13/14 Tahoe Thread -- Raddest Thread On The Internets!!!

[truckee_splitter]

Raining hard to 7500+ at SB.

[greatjones]

Alpine received 30" in the last 24 hours and 8 lifts are on the schedule (Summit with a delayed opening).

Bullshit. Summit Six Chair is closed, not scheduled on Alpine's web site.

[LightRanger]

Bullshit. Summit Six Chair is closed, not scheduled on Alpine's web site.

Looks like marketing and mountain ops need to have a frank conversation.

[greatjones]

Looks like marketing and mountain ops need to have a frank conversation.

Exactly.

[4matic]

Bullshit. Summit Six Chair is closed, not scheduled on Alpine's web site.

It was at 07:00. Probably should not have been.

[StormDay]

The snow at the top of roundhouse had pretty good soaking of rain.

[bodywhomper]

NV Co SAR double rescue Friday/Saturday:

Friday, February 7th at 11:15 PM the team was called out to rescue 4 hikers who had become lost trying to get to the Peter Grub Hut off the PCT. They had called 911 so we had the coordinates of where they had holed up. They indicated they had sheltered and had a fire going and would stay put. It was snowing heavily at this time with strong winds. We based our command post at Boreal Ski Area and dispatched the snow cat to see if it could get close to them and bring them back. Due to the terrain and snow conditions, the snow cat could not get close enough for them to hear it. We then assembled 4 snowshoe teams and carried them by snow cat as close to their location as it could get. They were finally located about 4 AM and brought out all in good condition.

While this was going on we were advised by another party of 3 skiers that one of the group they were going to meet had left the area earlier to ski into the Peter Grubb hut and had advised them that he was lost and was going to hunker down till daylight and then find his way out. They had last heard from him about 11 PM. He also had his 30# white dog with him. They had tried to locate him but they found the snow conditions quite hazardous and abandoned their effort. Attempts to reach him by phone were unsuccessful. Sometime during the early hours of Saturday he responded by text to his friends who encouraged him to call 911 for help. When he did, we were able to talk to him and got his coordinates and advised him to stay put until we came for him. We dispatched a team of snowshoers from the earlier search, who were waiting for transport, to his location as well as a snowmobile team from the command center. The snowmobile team got to the Castle Pass area then snowshoed to his location. He was brought to the snow cat’s location where he was transported to the command post at about 9:30 AM. He and his dog were in good condition. This is a photo after the subject and his dog were located.

Lessons learned for these individuals are to not go into the backcountry in heavy stormy conditions or late in the day. Never go in alone. Have a means for traveling in snow conditions, i.e., backcountry shies or snowshoes. Always have a map of the area and have and know how to use a GPS to navigate. Always carry a means of sheltering for everyone in the party. Beyond that these individuals did carry appropriate gear and supplies for the intended trip.

A Special thanks to the 22 team members who responded to this search. Way to go!”

[thefrush]

Will be at Kirkwood tomorrow enjoying myself.

[dima]

NV Co SAR double rescue Friday/Saturday:

You'd think SAR would know that consumer GPS devices don't have the antenna capable of getting any hint of signal in a snow/rain storm(my best guess why the 4 hikers couldn't get the map up on the iphone , but could call 911). A map and compass & knowledge of proper use would be much more advisable then GPS.
While that hike to Peter Grub sounds like a sweet plan in good weather. Unless one has impeccable knowledge of landmark features on top of Castle Pass why would they even dream of going in the middle of the storm? This next to diving with 0 viz. is one of the hardest things I can think of for navigation, at least as a diver you use a line and reel with your compass to get you places.

[4matic]

Chair five loading at Kirkwood.

[powdork]

This could be one of those storms where kirkwood gets 5' and the heave gets 5".

The heave did ok, but see #1

[userA]

the lake must feel so much better.
b

[unpossible]

Can't help but think how insane this storm would have been if it was 8 degrees cooler.

[willie61]

Can't help but think how insane this storm would have been if it was 8 degrees cooler.

This is exactly what we needed, most resorts got 3-5' of good heavy snow to build a base on finally, with 1-2' more coming this evening and overnight, this was perfect.

The last thing we needed was 2' of dry blower over a dirt base.

