tseeb
Well-known member
My son got home for his spring break from college and weekend job after 10:30 pm Sunday night and we got on the road the next morning before 7 am. We arrived Sierra Tahoe, where his $109 China Peak College Pass gives him 10 free days, about 10:30 and got on the hill about 11. Timing seemed good as snow was still mostly firm on west-facing Marmot, which we took to West Bowl chair. We skied West Bowl six times, eventually being joined by three of his friends from college. Snow was very good on all the runs, although what was open to the right was very limited as top of Powderhorn was closed because they were working on a jump and half-pipe for a competition. They only had a narrow and firm path open at the top and had it marked as a black run. I felt like if I made a wrong turn I would be taken out by one of the high-speed snowboarder blasting through there. I moved to Grandview chair, where I took three runs before 2 pm lunch break, including one lap through Sierra's Backside, which was good on top, but only looked skiable on the right side further down and was very sticky getting to short, slow chair that returns you to the front. After late lunch break on the deck with four 20 and 21 year-olds, I skied Grandview chair six times, getting over 9K vertical in the last 80 minutes. Snow was still good until after 4 pm. You needed the sun to be hitting on most of the steeper faces or it was still too firm. I skied nicely groomed Castle twice and Upper Dynamite, the top of Preacher's Passion and the face under the chair once. Bumps on sunny Lower Dynamite were good. I finished with 25K vertical.
On Tuesday, my son got on skis for the first time in seven years. I had a free rental, but that and the first upgrade included 15, then 10 year-old rear entry boots so I went for the $23 ($25 with tax) second upgrade to decent boots and 165 cm Salomon X-wing skis. He was a little tentative on the first beginner run, but quickly got back the skiing skills he had developed in10 years skiing starting at age 3. It did not freeze overnight at lake level, but we dressed warmer as it was overcast on the CA side of Heavenly and windy at the top. We again did not get on the hill until 11, but it as still firm on top and started snowing lightly on about our third run on Sky chair. We moved to NV and my son followed me down a steep line on Milky Way Bowl, where visibility was poor at the top. He sped across the flats so I had to catch him and lead him away from Mott Canyon. At the base of Dipper chair, the sun was almost out and there was some slushy snow. We dropped our lunch by Tamarack lodge and made our way to the top of Olympic to ski the long cruiser to Boulder base. The snow at the bottom was slushy, but not sticky. We only planned one trip that low, but Stagecoach run looked good from the chair and we found good snow higher up on Comstock so we went down it again. Then my son dropped a pole from the lift near tower three so we skied to the Stagecoach base a third time to retrieve it. We got to very crowded Tamarack lodge a little before 2 for a lunch break.
After lunch we moved to CA and skied Sky chair a few times trying to meet up with a friend of his who was there. We skied Liz's and Ellie's, both of which were a little too firm, but had good snow in many places. We moved lower, skiing to base of Groove and Powder Bowl chair where we saw they had roped off Roundabout. We went up Groove and saw upper entry into Gunbarrel was closed and thought they were forcing everyone to ride lift down so we went up to ski Powder Bowl again. I rode with a patroller who said the entrance to the Face by the tram was open so after skiing another Powder Bowl run, we went up Groove again and skied the Face. The entrance was narrow and protected by big bumps, but I found good snow keeping to the left all the way, cutting over to the Face as Gunbarrel did not look like it had enough snow in the middle and our vehicle was parked by the tram. They have built some huge kickers for freestyle competition this Friday/Saturday. My son got to the car ahead of me and we both finished after 4 pm with 24.5K. He is ready to get a pair of skis.
On Wednesday, I tried to get on the hill before 11, but between picking up a $25 gift certificate for a sushi restaurant I won that morning, getting lunch and some cabin supplies, picking up my son at his friends' motel room where he spent the night and getting out of the cabin, it was 10 before we got on the road and 11 before we loaded our first lift at Sierra. We started with a loop to the Backside, where my son had not made it on Monday. He enjoyed the rollers and other man-made features on the run, but was slow getting to lift out of there on his snowboard. We went up Grandview again and skied well-groomed Castle. My son did not like the flat connecting the upper and lower part of the run and dropped off it just below the Castle Creek gate, the last gate into their side-country. I thought it was too firm for skiing off the groomed run, in the shade under the big trees, but my son enjoy the interesting side-country terrain. We did another Backside loop, this time going to the West Bowl via Beaver run on. Snow was much softer at the bottom of West Bowl as it may not have frozen there overnight at 6,600 feet. We took one run on Clipper before going into the Corona Cantina at the bottom, where his friends, who started later than us, were already taking a break. I had a quick Negra Modelo before leaving the four snowboarders.
I went up West Bowl and followed a track below the rope protecting Powderhorn, where snowcats were still working, that led to soft, nearly trackless corduroy on Pyramid. I went up the chair with Ken from Michigan who was skiing his 7th Tahoe area in 7 days. We both skied Clipper at high-speed, then rode the chair again. I learned he was 58, a year older than me, and he said regularly skis 40-50K vertical in a day and got 113K in an extended day at Keystone last year. We skied very uncrowded Bashful together, then I showed him the nearly untracked corduroy on Pyramid, which he enjoyed. I met my son at the base lodge at 2:30 for a quick lunch on the deck where a few sprinkles of rain fell. We went out again about 3 and I skied Grandview four more times, starting and ending with the terrain park jumps on top, then skiing groomed Hemlock and Lower Main, the first time with my son. My son went to lower chair to ski the terrain park there while I skied Eastabout, which had some big moguls, for the first time this year, and all of Preacher's Passion, for the first time this trip. Snow was soft, but still very carveable and acceptably fast, except the southwest facing return to the chair. I got back to the car at 3:50 with 23.5K.
