tseeb
Well-known member
We left San Jose about 6:00 am and arrived Sugar Bowl, where they had been closed Monday to Thursday and re-opened for their last three days, about 9:30. It was cold and clear with a brisk wind from the East. We had noticed some snow of cars parked in driveways between Soda Springs and Sugar Bowl. You had to watch where you turned because the layer underneath was firm, but you could make most of your turns in the unreported inch of new snow. We rode Jerome lift 10 times before moving on. Some of the best snow was found in the trees going towards the terrain park towards closed Judah lift. On the left side and everywhere ungroomed between the bottoms of the runs there was about an inch of dry fast new snow that was great for making turns. We moved to Christmas Tree where race training had the best snow roped off, but I found untracked cutting back towards the lift from the Ridge. Next, we went up Mt. Lincoln which had stronger winds and, unlike my previous day at Sugar Bowl, was totally open. I came down the steep knoll to skiers left of Rahlve’s Run, where patrol was taking down the ropeline. Hari-kari and Steilhung Gullies both also skied well.
We moved to Mt. Disney and tried the East Face and to skier’s right of the Face. Snow was mostly firm and not deep enough to go too fast, but got better where runs flattened near the bottom. I took my friend out to Strawberry Fields, where he had never been and found the highest traverse roped off as on previous time there. The short steep face held a solid inch of fresh. We returned to the lodge by going out a backcountry gate towards Roller Pass and skied more fresh to skier’s right of Stein’s Schuss.
In the lodge my friend had his sandwich, and since mine was in the car, I had the ski bum lunch of a large draft and two packs of saltines with (separately) salad dressing. We returned to Lincoln where I took my friend down Silver Belt, another Sugar Bowl classic that he had never been on. We did a few more, including one by me solo on one of the Sisters chutes, before skiing to within 100 feet of the car about 3 pm, finishing with 26 runs/24.6K vertical.
We drove down old Highway 40, through Truckee and past closed, but still well-covered Northstar, then down the East shore of Tahoe to family cabin at So. Tahoe. Thankfully the many feet of snow in driveway from March had mostly melted. After poaching a lakefront hot tub, followed by cold outdoor shower, we watched some of the Sharks/Red Wings before going to the buffet at Mont Bleu, followed by watching Sharks tie the game in the sports betting room there, then watched the overtime win at Harrah’s.
The next morning, we got out of cabin quickly, since we had not turned on the water, and went back to Nevada for breakfast at Tahoe Lakeside Inn before arriving Kirkwood about 9:30. The parking lot had a lot of cars, but we found a spot behind two other cars next to big snowbank under Cornice lift which my friend hoped would not fall on his wife’s new SUV. Kirkwood was offering one free day to other area’s passholder so I got my free ticket by showing my Squaw pass. My friend used my last Tahoe Card ticket. Temperatures had been low overnight and there was a moderate wind out of the North so snow stayed firm most of the morning. The high of 36 the same day recorded at Squaw at 8200 feet was not reached until 5 pm, where it did not get above freezing until after 2 pm. Kirkwood may have been a little warmer and the sun on the last day of April was strong enough to soften the snow where traffic was not too heavy and scraped it all off.
