tseeb
Well-known member
My wife finally got some use of her season pass. Like last year, she did not ski until April. Unlike last year, she probably will not break even this year (especially compared to using $70 Buddy tickets from my pass) and she did not start her season with a powder day. When we bought her pass, we thought two three-day weekends and she breaks even, but due to changes in her work and other complications, she will not get those. She has been very busy with a big project and worked in Chico, CA last week. I went with her and entertained myself by hiking to Feather Falls, mountain biking Bidwell Park, hiking and doing a little skiing at Lassen National Park and making four visits to Sierra Nevada brewery, which was between where we stayed and my wife's work. We hoped to leave Chico early Friday morning and get a day at Northstar (2 and a half hours away). But she did not get off until 11:30, and it wasn't until we stopped for lunch in Sacramento that she resolved a problem and did not have to go home to work over the weekend, that we knew we could go to South Lake Tahoe.
Saturday morning was windy and the top of Heavenly was in the clouds. There was some drizzle at lake level, but it was cold enough to snow very lightly up high. We took a couple of warm-up runs on Canyon chair, where the top was barely in the clouds, then did one Sky chair to Powder Bowl run before heading to Nevada where it was sunnier. It was the first time all season I bypassed Milky Way Bowl as I was not sure my wife was ready for it. We skied Nevada until lunchtime, my wife never going below 8,000 feet as Olympic looked too soft and chopped up below Olympic chair. I was getting bored with the blue groomers so I took North Bowl for the first time this season. Snow was soft on the left side where the sun had been hitting it hard, but center and right were still good and the steep, usually bumped out bowl must have been groomed in the past week and was much easier than I expected. Boulder chair is already closed and this is the last weekend for long slow North Bowl chair.
After lunch at Tamarack lodge, my wife did a couple of black runs. First she followed me down a line away from the biggest bumps on short, steep Dipper Bowl run, then she skied Milky Way Bowl, which held excellent snow. She was getting tired so we started back to CA, but while I was looking at the map, then talking to Mountain Host she disappeared and went to Tamarack. I took a fast run on Ellie's from Sky chair, then met her at the top and led her to Groove chair so she could take tram back. I went back to the top, skied very good corn on Milky Way Bowl, then Maggie's Canyon before going back to the top and skiing Liz's, then Waterfall. I finished about 4 pm with 26.5K not including the 370 feet from Lassen,
They were not letting you ski to the CA base where Shaun White was hosting a big air competition. I took tram down and saw many narrow places on East Bowl and think they were saving it for Sunday's Gunbarrel 25. After a half-price drink in CA bar, we went to the competition where we found a passholders area with free Helly Hansen Epic shirts, bandannas, food (make you own tacos/nachos with chicken and beef and a lot more) and one free beer per person. We stayed as long as we could, but were not really dressed for late afternoon temps and left for the car after 6 pm. We watched a little more from the parking lot, left about 7 pm and saw the fireworks through the trees out the back window of the cabin after 9 pm.
Sunday morning, we got out of the cabin about 9:30 and, after picking up free demo or tune and a this seasons Vail ticket we won that morning, and a Safeway sandwich, we were on the slopes at Kirkwood at 10:40. We took a couple of runs on Cornice chair and found the nearly untracked corduroy on Sentinel was very good, still firm and fast. We headed to the Backside as it was the last day it was open and we were concerned it could close if predicted winds picked up. Snow was good enough that I was able to endure the long slow chair four times, breaking it up by taking the two drag lifts towards Covered Wagon once. My wife took a fall in soft now in a gully (probably a pre-release) on Backside getting to Thunder Saddle, then took a fall, short slide and roll near the top of steep and still firm Thunder return to the front side. Otherwise, she did well although had tired legs from skiing a lot at Heavenly.
