tseeb
Well-known member
4/17 Squaw Valley, CA - Best day of trip
4/18 Heavenly, almost all NV - Still decent, but somewhat limited
4/19 Kirkwood, CA - Closing day and no they cannot extend
Friday 4/17. Squaw has only been running Gold Coast, Shirley Lake and Siberia lifts and using Funitel and Tram to get from 6200' base to 8000+' where there is snow. We started with riding SE-facing Gold Coast 4x at 1030 and found good snow and a place to bury lunch and beer I had for the ride down. We then moved to Shirley and rode it 15x by 1230. Some of it was firm but if you moved to where sun was hitting it harder or longer it got softer and was all good about noon. My friend continued on Shirley Lake and may have skied it 21 times. I moved to Siberia and skied it 4x before lunch including one Reverse Traverse to Headwall Face and one Siberia Face with davluri. Headwall Face required taking off skis 4x, 3 to cross snowless patches and once for very short hike up Reverse Traverse. After a short lunch break, I skied Siberia 4x more including two Reverse Traverse to North Bowl at 230 and 250 pm. Snow was very good but had to look carefully to turn where it was softer and not scraped off as I did not want to take a slide. Some places were already getting firm in shade after 3. Coverage and surface exceeded expectations. 21K vertical
On Saturday 4/18, Heavenly was only running Gondola, Tamarack and Dipper Chairs and all skiing was above 8,600 feet. There was a moderate overnight freeze so you wanted to be on sunnier side of runs when we started skiing about 10. After a couple of Dipper runs, I checked out Comet run. To get there you had to ski through the Sand Dunes then follow a groomed path just below top of Comet chair or hike less than a minute past top of closed chair. We both skied Comet run few times, where coverage was good at top, but marginal in a few places towards bottom. Elsewhere coverage was good.
I never skied down Little Dipper run that had horrible to me chopped off bumps under closed Comet chair. Instead I tried to find consistently sunny shots in the trees on either side. They were smooth and skied well although you had to make sure snow did not run out before bottom of run. I also found good snow after very thin entry on Jack's run. I tried to take my friend there and told him to wait so I could lead him through entry as I got behind him as I skied Dipper Bowl. He did not wait and went into entry too fast and spun onto dirt, luckily staying on his feet. We went in a 12:30 and I watched most of the first quarter of the Warriors game, then skied Dipper 3x more before downloading gondola about 2 with 18K vertical. We saw 73 year-old Leon Russell, who put on a good show and has some great stories, at Harrah's that evening.
Sunday 4/19. Kirkwood was not sure the previous weekend if they were going to be able to make it to 4/19 scheduled close, "but after an amazing turn out from ya'll loyalist pass holders & guests, we are going to keep pushing towards Sunday the 19th as our closing day (from Facebook post late on 4/11). They barely made it. We got on Cornice about 10 and found Zachary was already getting soft, had a lot of rocks mixed in the snow and an unusual exit that was below terrain park. Snow on Zachary deteriorated enough that friend that I met up with and I tried Olympic, then Janek, both steeper and to skiers left and with their own challenges towards bottom. We got separated on Janek and I ended up following a tongue of snow that did not connect and had to remove my skis and walk across 15 feet of dirt to get back to Zachary's. Next time up, I removed skis and did 4 minute hike to Sentinel which skied well and had great coverage until very bottom where return to chair was thin and dirty.
At Cornice, I did not find friend, but found a guy who I'd ridden lift with at Heavenly on previous day who turned out to be Chico State fraternity brother of friend of mine. We all skied down Zachary's one more time (I took alternate gully that was very good), then moved to Wall about 11:30. The snow on the Wall was better, still a little too noisy in most places on top half but edgeable. The entrance was as scary as I've seen it, but I did not have problem holding an edge and after the first couple of turns it was good. I took one lap to skiers left of main Wall run and into groomed Buckboard and two where I ended up at top of Reut chair then came down very good, almost unskied Conestoga. We quit at 12:40 (I had 13K) and went to barbecue hosted by friend of friend in parking lot. The Wall would have been good for a couple of more runs and I probably would have had a better day if I started later and skipped some of the Cornice runs. I'm not sure if Kirkwood made it to 4 pm close as thunderheads were building when we left before 2 and could have caused them to close lifts early. I heard that Kirkwood sets off all dynamite left over after close on last day so I will have to plan to stay to end next year to see and hear that.
I'm not sure if my season is over with 40 days and, with rounding, 900K vertical. I have one more free Squaw day and they are open until 4/26 and have two free Mammoth days from my MCP. Sonora Pass has opened which shortens drive home from Mammoth, but storms predicted for the next 7-8 days could affect lifts.
These pictures are from Kirkwood. I'll add some from Squaw later. First one is base of Cornice chair (on right). Usual end of main Zachary's run is under Solitude chair on left, but you had to go further left as exits from all runs were consolidated into run below terrain park.
