tseeb
Well-known member
Kirkwood 3/14/2018
This was going to be another quick post without a lot of proofreading or arranging photos so bear with me, but some glitches prevented posting from Casino on 3/14 so I'm posting from grocery store on 3/15.
I set alarm for 4 AM and left my wife, who came home for UT with a nasty cold that I hope I don't catch, at 5:15. Even with 35 miles of chain control (5 miles were chains or snow tires) and very slick roads, I arrived a very busy and nearly sunny Kirkwood (where they reported 16" new after getting rain to ~8K the previous day) about 8:50. There was a moderate line for high-speed Cornice that loaded a little after 9. At least I've learned that it's better not to be in the singles line. EpicMix has me loading at 9:18.
I took two quick laps into Sentinel, first hitting the left side, then the right. I moved to The Wall which surprisingly loaded before 10. I took a mostly deep untracked lap lookers right of the chair , then cut into more untracked in trees just left of steep Waterfall. The Wall had stopped and patroller had said the Palisades would open soon so I returned to Cornice and took 3 laps into the Palisades. I probably went further out than I needed to, but was rewarded with a lot of untracked. Some of it was so deep that I had to be careful to make sure I had a track below me to avoid getting stuck and it took a while for track to be pushed to normal loading, skiers right of base of the chair. I took one more lap on the Wall, using a high entrance and went by still closed Eagle Bowl where I was surprised that ski patrol (or a rope) was not protecting it from poachers as they typically do.
I went to the car to change to low light goggles and had half a sandwich, a beer and a small shot. The snow must have fallen perfectly right-side up and Kirkwood bombed the hell out it, opening Eagle Bowl and the Backside about noon. I skied Eagle Bowl and found a lot of untracked, but was feeling a little sluggish after my break and wondering if I had overdone it. I rode chair 2, then skied chair 3 which was groomed, but covered with 3" or so to chair 4, Kirkwood's Backside which often does not open after new snow or gets closed by wind. There was a lot of low-hanging fruit and Scotty, who I rode chair with and was in early 30s and I skied two quick laps, finding some deep and some slightly wind-affected snow. Next time up we exited the Backside via Thunder Saddle, launching off a small cornice into untracked, but then hitting some avalanche debris that was still soft, but deep enough to be blue in the deep cracks between chunks. Scotty thought we'd screwed up, but lower down, I took right-side of Two Man Chute while he took the left and ended up in One Man Chute and both had not slid. I did not see him on the exit and was worried enough to talk to ski patrol who, when I described what he was wearing said he skied next to him in chute and exited OK. Snow was so good we did one more Thunder Saddle lap with Scotty jumping over a steep rock band before he had to leave to return to Bay Area.
I took a couple of more laps on the Wall, first skiing Eagle Bowl where not only were tracks getting filled in by new snow, but there were a lot of places that had not been tracked as it seemed that early crowds had left or were worn out before the noon openings. I also skied Notch Chute, which for the first time this year and last did not require removing skis for the down-climb although visibility was marginal. I finished my day with 25K at about 3:30 with another Palisades lap where a lot of tracks had been filled in. While snow was sticking on the roads at Kirkwood, it was not over a lot of 8573' Carson Pass. (to be continued)
This was going to be another quick post without a lot of proofreading or arranging photos so bear with me, but some glitches prevented posting from Casino on 3/14 so I'm posting from grocery store on 3/15.
I set alarm for 4 AM and left my wife, who came home for UT with a nasty cold that I hope I don't catch, at 5:15. Even with 35 miles of chain control (5 miles were chains or snow tires) and very slick roads, I arrived a very busy and nearly sunny Kirkwood (where they reported 16" new after getting rain to ~8K the previous day) about 8:50. There was a moderate line for high-speed Cornice that loaded a little after 9. At least I've learned that it's better not to be in the singles line. EpicMix has me loading at 9:18.
I took two quick laps into Sentinel, first hitting the left side, then the right. I moved to The Wall which surprisingly loaded before 10. I took a mostly deep untracked lap lookers right of the chair , then cut into more untracked in trees just left of steep Waterfall. The Wall had stopped and patroller had said the Palisades would open soon so I returned to Cornice and took 3 laps into the Palisades. I probably went further out than I needed to, but was rewarded with a lot of untracked. Some of it was so deep that I had to be careful to make sure I had a track below me to avoid getting stuck and it took a while for track to be pushed to normal loading, skiers right of base of the chair. I took one more lap on the Wall, using a high entrance and went by still closed Eagle Bowl where I was surprised that ski patrol (or a rope) was not protecting it from poachers as they typically do.
I went to the car to change to low light goggles and had half a sandwich, a beer and a small shot. The snow must have fallen perfectly right-side up and Kirkwood bombed the hell out it, opening Eagle Bowl and the Backside about noon. I skied Eagle Bowl and found a lot of untracked, but was feeling a little sluggish after my break and wondering if I had overdone it. I rode chair 2, then skied chair 3 which was groomed, but covered with 3" or so to chair 4, Kirkwood's Backside which often does not open after new snow or gets closed by wind. There was a lot of low-hanging fruit and Scotty, who I rode chair with and was in early 30s and I skied two quick laps, finding some deep and some slightly wind-affected snow. Next time up we exited the Backside via Thunder Saddle, launching off a small cornice into untracked, but then hitting some avalanche debris that was still soft, but deep enough to be blue in the deep cracks between chunks. Scotty thought we'd screwed up, but lower down, I took right-side of Two Man Chute while he took the left and ended up in One Man Chute and both had not slid. I did not see him on the exit and was worried enough to talk to ski patrol who, when I described what he was wearing said he skied next to him in chute and exited OK. Snow was so good we did one more Thunder Saddle lap with Scotty jumping over a steep rock band before he had to leave to return to Bay Area.
I took a couple of more laps on the Wall, first skiing Eagle Bowl where not only were tracks getting filled in by new snow, but there were a lot of places that had not been tracked as it seemed that early crowds had left or were worn out before the noon openings. I also skied Notch Chute, which for the first time this year and last did not require removing skis for the down-climb although visibility was marginal. I finished my day with 25K at about 3:30 with another Palisades lap where a lot of tracks had been filled in. While snow was sticking on the roads at Kirkwood, it was not over a lot of 8573' Carson Pass. (to be continued)
