Still looks like a good time. Are you skiing inside the cross on the first two pictures of you?Quote:
Originally Posted by TahoeBC
Still looks like a good time. Are you skiing inside the cross on the first two pictures of you?Quote:
Originally Posted by TahoeBC
No we were on a south facing chute
This is what the cross looked like at 6:30 this morning
Attachment 207458
^ right on thanks
Looks like my Tuesday got turned into Wednesday and/or Thursday
castle peak has snow all the way from the highway, but big caveat that if you are approaching the northeast bowl above coon canyon, the nicest snowfield immediately skiers right of the ramparts does *not* connect with the ridge--you can get so close you can spit but a 10 foot vertical wall over rocks stands in the way (wanted to descend that way but could not)
Question: what causes sun cups and how best to predict and avoid them? (#firstworldproblems)
Another big caveat with skiing to/from Castle Peak back down to the highway is that you'd better have a strong Dog Crap Slalom game.
Those aren't all pinecones...
Yesterday (6/5), Vets and I found some decent snow and some cool chutes starting from the Donner Summit Trails parking lot on the southside of Hwy 80 (Boreal exit).
We hiked in (in hiking boots as the snow was firm) and skied several lines somewhere to the Northeast of the Boreal and Donner Ski Ranch boundaries, overlooking Donner Lake and Hwy 80.
Lottsa sun-cups on the east facing slopes, but all the stuff in the trees/shade was nice.
There are a few lakes back there (still trying to figure out which lake we ended up skiing above). They are still frozen.
Skied--well at least skated, traversed, and were on snow--all the way back to the vehicles.
Only bummer was all the trash that the Sacto visitors left behind from this winter (busted saucers, tons of fast-food containers, shoes, bottles, etc.). That and the toilets were all crushed from snow damage (Vets and I forgot to take pix of those, though).
:)
Vets dropping in on our first run. Donner Lake in the background. Northstar in the way, way, way background.
Attachment 207477
Second run
Attachment 207478
Some Desolation Beta shots from yesterday is case anyone is feeling motivated
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how far in did you go
or
where were said shots taken from (i.e. the vantage point)?
Looked all over the interwebz and couldn't find any legit answers. Does anyone know what Mt Rose's uphill policy is?
^^ B.Gillis, if you see any employees just wave and say hi.
** Technically they own the main/NW/Mt Rose side so it's off limits. Slide side/East bowl and the chutes are fair game for whatever you want as they're leased FS land. I've never been yelled at for hiking or skiing on the private owned land when they're closed for the season.
From TallacQuote:
Originally Posted by dookey67
Who's up for pyramid weekend mission via Rocky canyon?Quote:
Originally Posted by TahoeBC
It's a fair bit of dry humping right now, hope to poke my head up wrights lake road sometime in the next week to see how the backdoor access looks these daysQuote:
Originally Posted by Fish Rider
Sylvia might be better approachQuote:
Originally Posted by TahoeBC
I'll be at Squaw for Father's Day weekend...WHY? Because Dad needs to ski and not a new tie. Let me know if anyone wants to make epic laps with my family. heh. After that, I'm headed to Telluride over the 4th so I'll do some summer skiing while there for a bit.
Awesome, my buddy has been itching to get out there so I may tag along with him for the hell of it. Thanks!Quote:
Originally Posted by Corky
I forget, what's the deal with skinning at Kirkwood post season?
Seems like no problem:
http://www.kirkwood.com/mountain/uph...ss-policy.aspx
I only came downhill last week but the guys working were super friendly.
Call the toll free number to check in. Worth calling the day before in the u likely chance the are planning to work on the hill.Quote:
Originally Posted by ~mikey b
I'll also be skiing on Father's Day. At Mammy. Because it happens to be on the way to San Diego where my wife has a conference the following week. Sort of.