My wife went in for a break while I took a couple of runs to get lunch from the car and after a quick break, I took The Wall chair twice before she joined me to take the Reut and Cornice to get back to the car where I finished with 19.5K. Before lunch, I found snow on Shotgun, reachable from Reut chair was excellent groomed, but hardly skied, carve-able corn and it stayed that way until after 3 pm. While I would have liked to have stayed to see what storm predicted for Sunday night brought, my wife needed to be back to work Monday and it looks like it did not deliver the 6-9" and possibly a foot over the Sierra crest predicted. My wife may take next Friday off and we'd probably do KW, Heavenly, KW which would give her five days on her pass and get close to break even. Kirkwood says closing is 4/21, but they may extend a week as ticket we won says valid through 4/28.
Saturday morning was windy and the top of Heavenly was in the clouds. There was some drizzle at lake level, but it was cold enough to snow very lightly up high. We took a couple of warm-up runs on Canyon chair, where the top was barely in the clouds, then did one Sky chair to Powder Bowl run before heading to Nevada where it was sunnier. It was the first time all season I bypassed Milky Way Bowl as I was not sure my wife was ready for it. We skied Nevada until lunchtime, my wife never going below 8,000 feet as Olympic looked too soft and chopped up below Olympic chair. I was getting bored with the blue groomers so I took North Bowl for the first time this season. Snow was soft on the left side where the sun had been hitting it hard, but center and right were still good and the steep, usually bumped out bowl must have been groomed in the past week and was much easier than I expected. Boulder chair is already closed and this is the last weekend for long slow North Bowl chair.
After lunch at Tamarack lodge, my wife did a couple of black runs. First she followed me down a line away from the biggest bumps on short, steep Dipper Bowl run, then she skied Milky Way Bowl, which held excellent snow. She was getting tired so we started back to CA, but while I was looking at the map, then talking to Mountain Host she disappeared and went to Tamarack. I took a fast run on Ellie's from Sky chair, then met her at the top and led her to Groove chair so she could take tram back. I went back to the top, skied very good corn on Milky Way Bowl, then Maggie's Canyon before going back to the top and skiing Liz's, then Waterfall. I finished about 4 pm with 26.5K not including the 370 feet from Lassen,
They were not letting you ski to the CA base where Shaun White was hosting a big air competition. I took tram down and saw many narrow places on East Bowl and think they were saving it for Sunday's Gunbarrel 25. After a half-price drink in CA bar, we went to the competition where we found a passholders area with free Helly Hansen Epic shirts, bandannas, food (make you own tacos/nachos with chicken and beef and a lot more) and one free beer per person. We stayed as long as we could, but were not really dressed for late afternoon temps and left for the car after 6 pm. We watched a little more from the parking lot, left about 7 pm and saw the fireworks through the trees out the back window of the cabin after 9 pm.
Sunday morning, we got out of the cabin about 9:30 and, after picking up free demo or tune and a this seasons Vail ticket we won that morning, and a Safeway sandwich, we were on the slopes at Kirkwood at 10:40. We took a couple of runs on Cornice chair and found the nearly untracked corduroy on Sentinel was very good, still firm and fast. We headed to the Backside as it was the last day it was open and we were concerned it could close if predicted winds picked up. Snow was good enough that I was able to endure the long slow chair four times, breaking it up by taking the two drag lifts towards Covered Wagon once. My wife took a fall in soft now in a gully (probably a pre-release) on Backside getting to Thunder Saddle, then took a fall, short slide and roll near the top of steep and still firm Thunder return to the front side. Otherwise, she did well although had tired legs from skiing a lot at Heavenly.
My wife went in for a break while I took a couple of runs to get lunch from the car and after a quick break, I took The Wall chair twice before she joined me to take the Reut and Cornice to get back to the car where I finished with 19.5K. Before lunch, I found snow on Shotgun, reachable from Reut chair was excellent groomed, but hardly skied, carve-able corn and it stayed that way until after 3 pm. While I would have liked to have stayed to see what storm predicted for Sunday night brought, my wife needed to be back to work Monday and it looks like it did not deliver the 6-9" and possibly a foot over the Sierra crest predicted. My wife may take next Friday off and we'd probably do KW, Heavenly, KW which would give her five days on her pass and get close to break even. Kirkwood says closing is 4/21, but they may extend a week as ticket we won says valid through 4/28.
