foot berm the plow left at the edge of the street. I did not get on the tram until just before 3:30, but had time to get up Sky chair twice before they closed. Clouds had moved in so visibility was poor. I made a couple of fast groomed runs before heading down and skied the excellent snow and line to the left of the Heavenly Foundation mogul course on Waterfall. Next I pushed through the long and flat entrance to Roundabout. I had asked patrol if higher entrance to Roundabout that does not require pushing was open, but they said, while it was skiable, it would not hold up to traffic for long enough to open. The Face and Gunbarrel were also closed so Roundabout was the way down. They were letting you cut corners and ski two sections of West Bowl. I skied the upper one before following Roundabout across Gunbarrel to World Cup where the snow was excellent and I skied to within 150 feet of my car. 4 lifts/5.4K for a day’s total of almost 20K
My friend's knees were getting tired so we skied down and went up Zephyr chair to ski Home Run, which was marked as groomed on grooming map. It may have been groomed, but was still roped off. Next, we tried ridng down the Highlands Gondola from the Ritz Carlton, but it was closed. So we skied down, arriving back at our vehicles about 12. My friend, who has skied Northstar a lot over the past 10 years said it was the first time in years he did not ski steeper Lookout or Backside. But I think we found better snow off the East Ridge, partially because it is a little higher, partially because it does not need as much snow to ski off trail and it also may get less wind and deeper snow than relatively steeper backside areas. 11 lifts/14.5K
I headed South about 12:15 and made a stop at Raley’s in Incline Village for a sandwich and groceries and on the way out won a couple of bucks playing video Blackjack. I got to South Tahoe about an hour later and made a stop at the cabin to drop off groceries and turn on the heat. I could have been skiing at Heavenly before 2, but spent more time turning on water and starting hot water heater, then started shoveling the 6-8” of heavy snow from the driveway. I also partially cut the 2-3 foot berm the plow left at the edge of the street. I did not get on the tram until just before 3:30, but had time to get up Sky chair twice before they closed. Clouds had moved in so visibility was poor. I made a couple of fast groomed runs before heading down and skied the excellent snow and line to the left of the Heavenly Foundation mogul course on Waterfall. Next I pushed through the long and flat entrance to Roundabout. I had asked patrol if higher entrance to Roundabout that does not require pushing was open, but they said, while it was skiable, it would not hold up to traffic for long enough to open. The Face and Gunbarrel were also closed so Roundabout was the way down. They were letting you cut corners and ski two sections of West Bowl. I skied the upper one before following Roundabout across Gunbarrel to World Cup where the snow was excellent and I skied to within 150 feet of my car. 4 lifts/5.4K for a day’s total of almost 20K