Everyone seemed pretty chill yesterday. A couple of guys stopped us and I thought they were going to give us shit for my dog running loose but they just said have a nice tour. Wouldn't hurt to call I guess. Lots of snow work going on.
windy as f@#k up on Castle Peak today.
me'n Vets made the long slog in, then got semi-sidelined by the wind (well, it changed our initially ambitious plans to slightly more mellower ones).
skied 1 run on the south slope just under the ridge.
skied a 2nd run off of Andesite Peak opposite on the way back out.
snow conditions were soft-serve (we were skiing mid-afternoon (1pm - 2pm-ish), so probably would be a bit better earlier in the day).
"skied" all the way back to the truck, but it was a slog over sun-cups and rollers; not sure if skinning out or hiking out would have been better/faster...
we "dry" hiked in--although our hiking boots got soaked)--as the snow was firm enough and enough folks have hiked in to make a somewhat followable trail.
still lottsa good coverage up there.
That ridge can really get you. After the approach you're just not prepared for the knock you on your ass winds. In the handful of times I've been up there it's usually not too bad once you get past the castle ridge area and start ascending above it.Quote:
Originally Posted by dookey67
Sounds like a walk up KW is in order this morning. Saves me a bit of time not having a long approach.
That is the best thing about touring KW. I bet Thunder Bowl still goes. Also bet that has not been skied often in June. OTOH, Cirque must certainly still go and you'll be able to ski back to the car. Switch.
it took us by surprise, honestly.Quote:
Originally Posted by B.Gillis
in all the years i've been poking around there at this time (May/June/July), i've never encountered knock-you-on-your-ass winds until yesterday. crazy.
didn't help matters that our hiking boots and socks were soaked from the trek in, either. nothing like swapping into ski socks and ski boots with wet feet whilst the wind is whipping through your cold toes!
:)
good skiing, though, which usually makes up for any (perceived) hardships.
Vets slarving some late afternoon soft-serve on Andesite Peak - 6.7.17
Attachment 207641
you guys should really consider hitting up north fork of prosser crk via the rest stop on i-80 while you can still ski back down to the car... though, maybe this rain will melt-out the bottom by the rest stop....
assuming you mean the SE facing lines one sees from I-80 going west from Truckee (i.e. the long patches literally above the westbound rest area)?Quote:
Originally Posted by bodywhomper
we have skied those in years past (one time going up the NW ridge (Castle Pass), then skiing down into Coon Canyon, then hiking back out in a loop.
there's so much stuff up there right now, one would either have to camp out for a week or so or just hit up different lines every day.
there's a few lines back in the Coon Canyon section I've been interested in for years...
Good call Ottime. Quick easy fun solo shot this morning. ''Twas snowing on me. Windy as fuck.
Yep. Those are the SE facing lines that I'm referring to. Ski to/from the car to access that area is nice and won't last for long.Quote:
Originally Posted by dookey67
We had pans to seek those out Thursday morning (ski on the left is pointing directly at them in the picture below), but decided to stick to the more familiar given the rain coming down as we left home in Truckee.Quote:
Originally Posted by bodywhomper
So, skipping the quickly-closing wind & fog on Castle, we stuck with just the snain on lower Andesite. Dug a little bench on the bottom to boot up and serve as our lodge for yo-yoing. Got several laps in on particularly grippy mashed potatoes -> good times!
Attachment 207713
No skinning required. Access path still pretty firm, then boot-packing for laps. Stayed out there between 9-noon, so a pretty solid summer session.
Monday looking pretty good for up there, no?
PS - Thanks to Dookey for his wet sock beta above. We brought spares, they were relished.
What are the accumulation predictions for the snow this weekend?
Accumulation varies by your favorite weather site (for skiing purposes, wunderground is best with Norden getting 3-5" through Mon AM).Quote:
Originally Posted by mcski
I'm mainly hoping that the few nights of temps going below freezing will help corn up the snow.
i'm hoping for an improved corn cycle and some smoothing of the surface....
jpaul, thanks for the inspiration. maybe i'll be able to get a grub up onto andesite or sugarbowl for a walk-and-ski.
has anybody gone to sugarbowl lately? what's the story with access and parking at the moment?
regarding skiing to/from the rest stop on westbound i-80, the terrain on the bottom third of the slope is more gully-like than the meadow-like approach to castle ridge/andesite, with a lot of flowing open water surrounded by steep snowbanks.