There was some graupel/hail falling when we left that turned to rain as we descended. With only a quick stop at Arco and In 'N Out in Fairfield, we were back in San Jose, where it was still 66 degrees, at 7:30. My preference was to go later in the week, when there was a better chance of snow and to see some of the aerial competition at Heavenly. But considering that the temps in South Lake Tahoe for the three days were 60/26, 50/38 and 55/30, and how much earlier snow deteriorated at Sierra between Monday and Wednesday, I think we did well to go earlier in the week. I have some pictures, but I'm trying to use my Windows 8 laptop and don't see a quick way to reduce their sizes to under 200K as program I used on old laptop has changed so much. I downloaded FastTone Image Viewer, but that will take some time for me to figure out.
On Tuesday, my son got on skis for the first time in seven years. I had a free rental, but that and the first upgrade included 15, then 10 year-old rear entry boots so I went for the $23 ($25 with tax) second upgrade to decent boots and 165 cm Salomon X-wing skis. He was a little tentative on the first beginner run, but quickly got back the skiing skills he had developed in10 years skiing starting at age 3. It did not freeze overnight at lake level, but we dressed warmer as it was overcast on the CA side of Heavenly and windy at the top. We again did not get on the hill until 11, but it as still firm on top and started snowing lightly on about our third run on Sky chair. We moved to NV and my son followed me down a steep line on Milky Way Bowl, where visibility was poor at the top. He sped across the flats so I had to catch him and lead him away from Mott Canyon. At the base of Dipper chair, the sun was almost out and there was some slushy snow. We dropped our lunch by Tamarack lodge and made our way to the top of Olympic to ski the long cruiser to Boulder base. The snow at the bottom was slushy, but not sticky. We only planned one trip that low, but Stagecoach run looked good from the chair and we found good snow higher up on Comstock so we went down it again. Then my son dropped a pole from the lift near tower three so we skied to the Stagecoach base a third time to retrieve it. We got to very crowded Tamarack lodge a little before 2 for a lunch break.
After lunch we moved to CA and skied Sky chair a few times trying to meet up with a friend of his who was there. We skied Liz's and Ellie's, both of which were a little too firm, but had good snow in many places. We moved lower, skiing to base of Groove and Powder Bowl chair where we saw they had roped off Roundabout. We went up Groove and saw upper entry into Gunbarrel was closed and thought they were forcing everyone to ride lift down so we went up to ski Powder Bowl again. I rode with a patroller who said the entrance to the Face by the tram was open so after skiing another Powder Bowl run, we went up Groove again and skied the Face. The entrance was narrow and protected by big bumps, but I found good snow keeping to the left all the way, cutting over to the Face as Gunbarrel did not look like it had enough snow in the middle and our vehicle was parked by the tram. They have built some huge kickers for freestyle competition this Friday/Saturday. My son got to the car ahead of me and we both finished after 4 pm with 24.5K. He is ready to get a pair of skis.
On Wednesday, I tried to get on the hill before 11, but between picking up a $25 gift certificate for a sushi restaurant I won that morning, getting lunch and some cabin supplies, picking up my son at his friends' motel room where he spent the night and getting out of the cabin, it was 10 before we got on the road and 11 before we loaded our first lift at Sierra. We started with a loop to the Backside, where my son had not made it on Monday. He enjoyed the rollers and other man-made features on the run, but was slow getting to lift out of there on his snowboard. We went up Grandview again and skied well-groomed Castle. My son did not like the flat connecting the upper and lower part of the run and dropped off it just below the Castle Creek gate, the last gate into their side-country. I thought it was too firm for skiing off the groomed run, in the shade under the big trees, but my son enjoy the interesting side-country terrain. We did another Backside loop, this time going to the West Bowl via Beaver run on. Snow was much softer at the bottom of West Bowl as it may not have frozen there overnight at 6,600 feet. We took one run on Clipper before going into the Corona Cantina at the bottom, where his friends, who started later than us, were already taking a break. I had a quick Negra Modelo before leaving the four snowboarders.
I went up West Bowl and followed a track below the rope protecting Powderhorn, where snowcats were still working, that led to soft, nearly trackless corduroy on Pyramid. I went up the chair with Ken from Michigan who was skiing his 7th Tahoe area in 7 days. We both skied Clipper at high-speed, then rode the chair again. I learned he was 58, a year older than me, and he said regularly skis 40-50K vertical in a day and got 113K in an extended day at Keystone last year. We skied very uncrowded Bashful together, then I showed him the nearly untracked corduroy on Pyramid, which he enjoyed. I met my son at the base lodge at 2:30 for a quick lunch on the deck where a few sprinkles of rain fell. We went out again about 3 and I skied Grandview four more times, starting and ending with the terrain park jumps on top, then skiing groomed Hemlock and Lower Main, the first time with my son. My son went to lower chair to ski the terrain park there while I skied Eastabout, which had some big moguls, for the first time this year, and all of Preacher's Passion, for the first time this trip. Snow was soft, but still very carveable and acceptably fast, except the southwest facing return to the chair. I got back to the car at 3:50 with 23.5K.
There was some graupel/hail falling when we left that turned to rain as we descended. With only a quick stop at Arco and In 'N Out in Fairfield, we were back in San Jose, where it was still 66 degrees, at 7:30. My preference was to go later in the week, when there was a better chance of snow and to see some of the aerial competition at Heavenly. But considering that the temps in South Lake Tahoe for the three days were 60/26, 50/38 and 55/30, and how much earlier snow deteriorated at Sierra between Monday and Wednesday, I think we did well to go earlier in the week. I have some pictures, but I'm trying to use my Windows 8 laptop and don't see a quick way to reduce their sizes to under 200K as program I used on old laptop has changed so much. I downloaded FastTone Image Viewer, but that will take some time for me to figure out.
