OFFICIAL TAHOE 18/19 STOKE, CONDITIONS, WEATHER THREAD

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Originally Posted by bobz

Worth mentioning that this should already be locked in as a big income season for them, as the all-important Xmas-Newyears period had adequate snowpack and mild weather/ road conditions (= big ticket sales at the window). And the bulk of "ski week" that just ended was a significant break in the storm line-ups as well.

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I don’t know the details of lift operations or evacuation procedures but here are some high level business observations that might be useful. Big companies like Vail usually invest in policies and procedures for several reasons. First, if they don’t it is really easy to sue them as they have not followed the law or they can be found to be negligent. Second, they have the money and because of their size and the number of resorts they own the cost of creating these procedures is relatively low compared to a mom and pop ski resort. These policies and procedures should have training records and all the other cover your legal ass stuff that Vail’s lawyers dictated.

Where things get interesting is Vail’s stock price which is down 30% from December. I would imagine as a result there is a lot of pressure from Wall Street to produce “good numbers.” Since Vail can’t control the weather, I would say that it’s a safe bet that they would try to cut operation costs this season. I have no details as to what their plan was or even if they did try to do it, but some things I noticed this season were shuttles running slowly, poorer parking management, more lift breakages and slower lift openings. Just compare all the issues at Heavenly and Northstar this season to the 2016/2017 season when Squaw was having all the troubles and the Vail resorts were operating smoothly (and their stock price was climbing).

Question for alpine meadows mags: how often is the lot filling to 100% capacity on weekend days these days?

I might brave the I80 masses for a day trip from the bay saturday - I don't mind the traffic since I am definitely 'part of the problem' driving up from Marin, but would hate to get there and get turned around, a la kirkwood this season...

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Originally Posted by Shred Baron

I agree that Northstar needs to have the state come and have a hard look at their policy for evacuating lifts. Having been involved with load testing new lifts in the state of California as recently as summer of 17 (and other states/countries since then) the standard is that the area should prove they can rope evac within two hours. This done by using available employees to be lowered from a small sample of chairs, usually in the worst spot. But does northstar have a policy of when to start, ie, if lift maint. can’t start the lift in 45 ropes out no questions asked, and did they follow this procedure, or are all their employees familiar with this policy. Diesel engines aren’t always magic bullets, if the problem carries over, such as issues with controls, or brakes, so even if you’ve run the lift on diesel once a month, the real life may not be a simple change over like a loss of electric motor would. This is why policy and planning needs to be as important as training.


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Yes the usual practice scenario for hooking up and running on auxiliary is a loss of main power like what happened recently on the Nevada side at Heavenly. There are many other possible real world scenarios that are only limited by one’s imagination. Possibly there was a problem with one of the safety systems which would not allow the lift to move under auxiliary either. There are ways to bypass specific safety systems but you need to be extremely confident this will not cause an unsafe situation. The lead lift electrician at Northstar may have been on the phone with a Doppelmayr electrician. They would have been walking through the troubleshooting process. The Doppelmayr tech may have even been encouraging no rope evac because he knew they could fix it. This is all speculation but I was once in that exact scenario with Patrol standing there watching and waiting for the word “go”. It is highly stressful looking at wiring diagrams and wire numbers and terminal points under these circumstances. The point is that the lift was not evacuated any sooner because a rope evac was started. A few individuals made it to the ground sooner but the whole process finished at the same time it would have with or without a rope evac. Rope evac brings it’s own unforeseen issues. The guest must sit on the seat board and then scoot off the chair. The board will cockeye and then drop as the stretch is taken out of the rope. Some people are incapable of doing this because of fear. Some guests don’t speak English. It is a challenging situation even with practice and refresher training. It is far preferable to go past an arbitrary timeline and evacuate the lift by auxiliary.

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Originally Posted by optics

Question for alpine meadows mags: how often is the lot filling to 100% capacity on weekend days these days?

I might brave the I80 masses for a day trip from the bay saturday - I don't mind the traffic since I am definitely 'part of the problem' driving up from Marin, but would hate to get there and get turned around, a la kirkwood this season...

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If they try and turn you around, just keep going. Say you have to pick someone up at the front or are going to drop off some skis for a friend or something. Theres always a place to park somewhere if you are persistent enough -somebody leaving, a cone to be moved, etc. Even if you have to drive around for 1/2 hour...thats nothing compared to the drive you'll have already made.

Worst case, park in a neighborhood and call Mountaineer for a lift [emoji12]

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Originally Posted by Wobby

Hey J, wouldn't mind if you could post the pics/description on FB for me. I'm still waiting for admins to let me into the Truckee Tahoe Peeps, and the more publicity for this the better (in my mind).

Would you mention that they can call if found?

Will B.
775 560 1029

Thanks for the help!

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Done. Good luck.

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Originally Posted by Wobby

If they try and turn you around, just keep going. Say you have to pick someone up at the front or are going to drop off some skis for a friend or something. Theres always a place to park somewhere if you are persistent enough -somebody leaving, a cone to be moved, etc. Even if you have to drive around for 1/2 hour...thats nothing compared to the drive you'll have already made.

