SoCal Rider
New member
I'm lumping together all three days in an attempt to construct a tight TR overview where I'm not trying to sound all smart and experienced (which I am not, with 83% of my days in Southern California) 
I picked a good time to hit the North Shore. We (my brother - a recent returnee to Tahoe area) hit Sugar Bowl the day the last storm rolled in, then Northstar on Super Bowl Sunday after the biggest one-day accumulation, and finally Alpine Meadows after 4 to 7 additional, colder inches for good measure. I believe the general storm totals were around 2 1/2' to 3'. It also worked to our favor that Alpine was closed on Feb. 3. I regret that my pics are pretty boring. I shot some digital camera vid clips, but I'll have to do some editing before posting anything - don't want anyone to vomit on their keyboards. The first obvious difference between these places and the Mickey Mouse areas that I'm used to is the size. I rode Northstar for six, seven hours and still missed a chunk of it; same with the other places.
Sugar Bowl - 2/2
There was a fresh inch on the ground when we arrived. I feared it might be a tad hard first thing but our warm-up run was already reasonably soft packed powder and it only got better from there. A steady, sometimes fierce wind blew in from the top, depositing white goodness in certain spots. We tended to favor the same couple runs off Lincoln (and Disney, too), which kinda lent a sameness to the day but by afternoon it became pretty powdery.
North Star - 2/3
North Star was reporting a 24-hour total of 22" and an overnight total of 17", IIRC. I would say it was pretty good quality. Living in SoCal, I don't have the best perspective but my brother has lived in Telluride and Breck and he was pretty satisfied. We went to the Backside first thing, one of two spots I learned you're supposed to frequent if at Northstar. Nothing there scared off this blue-OK snowboarder. Backside got tracked out fast but I got to practice my floaties. The trees were pretty well spaced, I thought, but I hit a few flat spots; lots of rollers. Lookout Mtn opened around 10-10:30. I fell off the surface lift - darn alien thing. In the afternoon I ventured to the other side, where I found plenty of stashes still, even if the terrain was not exactly pushing the boundaries of pitch. NS lived up to its "protected" rep. Alpine was closed and we heard later from people that Squaw had closed terrain, but I believe Northstar was 100 percent after Lookout opened late morning.
Alpine Meadows - 2/4
In some random post a few weeks ago, I mentioned my dream terrain. I think I found it - Sherwood chair - Sherwood Face, South Face. Earlier, I got into a little trouble on the traverse to the backside bowls from Summit Six chair. I borrowed a ski pole to safely get to the drop-in point a little past China Bowl. (But what a ride!) Skiers may now scream at rookie boarder for screwing up. That was my one and only traverse. Afterward, I pretty much stayed on the Sherwood chair terrain, looking for untracked in the trees, wherever, and then ventured over to the Lakeview chair. The snow was easily the best of the three days. The last bit was falling at 3K, I understand. It was one of those days where the tracked stuff didn't ride like it was all chopped up and pre-mogul-y. Alpine is my new favorite mountain. I even made it through a double-black, albeit a short one (Waterfall) without damaging anything. It's a wonder what hero snow will do for the confidence. If I wasn't enjoying the backside so much, I would have loved to try that one again.
Three days and 18+ hours of riding--plenty for me. as it was my first consecutive-day stint since a foursome in March 2006.
A few pics (I apologize that my TR laziness has cost me the ability to determine where a lot of this stuff is)
Sugar Bowl
Think I'm trying to get the Palisades here
Northstar
This is off the Tahoe Zephyr chair, on way to the Backside
Backside steep
Backside or Lookout (I forget)
Rendezvous Chair (it wasn't all flat, some fun lines here) YMMV.
Alpine Meadows - Hard to stop for pics on a day like this.
The view from Robin Hood
View from Scott Peak
Looking back from Lakeview chair
I picked a good time to hit the North Shore. We (my brother - a recent returnee to Tahoe area) hit Sugar Bowl the day the last storm rolled in, then Northstar on Super Bowl Sunday after the biggest one-day accumulation, and finally Alpine Meadows after 4 to 7 additional, colder inches for good measure. I believe the general storm totals were around 2 1/2' to 3'. It also worked to our favor that Alpine was closed on Feb. 3. I regret that my pics are pretty boring. I shot some digital camera vid clips, but I'll have to do some editing before posting anything - don't want anyone to vomit on their keyboards. The first obvious difference between these places and the Mickey Mouse areas that I'm used to is the size. I rode Northstar for six, seven hours and still missed a chunk of it; same with the other places.
Sugar Bowl - 2/2
There was a fresh inch on the ground when we arrived. I feared it might be a tad hard first thing but our warm-up run was already reasonably soft packed powder and it only got better from there. A steady, sometimes fierce wind blew in from the top, depositing white goodness in certain spots. We tended to favor the same couple runs off Lincoln (and Disney, too), which kinda lent a sameness to the day but by afternoon it became pretty powdery.
North Star - 2/3
North Star was reporting a 24-hour total of 22" and an overnight total of 17", IIRC. I would say it was pretty good quality. Living in SoCal, I don't have the best perspective but my brother has lived in Telluride and Breck and he was pretty satisfied. We went to the Backside first thing, one of two spots I learned you're supposed to frequent if at Northstar. Nothing there scared off this blue-OK snowboarder. Backside got tracked out fast but I got to practice my floaties. The trees were pretty well spaced, I thought, but I hit a few flat spots; lots of rollers. Lookout Mtn opened around 10-10:30. I fell off the surface lift - darn alien thing. In the afternoon I ventured to the other side, where I found plenty of stashes still, even if the terrain was not exactly pushing the boundaries of pitch. NS lived up to its "protected" rep. Alpine was closed and we heard later from people that Squaw had closed terrain, but I believe Northstar was 100 percent after Lookout opened late morning.
Alpine Meadows - 2/4
In some random post a few weeks ago, I mentioned my dream terrain. I think I found it - Sherwood chair - Sherwood Face, South Face. Earlier, I got into a little trouble on the traverse to the backside bowls from Summit Six chair. I borrowed a ski pole to safely get to the drop-in point a little past China Bowl. (But what a ride!) Skiers may now scream at rookie boarder for screwing up. That was my one and only traverse. Afterward, I pretty much stayed on the Sherwood chair terrain, looking for untracked in the trees, wherever, and then ventured over to the Lakeview chair. The snow was easily the best of the three days. The last bit was falling at 3K, I understand. It was one of those days where the tracked stuff didn't ride like it was all chopped up and pre-mogul-y. Alpine is my new favorite mountain. I even made it through a double-black, albeit a short one (Waterfall) without damaging anything. It's a wonder what hero snow will do for the confidence. If I wasn't enjoying the backside so much, I would have loved to try that one again.
Three days and 18+ hours of riding--plenty for me. as it was my first consecutive-day stint since a foursome in March 2006.
A few pics (I apologize that my TR laziness has cost me the ability to determine where a lot of this stuff is)
Sugar Bowl
Think I'm trying to get the Palisades here
Northstar
This is off the Tahoe Zephyr chair, on way to the Backside
Backside steep
Backside or Lookout (I forget)
Rendezvous Chair (it wasn't all flat, some fun lines here) YMMV.
Alpine Meadows - Hard to stop for pics on a day like this.
The view from Robin Hood
View from Scott Peak
Looking back from Lakeview chair
