Hello Skiers and Boarders,
What a crazy day! Early this morning I would have sworn the ski area would close for the day. We received so much new snow in the past couple of days that it just seemed the avalanche danger was extreme and that it would take a day to make sure the mountain was safe and dig out lifts. All lifts were on delayed or patrol hold. It was still snowing in the morning making me even more sure the area would be closed for the day.
I spent a few hours clearing steps, part of my driveway, and my deck. As usual it was exhausting, but a necessary evil. When I was finished I took a look at the Squaw/Alpine app on my phone just to see if they had closed the area. Oh no! Roundhouse was open. I must admit I was taken by surprise. I had no choice but to jump into the car and head up to the mountain to check it out. There were not many cars in the lot when I arrived, but there were people riding the lift. I headed out and found fairly light deep snow on the slopes. Steep was needed for the untracked, or skier cut snow. If you attempted to ski down a slope that flatten out at the base, you were going to have a tough walk to get back to a steeper slope. I skied God’s Knob, Yellow, and Fall Line to start. These had been skied, but there were untouched lines. Roundhouse and Yellow Chair were operating. Then Scott opened. There was a pretty good line of Scott, but it moved pretty quickly. Chute that Seldom Slides was good enough for two runs. Steep enough and plenty deep. Face shots in the trees. There is nothing better. Gentian Gully was just sweet and then Summit opened. I was lucky enough to capture a top to bottom clean slope in Wolverine. Many of the skiers and boarders were hiking up to Keyhole, so Wolverine was left to just a few.
Snow up to my chest with a few shots to the face. The sky cleared allowing us to have great visibility and awesome views. It was one of the best days of the year, especially since I thought it was going to be a total bust.
I want to give the employees and management at Alpine a thumbs up for running the area as it should be run (like a real ski area). I think they have been doing a great job lately making every attempt to open the area and lifts whenever possible. There have been many days when weather prevented the lifts from opening in the morning, but employees remained available to open them when and if the winds died down. Often in the late morning or mid-afternoon. The Ski Patrol is doing a great job completing avalanche control in a reasonable time period during and after storms allowing lifts to open. Keep up the good work.
Enjoy your day,
Andy
The Unofficial Alpine Meadows Ski Report
Produced by Andy Wertheim
Tahoe Truckee Realtor
Email: andyinalpine@yahoo.com
Website: www.tahoeriverfrontrealty.com
Phone: 530-583-3483 ext:3