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Thanks. And man, I've become such a pussy! Didn't even consider that you can just keep going.

^^^^ I'd do that at KW; tell them I'm lodging there.

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Originally Posted by optics

Question for alpine meadows mags: how often is the lot filling to 100% capacity on weekend days these days?

I might brave the I80 masses for a day trip from the bay saturday - I don't mind the traffic since I am definitely 'part of the problem' driving up from Marin, but would hate to get there and get turned around, a la kirkwood this season...

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The KW lots have been pretty empty all this month. I think there was one sunny weekend that the lots filled. And as long as you are there before 10AM, not an issue. If you are headed up for a day trip, I assume you'll arrive at least 30 minutes prior to lifts opening, so would not worry much about it.

Haha, just got a note from FedEx they're trying to deliver my package today... wonder if they'll make it through :). They've been trying since the 14th (good thing it wasn't a Valentine's gift).

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If you are concerned about your roof/deck or accessing anything (propane, grow room, etc), NOW would be the time to start shoveling or negotiating with the neighborhood kids about an hourly rate. Don't forget to stretch after a shovel session.

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I wound up digging a snow cave for my propane tank (tired of digging it out after every storm) - we'll see if it holds up to another 7+ feet.

^^^ After 2 weeks of Ontrac failing to deliver, I called both REI and Evo and had their customer service reps re-ship new packaged and recall the Ontrac ones. UPS delivered without problem in ~ 3 days.

Fuck Ontrac.

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Originally Posted by Ottime

^^^^ I'd do that at KW; tell them I'm lodging there.



The KW lots have been pretty empty all this month. I think there was one sunny weekend that the lots filled. And as long as you are there before 10AM, not an issue. If you are headed up for a day trip, I assume you'll arrive at least 30 minutes prior to lifts opening, so would not worry much about it.

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I agree that this February wasn’t too bad but I got to Kirkwood at 9 AM this Saturday and had to park and Timber Creek because all the upper lots were full. I don’t know if they ran out of parking but I was surprised how full they were at 9.

With such bad traffic in January and February, it will be interesting to see how crowded March will be. I think that many folks will try to ski in March to break even on their Epic or Ikon passes.

It's funny how that happens. I've gotten into that cycle a couple times this season with packages already. It seems like if the original delivery date just happens to work out to a mellower day it usually goes through, but if it misses on day 1 it just gets stuck in the spin cycle until well after the storm is completely cleared out.

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Originally Posted by mcski

Worst case, park in a neighborhood and call Mountaineer for a lift [emoji12]

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I actually heard this mentioned as a possible problem when the Mountaineer thing was being considered at public meetings. Don't think its really happened yet, but probably because people haven't figured out how it works. Just be careful parking on the road itself since you can get ticketed or towed, but there are so many empty houses you probably could find one to park at anyway.

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Originally Posted by Wobby

If they try and turn you around, just keep going. Say you have to pick someone up at the front or are going to drop off some skis for a friend or something. Theres always a place to park somewhere if you are persistent enough -somebody leaving, a cone to be moved, etc. Even if you have to drive around for 1/2 hour...thats nothing compared to the drive you'll have already made.

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Don't give away all our tricks now, W :cool:

Park and Ride ;) (Although that really only works well to Squaw, getting to Alpine on it was a bit long for my tastes.) Upper lot at Alpine full by 9:30, Squaw full at 10:00 and Alpine deer park full by 11:15 last weekend. All depends on the day, but I would say if you are at 80/89 after 9:30 on a busy day I'd consider hopping on.

A few from last Sunday-Tuesday in and near KW.

MashedPotatoes finding what is left of Norm's Nose.
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The Nose was open, Eagle was closed. A short traverse provided untracked for hours.
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BC like turns inside the ropes.
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This guy figured it out.
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Kodak is in. We old men opted for Baby.
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Dog Leg was prime.
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MashedPotatoes racking up the frequent flyer miles.
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Blower
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Finished the day on Vista
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Toured The Best Mexican Skier form the South down Main Street. Good to get outside the ropes a bit.
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EDIT: Ugh, they show up nicely in the preview. Maybe I'll get them later.

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Originally Posted by hercule33

I agree that this February wasn’t too bad but I got to Kirkwood at 9 AM this Saturday and had to park and Timber Creek because all the upper lots were full. I don’t know if they ran out of parking but I was surprised how full they were at 9.

With such bad traffic in January and February, it will be interesting to see how crowded March will be. I think that many folks will try to ski in March to break even on their Epic or Ikon passes.

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Timber Creek is a base. So you parked at a base; just not the one you wanted. Hell, I'll park at TC if I can't get to the front of the 6 lot (powder days excepted), as you are actually closer to the lifts. KW is considered full once the lot out at XC center is full. OTOH, the attendants suck at actually parking cars. As a kid I used to go to RIT hockey gams, and as an adult Shakespeare Santa Cruz. They park you tight at these events and it is volunteers doing it. Both KW and Heave employees can't get cars parked to maximize attendance and that is when they are actually out there doing it. 6 lot is often half full before staff shows up anyway.