[powdork]

there'd be more snow, more avalanche danger, more snarled traffic, and more people waiting in lines to get on lifts that still wouldn't open. and tomorrow when things do open up we would still only be skiing on the top foot.
this storm was/is exactly what we needed. for the base, for the water situation, for the Tahoe economy. I wouldn't change a thing.


edit-willie beat me to it

[unpossible]

I was not implying the storm was a bust, or that it wasn't what we needed. Just looking at all those liquid totals makes you wonder.

[TahoeBC]

Insta base above 7100, my pole is set at 120cm



Spats on the way up to ski some super dense snow




Flooding in Meyers and the parking lot of folks leaving town



With some lake level snow hopefully tonight we are in business, there are some definite instabilities out there so be careful.

No ski pics as there was not much grace in the turns heading down ACL removal type snow out there right now.

[willie61]

I was not implying the storm was a bust, or that it wasn't what we needed. Just looking at all those liquid totals makes you wonder.

It would have been like the 700" season a few years back, neck deep powder.

[willie61]

Insta base above 7100, my pole is set at 120cm



Spats on the way up to ski some super dense snow




Flooding in Meyers and the parking lot of folks leaving town



With some lake level snow hopefully tonight we are in business, there are some definite instabilities out there so be careful.

No ski pics as there was not much grace in the turns heading down ACL removal type snow out there right now.

Wonder if there is any fish in that river?

[ex-powderbroker]

Gonna keep my eye on this for stoke, get after it maggots!

[Spats]

Today's report from the 7-11:

Snow level just shy of Luther Pass
18" to 4' of cream cheese. Snow deeper than my ski pole. This storm would have easily dropped 10 feet up high if it was cold enough to snow at the lake.
The snow is not bonded well to the layer underneath. Snow falling off a tree was enough to push a small 2' thick slab off a small rollover and onto the skintrack. We shear-tested it and the column moved just from isolating it. Be very cautious out there.
Chain control checkpoint on 50 backed up all the way to the Y.

No, you can't really ski 4' of cream cheese. You can point it straight downhill and kind of wiggle your butt and pretend you're turning. Then you turn too hard, lose speed, plow to a standing stop stuck in concrete up to your waist, and spend the next couple minutes digging your skis out so you can go downhill again.

Anything above 7200' is set for a base for the entire year provided it doesn't all slide off, so there's that. But we need a colder storm in order to actually ski it. There may be a bit of an inversion, as the snow levels were lower than predicted but the snow didn't really lighten up much as we gained elevation.

[SchralphMacchio]

No, you can't really ski 4' of cream cheese. You can point it straight downhill and kind of wiggle your butt and pretend you're turning. Then you turn too hard, lose speed, plow to a standing stop stuck in concrete up to your waist, and spend the next couple minutes digging your skis out so you can go downhill again.

That's what fish/swallow-shaped snowboards are for, ZING!
(This, of course coming from a guy who has been learning how to ski because long flat or traversing exits in the backcountry are the most laughable things on a snowboard)


Anyways, now we can all stop bitching* and get our shit ready for when the cold storms finally come, woohoo!


*or stop spending excessive money on airfare/gas

[Spats]

That's what fish/swallow-shaped snowboards are for, ZING!

Until you have to do anything but go straight down the fall line, at which point you're in the same non-buoyant boat as the rest of us, but with your feet stuck together

At least you carry poles so you might be able to get back up. In this sort of bottomless concrete you could seriously end up NARSID even without a tree well. I'm not sure people realize just how crazy the snowpack is...I can't recall ever seeing bottomless dense concrete before. I tipped over on a switchback and TahoeBC had to help me back up!

[bluesbrother49]

Since Thurs evening, it's rained the entire time at the base of Squaw. Top of the nose had snow on the trees this a.m., but it looks like it's been rain to the top of KT all day today. I am sure the top is going to be absolutely plastered, just wish it would drop a bit tonight to improve things on the mothership. Can't wait to see what the high stuff looks like though.

[kungpow]

Anyone ski diamond peak today? Will be there tomorrow for the first time, co-worker hooked it up with a day pass. Looks like they got some goods and it's currently snowing. Any beta?