The final day of the Epic Gathering was at Squaw Valley. My expectations were low in view of known lack of coverage down low and the cement-like new snow with icy subsurface the previous day at Alpine Meadows. The Sierra wind must have done wonders overnight as the new snow was mostly smoothed out rather than leftover stiff chowder.
The real advantage of this day was the tour by local guide Alex. We warmed up on Shirley Lake and Solitude, a mix of groomers and creamy meadows. Next were 3 runs on Granite Chief. It’s hard to define exactly where we were, but Alex consistently kept us in trees and shaded sides of bowls with the softest snow. The highlights for snow were our late morning runs from Emigrant of Attic and Funnel. The former was so good we went back for an encore and came into lunch at Wildflour a bit late at 12:45.
Alex inspecting the entry to Attic.
Tom and Mike in the pow. I only saw one track in there before ours.
Mike and John in Funnel
After lunch Alex kept us mostly on Headwall. First up was Slot, which in the current low tide conditions requires a walk to the entry.
The entry had both ice and rock obstacles. I chose one that had the cleanest runout but had about a 3 foot drop in. I skied partway down the chute, looked back and saw most of the group still inspecting.
Alex led the rest across the top of the chute to this line of softer snow sheltered by the cliff above.
Alex then traversed hard right for some distance to reach Classic Chute. I had skied too low for this also, but was in position to take pics from below. Alex shows the way in.
Tom, John and Mike follow.
I’ll have to get back here next year for that one. Our other laps on Headwall were to North Bowl, Sun Bowl/Hourglass and Hogsback. These runs had spots with exposed ice, but they could easily be avoided with many turns made in soft windsift. We finished up with a run from Siberia.
I’ve skied 16 days at Squaw before this, but the last one was in January 2002. I could have managed OK, but Alex’s tour raised the day to a completely different level.
The real advantage of this day was the tour by local guide Alex. We warmed up on Shirley Lake and Solitude, a mix of groomers and creamy meadows. Next were 3 runs on Granite Chief. It’s hard to define exactly where we were, but Alex consistently kept us in trees and shaded sides of bowls with the softest snow. The highlights for snow were our late morning runs from Emigrant of Attic and Funnel. The former was so good we went back for an encore and came into lunch at Wildflour a bit late at 12:45.
Alex inspecting the entry to Attic.
Tom and Mike in the pow. I only saw one track in there before ours.
Mike and John in Funnel
After lunch Alex kept us mostly on Headwall. First up was Slot, which in the current low tide conditions requires a walk to the entry.
The entry had both ice and rock obstacles. I chose one that had the cleanest runout but had about a 3 foot drop in. I skied partway down the chute, looked back and saw most of the group still inspecting.
Alex led the rest across the top of the chute to this line of softer snow sheltered by the cliff above.
Alex then traversed hard right for some distance to reach Classic Chute. I had skied too low for this also, but was in position to take pics from below. Alex shows the way in.
Tom, John and Mike follow.
I’ll have to get back here next year for that one. Our other laps on Headwall were to North Bowl, Sun Bowl/Hourglass and Hogsback. These runs had spots with exposed ice, but they could easily be avoided with many turns made in soft windsift. We finished up with a run from Siberia.
I’ve skied 16 days at Squaw before this, but the last one was in January 2002. I could have managed OK, but Alex’s tour raised the day to a completely different level.