4/18 Heavenly, almost all NV - Still decent, but somewhat limited
4/19 Kirkwood, CA - Closing day and no they cannot extend
Friday 4/17. Squaw has only been running Gold Coast, Shirley Lake and Siberia lifts and using Funitel and Tram to get from 6200' base to 8000+' where there is snow. We started with riding SE-facing Gold Coast 4x at 1030 and found good snow and a place to bury lunch and beer I had for the ride down. We then moved to Shirley and rode it 15x by 1230. Some of it was firm but if you moved to where sun was hitting it harder or longer it got softer and was all good about noon. My friend continued on Shirley Lake and may have skied it 21 times. I moved to Siberia and skied it 4x before lunch including one Reverse Traverse to Headwall Face and one Siberia Face with davluri. Headwall Face required taking off skis 4x, 3 to cross snowless patches and once for very short hike up Reverse Traverse. After a short lunch break, I skied Siberia 4x more including two Reverse Traverse to North Bowl at 230 and 250 pm. Snow was very good but had to look carefully to turn where it was softer and not scraped off as I did not want to take a slide. Some places were already getting firm in shade after 3. Coverage and surface exceeded expectations. 21K vertical
On Saturday 4/18, Heavenly was only running Gondola, Tamarack and Dipper Chairs and all skiing was above 8,600 feet. There was a moderate overnight freeze so you wanted to be on sunnier side of runs when we started skiing about 10. After a couple of Dipper runs, I checked out Comet run. To get there you had to ski through the Sand Dunes then follow a groomed path just below top of Comet chair or hike less than a minute past top of closed chair. We both skied Comet run few times, where coverage was good at top, but marginal in a few places towards bottom. Elsewhere coverage was good.
I never skied down Little Dipper run that had horrible to me chopped off bumps under closed Comet chair. Instead I tried to find consistently sunny shots in the trees on either side. They were smooth and skied well although you had to make sure snow did not run out before bottom of run. I also found good snow after very thin entry on Jack's run. I tried to take my friend there and told him to wait so I could lead him through entry as I got behind him as I skied Dipper Bowl. He did not wait and went into entry too fast and spun onto dirt, luckily staying on his feet. We went in a 12:30 and I watched most of the first quarter of the Warriors game, then skied Dipper 3x more before downloading gondola about 2 with 18K vertical. We saw 73 year-old Leon Russell, who put on a good show and has some great stories, at Harrah's that evening.
Sunday 4/19. Kirkwood was not sure the previous weekend if they were going to be able to make it to 4/19 scheduled close, "but after an amazing turn out from ya'll loyalist pass holders & guests, we are going to keep pushing towards Sunday the 19th as our closing day (from Facebook post late on 4/11). They barely made it. We got on Cornice about 10 and found Zachary was already getting soft, had a lot of rocks mixed in the snow and an unusual exit that was below terrain park. Snow on Zachary deteriorated enough that friend that I met up with and I tried Olympic, then Janek, both steeper and to skiers left and with their own challenges towards bottom. We got separated on Janek and I ended up following a tongue of snow that did not connect and had to remove my skis and walk across 15 feet of dirt to get back to Zachary's. Next time up, I removed skis and did 4 minute hike to Sentinel which skied well and had great coverage until very bottom where return to chair was thin and dirty.
At Cornice, I did not find friend, but found a guy who I'd ridden lift with at Heavenly on previous day who turned out to be Chico State fraternity brother of friend of mine. We all skied down Zachary's one more time (I took alternate gully that was very good), then moved to Wall about 11:30. The snow on the Wall was better, still a little too noisy in most places on top half but edgeable. The entrance was as scary as I've seen it, but I did not have problem holding an edge and after the first couple of turns it was good. I took one lap to skiers left of main Wall run and into groomed Buckboard and two where I ended up at top of Reut chair then came down very good, almost unskied Conestoga. We quit at 12:40 (I had 13K) and went to barbecue hosted by friend of friend in parking lot. The Wall would have been good for a couple of more runs and I probably would have had a better day if I started later and skipped some of the Cornice runs. I'm not sure if Kirkwood made it to 4 pm close as thunderheads were building when we left before 2 and could have caused them to close lifts early. I heard that Kirkwood sets off all dynamite left over after close on last day so I will have to plan to stay to end next year to see and hear that.
I'm not sure if my season is over with 40 days and, with rounding, 900K vertical. I have one more free Squaw day and they are open until 4/26 and have two free Mammoth days from my MCP. Sonora Pass has opened which shortens drive home from Mammoth, but storms predicted for the next 7-8 days could affect lifts.
These pictures are from Kirkwood. I'll add some from Squaw later. First one is base of Cornice chair (on right). Usual end of main Zachary's run is under Solitude chair on left, but you had to go further left as exits from all runs were consolidated into run below terrain park.