Hey Bodywhomper,Quote:
Originally Posted by bodywhomper
I think Andesite is the way to go right now for easy kid access in that area.
Wish I had a definitive answer on Sugar Bowl as we were hoping to do some laps on Judah last Wed. Unfortunately, there is a gate across the road leading to Judah lodge parking with a keypad for homeowners to access, and sign noting that it is run as a private community outside of the ski season.
We had our SB uphill passes all ready, FWIW, and the SB website notes that the uphill routes were to be opened after the cleanup ops for the downhill season were completed, but that website hasn't been updated since April 7th. I suspect that statement assumed much less snow up there in June! Had put some calls into the resort, but nobody we spoke to could speak to access/no forwarded calls returned.
At the same time, tons of snow on the slopes, and you can see some good looking recent turns on many runs under Jerome lift from the access road.
Good to know, thanks. We were hoping to get over there from the CP trailhead, but kept getting boxed in by open water. Will try from the rest stop next time.Quote:
Originally Posted by bodywhomper
Hope you get some good turns in this week!
Cheers,
Paul
Attachment 207756A line North of Round Top yesterday. All day Kaepernicks from mean wind gusts.
Dumping pretty hard at the house right now and accumulating at lake level.
Despite the snow showers and wind things corned up nicely today at least on Echo Peak. Took advantage of the road opening to Angora lakes and drove up to the upper lot. Dirt road to the lake is clear and there is still top to bottom skiing from Echo Peak to Angora lake, some smooth turns to be had but mostly summer conditions, fun but not Epic. Walked over to Indian rock, all the chutes are burnt out at the bottom, lots of options in the desolation still.
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^sweet!
Slightly off-thread: I scoped out some Eastside lines today on the drive back from Mammoth. Nice chute/couloir up above June Lake and some interesting stuff still lingering around Virginia Lakes. Bailed on hitting anything due to partial hangover and weather that just didn't call to me (overcast, windy), probably due to aforementioned hangover.
Back on Tahoe topic, though, I got back into Truckee around 3 pm and it's been lightly snowing on/off since then, but nothing is accumulating at my house (6300 feet). Had some fat flakes fall for about 30-minutes around 5pm, though. But again, nothing sticking this low here.
no worries. at least 2 extra pairs of socks is gonna be my modus operandi this spring/summer for patch skiing, especially with all the run-off that's gonna start happening soon.Quote:
Originally Posted by JPaul
some other grub friendly spots with easier access than Andesite (at least in my humble opinion) to check out:Quote:
Originally Posted by bodywhomper
1. Sunrise Bowl
Off Ski Slope Blvd in Tahoe/Donner. You can either park by the water tower on Ski Slope or enter up on Glacier Way and park at the dead-end circle. Approach is about 30 minutes to the top of the ridge, give or take. Best hit early morning or early evening.
2. Tahoe Meadows Interpretive Loop
Off Mt. Rose Hwy, this is about a 15-20 minute skin from the road to the visible knoll, where there are a few low-to-mid-angle shots. Relatively easy skin out. Great place to get acquainted with new gear, too, due to it's easy access.
3. Mt. Rose Summit parking lot, top of Mt. Rose Hwy.
If you park at the furthest end of the lot you will usually see a makeshift terrain park. Hike up the ridge behind the park and you can access some relatively fun, mellow lines. If you're more gung-ho, you can keep going up the ridge to Tamarack. To get to the first set of skiable lines, though, expect about 30-minutes of hiking/skinning. For the more advanced grubs, there's a great little avy chute down the bend from the parking lot, it's great to yo-yo and provides some steeper terrain, not to mention cool views of Washoe Valley/Reno