It would be interesting to see ow March plays out. Still a lot of people with boats and playing lax. Still, once this weather breaks, it will be an insane spring. Big fat bowls of corn. Stoked my kids spring break is the first week of April and KW might still be spinning lifts.

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Originally Posted by Ottime

Timber Creek is a base. So you parked at a base; just not the one you wanted. Hell, I'll park at TC if I can't get to the front of the 6 lot (powder days excepted), as you are actually closer to the lifts. KW is considered full once the lot out at XC center is full. OTOH, the attendants suck at actually parking cars. As a kid I used to go to RIT hockey gams, and as an adult Shakespeare Santa Cruz. They park you tight at these events and it is volunteers doing it. Both KW and Heave employees can't get cars parked to maximize attendance and that is when they are actually out there doing it. 6 lot is often half full before staff shows up anyway.

It would be interesting to see ow March plays out. Still a lot of people with boats and playing lax. Still, once this weather breaks, it will be an insane spring. Big fat bowls of corn. Stoked my kids spring break is the first week of April and KW might still be spinning lifts.

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My point was that on a Saturday at 9 AM the upper lots were already full, not that Timber Creek is not a base. Upper lots filling up at 9 may be the new norm but I don’t remember this happening too often pre-Vail. We did side country and didn’t get back to TC lodge until after 2 so I have no idea how crowded the resort got but it was difficult to get a table in the TC tent after 2 P.M. Traffic leaving the wood was not an issue though and getting there was pretty easy too.

AM lot always fills on weekends, I less weather and road conditions keep people away. Sometimes fills weekdays on good powder days.

Please dont move cones. It just contributes to the shit show. Lots of people getting boxed in these days. If you are going to cruise the parking lot keep moving, so that people trying to leave can get out, unless there's room to pass.

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Originally Posted by old goat

Please dont move cones. It just contributes to the shit show. Lots of people getting boxed in these days. If you are going to cruise the parking lot keep moving, so that people trying to leave can get out, unless there's room to pass.

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Showed up one day at Squaw, and the cones marking the end of the row were in a ridiculous place. There was parking for 20 more cars at least, without any hassles. My buddy goes "no problem", hops out and moves it over for me, and we pull in. Another guy pulls up a minute later, and moves the cone again to park next to me, then walks off to the village.

About 5 minutes later the parking crew shows up as we're just finishing booting up. Guy hops out angrily, "Hey, someone moved the cone, and you moved the cone too!"
He walks over to the car next to me where the cone had been before we parked, "And this guy moved it too! And this guy, and this guy..." for about 10 cars down the line.

Finally he walked back over and gave me tongue lashing. I said "Well this spot is legit isn't it?!" We were fully geared up, not actually causing any problems, and just wanted to go skiing.

He was angry, but he agreed. Told me they had written down my license plate info, and if I did it again they'd tow me. Then he drove off in the parking lot cart.

We finished gearing up, and before we'd left another guy had moved the cone to a space further over...

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Originally Posted by Wobby

Showed up one day at Squaw, and the cones marking the end of the row were in a ridiculous place. There was parking for 20 more cars at least, without any hassles. My buddy goes "no problem", hops out and moves it over for me, and we pull in. Another guy pulls up a minute later, and moves the cone again to park next to me, then walks off to the village.

About 5 minutes later the parking crew shows up as we're just finishing booting up. Guy hops out angrily, "Hey, someone moved the cone, and you moved the cone too!"
He walks over to the car next to me where the cone had been before we parked, "And this guy moved it too! And this guy, and this guy..." for about 10 cars down the line.

Finally he walked back over and gave me tongue lashing. I said "Well this spot is legit isn't it?!" We were fully geared up, not actually causing any problems, and just wanted to go skiing.

He was angry, but he agreed. Told me they had written down my license plate info, and if I did it again they'd tow me. Then he drove off in the parking lot cart.

We finished gearing up, and before we'd left another guy had moved the cone to a space further over...

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That reminds me of back in Colorado someone did a crappy parking with lots of space on either side. We just got out and slid the car over and fit in perfectly. It helps when there’s snow on the ground;)

Anybody else get any of that world class top shelf wind buff yesterday at kirkwood?!? Ended up being one of my best days this season with the wall open and almost no one there! Cant believe once is wide enough to make turns in right now, we just lapped wall face-> sister -> once until they closed the chair around 2
I dont normally bad mouth squawlpine but the fact that everything but the backside was open at kirkwood while they didnt even get open to mid mountain really is ridiculous and sad

Do you know that all the turns in squaw valley road are backed the wrong way, ie higher on the inside of the curve?

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Originally Posted by tahoearmada

Anybody else get any of that world class top shelf wind buff yesterday at kirkwood?!? Ended up being one of my best days this season with the wall open and almost no one there! Cant believe once is wide enough to make turns in right now, we just lapped wall face-> sister -> once until they closed the chair around 2
I dont normally bad mouth squawlpine but the fact that everything but the backside was open at kirkwood while they didnt even get open to mid mountain really is ridiculous and sad

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In the shadow.......
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Originally Posted by gnarbro365

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yeah bro ive worked at all 3 resorts i mentioned... theres a reason i was comparing the summit at kirkwood to mid mountain at squawlpine yesterday