tseeb
Well-known member
Thurs, I arrived Squaw about noon and realized I had left my helmet and goggles in San Jose. For $70 plus 9+% tax, I bought a pair like the ones I bought pre-season for $54 (that came with a free Sun-Fri Sugar Bowl ticket. Note to self: If you are going to a dishcrawl that starts at a place named Mezcal, totally pack before leaving). Snow level on I-80 was about 4,000 feet and chains were required at Cisco Grove, elevation 6,500 feet, although they could have been required much lower. It’s nice to have my AWD SUV back. The storm was not supposed to hit until evening, but it was snowing hard and windy at noon and Squaw reported 5-6” new at the bottom in the morning.
After I got goggles, I did not find my friend waiting at Red Dog (which still seems to be running slow) so I went and looked at Exhibition, then called him and left message before going up KT. I skied the Saddle three times, including once with my friend, who I eventually met. The wind was howling out of the south and blowing snow into the run so there was a few inches new in most places. Visibility on top, along the ridge and most of the way down the steep part of the run was poor to very poor. We heard the trees next to Chute 75 were good and skied them twice and found much better visibility and 2-6 inches of new snow.
The wind seemed to be increasing. The top of Squaw was closed for the day as usual during and for day or two after storm and showed gusts of 90-91 mpht 2 pm. Red Dog was no longer loading due to wind. We went into the main lodge and were offered two for one on pizza so bought two slices. Then we took the long shuttle to Squaw Creek, which is more protected, and found some deep snow by turning left off the main Squaw Creek run into the trees near Montezuma. I also found deep snow lower down in the trees. On our last run, finishing after 4 pm, we found the best snow of the day, steep and untracked, by going though a gate high on Red Dog and skiing the liftline at the top. 7 runs/12.2K vertical
Friday had some promise with Squaw reporting 27-28” of new snow on top (which did not come close to opening) and 21-22” new at the bottom. I arrived about 9:30 and found large line on Far East that was running, but not yet loading. It started loading before 10 and I got four steep powder runs before they shut the whole mountain at 11:30 due to wind, which gusted to 152 at that time on top. KT never opened and Red Dog, which runs under fully-loaded, high-speed six-pack Far East, looked scary windy. 4 runs/4K vertical
After a beer and French Onion soup at the Chamonix, I went to Boot Works were I purchased a pair of Lange 120/130 stiffness boots that are 100 mm wide, compared to their 97 mm regular boots. They are doing some modification on them and re-mounting my heel as boots are too short for bindings on my new wide skis. I hope they work well and that Alpine, where I have free ticket valid tomorrow courtesy of Chevy, can get their mountain open better than Squaw has during last two storms.
After I got goggles, I did not find my friend waiting at Red Dog (which still seems to be running slow) so I went and looked at Exhibition, then called him and left message before going up KT. I skied the Saddle three times, including once with my friend, who I eventually met. The wind was howling out of the south and blowing snow into the run so there was a few inches new in most places. Visibility on top, along the ridge and most of the way down the steep part of the run was poor to very poor. We heard the trees next to Chute 75 were good and skied them twice and found much better visibility and 2-6 inches of new snow.
The wind seemed to be increasing. The top of Squaw was closed for the day as usual during and for day or two after storm and showed gusts of 90-91 mpht 2 pm. Red Dog was no longer loading due to wind. We went into the main lodge and were offered two for one on pizza so bought two slices. Then we took the long shuttle to Squaw Creek, which is more protected, and found some deep snow by turning left off the main Squaw Creek run into the trees near Montezuma. I also found deep snow lower down in the trees. On our last run, finishing after 4 pm, we found the best snow of the day, steep and untracked, by going though a gate high on Red Dog and skiing the liftline at the top. 7 runs/12.2K vertical
Friday had some promise with Squaw reporting 27-28” of new snow on top (which did not come close to opening) and 21-22” new at the bottom. I arrived about 9:30 and found large line on Far East that was running, but not yet loading. It started loading before 10 and I got four steep powder runs before they shut the whole mountain at 11:30 due to wind, which gusted to 152 at that time on top. KT never opened and Red Dog, which runs under fully-loaded, high-speed six-pack Far East, looked scary windy. 4 runs/4K vertical
After a beer and French Onion soup at the Chamonix, I went to Boot Works were I purchased a pair of Lange 120/130 stiffness boots that are 100 mm wide, compared to their 97 mm regular boots. They are doing some modification on them and re-mounting my heel as boots are too short for bindings on my new wide skis. I hope they work well and that Alpine, where I have free ticket valid tomorrow courtesy of Chevy, can get their mountain open better than Squaw has during last two storms.
