tseeb
Well-known member
Squaw claimed 6 inches new at 6200 feet and a foot at 8200 which thankfully had all scheduled lifts running. I got in moderate line at KT-22 about 8:50 and the chair started loading 5 minutes later. I came down in the steeps just past the Saddle and crossed the run then came down untracked between the two Saddle alternate ends. The new snow was at least 8 inches deep. At the very top you could find the firm layer underneath, but lower down it was less wind affected and deeper. I got on uncrowded Headwall and found room for about 40 untracked turns down the middle of Sun Bowl which skied better than I have seen it all year. The exit was low and I found more untracked in the steeps skiers right of Cornice II. I also found powder turns in Spring Bowl my first couple of Headwall runs that most people were overlooking. The next time up Headwall was more crowded. I skied the Slot which was rocky on the road to the entrance and had already been skied out up high. I found room for many untracked turns on lower angle Cornice II run. 3rd and 4th time up Headwall crowds were growing, but not too bad as long as you stayed out of singles line. I was going to ski the Nose, but I saw two guys with two children ski past the closed sign and drop into North Bowl. I also went past the closed sign, but stayed along the Nose before dropping into untracked on the edge of North Bowl closest to the Nose. Since the lower steeps were getting tracked out and I was trying to let my friends catch up, I twice hiked to the top of the knoll overlooking Spring Bowl and got 10-12 totally untracked turns before hitting tracks from traversers. Since the closed sign on North Bowl were removed, I next skied that twice. The first time patrol had just taken down the signs and I got an untracked very steep line on far skiers left of North Bowl. My fifth time up the lift, the line was 7-8 minutes and growing so I moved to less steep Gold Coast where I found low angle powder. I crossed my first groomed run on my 7th run of the day. Next time up, I noticed hikers going up a cat track to the top of Emigrant. I did the 15 minute uphill bootpack and was rewarded with nearly untracked on one of the Granite Chief runs.
Shirley Lake also had 7-8 minute lines, with single line looking worse. I went out towards Solitude and found it more tracked out than I expected. I caught up with my friends from Nevada City and we went out that way twice more and found a little more untracked by going as low as possible before returning to Shirley Lake lift. My wife had a hard time getting up the mountain and finally, probably about noon, called to say she was on least-crowded Gold Coast lift so I made plans to join her. We had left the car together about 8:45 and looked into Tram as she needed to exchange voucher for ticket. The ticket line was not that short so we went to main ticket windows, where only one was open and line was worse. I thought she should return to Tram, but she stayed where she was while I headed to KT-22 since I had pass. She had a long slow line to get her ticket. The tram line had grown out of the building so she came up KT. She returned to KT base after passing very crowded Headwall and found KT line had become ridiculous. The tram was worse with lines wrapping around both the north and south sides of the building. So she took a long break waiting for lines to become somewhat reasonable. I don’t understand why Squaw did not run much higher capacity Funitel or add another lift such as Red Dog or Siberia to better handle the crowds. The only lifts running were KT and Headwall (both 1,800+ vertical hi-speed expert lifts), Gold Coast and Shirley Lake (hi-speed 6-packs, mostly intermediate) and Tram plus Links and Baileys Beach (beginner lifts that also get you between Shirley and Tram).
While my wife and I went up Gold Coast, my friends called to report line was gone at Headwall. My wife and I skied to there, went up and had excellent packed powder on Headwall Ridge Run and Cornice II before skiing to the bottom. Snow was good all the way down, although it did get wetter from above Headwall base to the bottom. I carried my wife’s skis to the car as she was not feeling very well and we had some leftover pizza and split a beer which made her feel better. It was snowing lightly at Squaw’s base so my wife took her book to one of the covered couches in the village while I skied three more runs; one KT and two Headwalls before quitting shortly before 3 pm. It was snowing moderately at the top of Headwall for my last run, which worried me since we had to go over Donner Pass and did not have 4WD or chains, but it was much warmer at the base and we did not have any problems getting home. My watch counted 17 runs and over 23K vertical with more than half untracked or very lightly tracked powder. Pictures will have to wait until I have more time and energy as I'm tired after driving 825 miles over the last four days.
Shirley Lake also had 7-8 minute lines, with single line looking worse. I went out towards Solitude and found it more tracked out than I expected. I caught up with my friends from Nevada City and we went out that way twice more and found a little more untracked by going as low as possible before returning to Shirley Lake lift. My wife had a hard time getting up the mountain and finally, probably about noon, called to say she was on least-crowded Gold Coast lift so I made plans to join her. We had left the car together about 8:45 and looked into Tram as she needed to exchange voucher for ticket. The ticket line was not that short so we went to main ticket windows, where only one was open and line was worse. I thought she should return to Tram, but she stayed where she was while I headed to KT-22 since I had pass. She had a long slow line to get her ticket. The tram line had grown out of the building so she came up KT. She returned to KT base after passing very crowded Headwall and found KT line had become ridiculous. The tram was worse with lines wrapping around both the north and south sides of the building. So she took a long break waiting for lines to become somewhat reasonable. I don’t understand why Squaw did not run much higher capacity Funitel or add another lift such as Red Dog or Siberia to better handle the crowds. The only lifts running were KT and Headwall (both 1,800+ vertical hi-speed expert lifts), Gold Coast and Shirley Lake (hi-speed 6-packs, mostly intermediate) and Tram plus Links and Baileys Beach (beginner lifts that also get you between Shirley and Tram).
While my wife and I went up Gold Coast, my friends called to report line was gone at Headwall. My wife and I skied to there, went up and had excellent packed powder on Headwall Ridge Run and Cornice II before skiing to the bottom. Snow was good all the way down, although it did get wetter from above Headwall base to the bottom. I carried my wife’s skis to the car as she was not feeling very well and we had some leftover pizza and split a beer which made her feel better. It was snowing lightly at Squaw’s base so my wife took her book to one of the covered couches in the village while I skied three more runs; one KT and two Headwalls before quitting shortly before 3 pm. It was snowing moderately at the top of Headwall for my last run, which worried me since we had to go over Donner Pass and did not have 4WD or chains, but it was much warmer at the base and we did not have any problems getting home. My watch counted 17 runs and over 23K vertical with more than half untracked or very lightly tracked powder. Pictures will have to wait until I have more time and energy as I'm tired after driving 825 miles over the last four days.