We started with east-facing, steep groomed Monte Wolf, then went to Sentinel Bowl, where tailwind and firm snow made traverse go quickly and found better snow, although still firm. Olympic also held good snow. We skied high-speed Cornice 9 times, then I left my friend and took two runs on the Wall before lunch. The low-speed chair took at least twelve minutes and the first couple of turns required a lot of faith in your edges, before getting to the softer snow. I did a reverse traverse to the top of not running Reut chair, where three empty and groomed runs were great for going fast. We met back at the car at noon for a quick lunch, before returning to Cornice. The lift maze was full a couple of time, then the crowds went down. Snow had not softened much on Cornice, but held an edge. I did two more runs on the Wall where there was some softening skier’s left of the main run. I met my friend in the Cornice line for our last ride about 2 pm. He went to Sentinel while I stopped to look at the usually 20 foot drop into Big Jim’s and found it very filled in. A young snowboarder and I discussed how icy it might be and I decided to go. After telling him you are only 55 once, I dropped the 3 or 4 foot cornice onto very firm snow and made a couple of turns before finding great snow for a few turns on the apron below. The firm uneven, un-groomed snow lower forced me back to the groomed run. I finished with 18 runs and my highest vertical of the year at 26.4 K
We moved to Mt. Disney and tried the East Face and to skier’s right of the Face. Snow was mostly firm and not deep enough to go too fast, but got better where runs flattened near the bottom. I took my friend out to Strawberry Fields, where he had never been and found the highest traverse roped off as on previous time there. The short steep face held a solid inch of fresh. We returned to the lodge by going out a backcountry gate towards Roller Pass and skied more fresh to skier’s right of Stein’s Schuss.
In the lodge my friend had his sandwich, and since mine was in the car, I had the ski bum lunch of a large draft and two packs of saltines with (separately) salad dressing. We returned to Lincoln where I took my friend down Silver Belt, another Sugar Bowl classic that he had never been on. We did a few more, including one by me solo on one of the Sisters chutes, before skiing to within 100 feet of the car about 3 pm, finishing with 26 runs/24.6K vertical.
We drove down old Highway 40, through Truckee and past closed, but still well-covered Northstar, then down the East shore of Tahoe to family cabin at So. Tahoe. Thankfully the many feet of snow in driveway from March had mostly melted. After poaching a lakefront hot tub, followed by cold outdoor shower, we watched some of the Sharks/Red Wings before going to the buffet at Mont Bleu, followed by watching Sharks tie the game in the sports betting room there, then watched the overtime win at Harrah’s.
The next morning, we got out of cabin quickly, since we had not turned on the water, and went back to Nevada for breakfast at Tahoe Lakeside Inn before arriving Kirkwood about 9:30. The parking lot had a lot of cars, but we found a spot behind two other cars next to big snowbank under Cornice lift which my friend hoped would not fall on his wife’s new SUV. Kirkwood was offering one free day to other area’s passholder so I got my free ticket by showing my Squaw pass. My friend used my last Tahoe Card ticket. Temperatures had been low overnight and there was a moderate wind out of the North so snow stayed firm most of the morning. The high of 36 the same day recorded at Squaw at 8200 feet was not reached until 5 pm, where it did not get above freezing until after 2 pm. Kirkwood may have been a little warmer and the sun on the last day of April was strong enough to soften the snow where traffic was not too heavy and scraped it all off.
We started with east-facing, steep groomed Monte Wolf, then went to Sentinel Bowl, where tailwind and firm snow made traverse go quickly and found better snow, although still firm. Olympic also held good snow. We skied high-speed Cornice 9 times, then I left my friend and took two runs on the Wall before lunch. The low-speed chair took at least twelve minutes and the first couple of turns required a lot of faith in your edges, before getting to the softer snow. I did a reverse traverse to the top of not running Reut chair, where three empty and groomed runs were great for going fast. We met back at the car at noon for a quick lunch, before returning to Cornice. The lift maze was full a couple of time, then the crowds went down. Snow had not softened much on Cornice, but held an edge. I did two more runs on the Wall where there was some softening skier’s left of the main run. I met my friend in the Cornice line for our last ride about 2 pm. He went to Sentinel while I stopped to look at the usually 20 foot drop into Big Jim’s and found it very filled in. A young snowboarder and I discussed how icy it might be and I decided to go. After telling him you are only 55 once, I dropped the 3 or 4 foot cornice onto very firm snow and made a couple of turns before finding great snow for a few turns on the apron below. The firm uneven, un-groomed snow lower forced me back to the groomed run. I finished with 18 runs and my highest vertical of the year at 26.4 K
