The Tahoe Resurrection

[huckasoreass]

And like that--poof--it is game on again in Tahoe. I awoke at 3 am and decided to check on the snowfall. Stupid, stupid move. Upon seeing the deck buried and the sky absolutely pounding, I couldn't sleep for the next two hours. In the midst of my restless stirring, my fiancee tried to offer a bit of reassurance with a simple, "We'll be skiing soon," before drifting off again.

Fired up the snowblower at 6 am. It hasn't seen action since early Feb/late January? Since then, our snowbanks have receded from formidable walls to little driveway borders that neighborhood dogs could hop onto and poop. Many have feared winter was done, some have given up altogether. I've tried to reassure them that late storms pound us every year after a thaw, and some of the best pow skiing in Tahoe goes down in late March and April. To many just remember last year when that failed to hold true.

So, I'm in the Squaw KT line at 7:15, enough for 3rd chair. A short window of light offers the maze crowd enough visibility to scope the Fingers, but unfortunately they've ripped out wall to wall. The summery temps of a week ago left the mountain a boilerplate maze of Volkswagon bumps, and steeper areas had either melted to rock or turned to a veritable glaze. In many regions, such conditions would be extremely difficult to recover from for the remainder of the year, but here we get the coastal magic. The dense snow and windspeeds clocked at 98 mph on Siberia yesterday afternoon (112 mph gust at Alpine) have obliterated the ice bumps in just 36 hours, and runs that would have taken 5-10 minutes two days ago (merely for survival) are charged with maching AK arcing turns in 30 seconds. It was on.

But no, the day was not epic. The high avy danger made snow safety delay the opening from 8:30 to 9:10, and during that time the KT chair grew to ridiculous lengths. Fractures and rubble were everywhere, and for those who insisted on hucking, they could have been wearing blindfolds and had just about as much visibility. Some runs were in pure whiteout as the winds and snow raged on, setting up another glory day tomorrow. But there were gems; a couple of untracked runs in the shelter and vision-enhancing Red Dog Ridge trees were as good as any cat-skiing run you could ever get: soft, untouched, flat as a board, high-speed turns under the canopy of the old-growth forest.

I don't know if it snowed 8" or 36" (I think they're saying 16" as of this morning). It doesn't matter. The magic of Sierra storms took us from dismal to sensational in no time. In another foot or so we'll be begging for it to stop so that the rest of the buffed out paradise can open up. But that appears to be several days away...

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

Nice report. It's raining been raining gerbils and sheep down here in the valley off and on all day...so there's a bunch more headed your way hopefully.

[Mtn Man]

Friends were at Squaw yesterday and had a bit of the same. Extremely low vis and high winds left them at lower elevations. KT was a good time, but the steepest stuff was hard to navigate and indeed, the fingers were fairly exposed. We're at Heavenly today and it looks like they may be finally opening the upper part of the mtn this afternoon. Just hope they open Motts and Killbrew for the sake of my friend's sanity.

Thanks for the Squaw report, we were supposed to go there today, but didn't want to navigate the pass this morning from SoTahoe

B)

[gonzo]

I fly into SFO @ 5:20 tomorrow night

I smell "The Maw of The Gurge II"...

[Darkside]

Someone call a doctor...today was sick. After waiting on 89 in traffic for almost an hour, we made it to Alpine a little after 11...There was no rush, as hard as it was snowing. Lower mountain only, but plenty of goods, not a lot of people traversing out towards Waterfall/The Face, it was deep and fresh. Tomorrow promises to be amazing, hopefully there'll be a window and Summit will open...please?

[splat]

The wind beat down the snow at the wood today, except in tight trees.
But the Bros blazed it just fine. Finally caught up with Punani and nightpanda for a run, but was feeling kinda crappy today, so I'm saving myself for the next coupla what should be low volume stellar pow days. There were moments of vertigo on the wall today due to the next to zero vis. I let Punani go ahead of me to gauge where the surface was.

[Big Blue]

In KT line at 8:00. Chair starts at 9:10. Out of KT line due to lifties actually looking at my midweek pass at 9:15. Fuck, Fuck, Fuck. Three Runs through Red dog trees at 11:00. Yes, Yes, Yes.

[divegirl]

I'm here at work right now, and didn't get to join the fun today (or yesterday - I was a bad kind of sick, boo). I was thinking of taking off Tuesday or Wednesday to head up to Kirkwood, depending on reports, weather and wind. But then again, since this is my last week of work, I can ski for the next two weeks so.......?

[hop]

as I said before....
see you in two weeks!

...Insh'allah

[gonzo]

Tonight: Brisk with snow likely. Snow accumulation up to 4 inches with 4 to 8 inches above 7000 feet. Lows 21 to 31. West winds 15 to 25 mph. Over ridges...gusts up to 90 mph decreasing to 60 mph after midnight.

Monday: Scattered snow showers. Snow accumulation up to 1 inch. Highs 39 to 49. Southwest winds 10 to 20 mph. Over ridges...gusts up to 60 mph in the morning.

Monday night: Snow. Snow level 6000 feet. Snow accumulation up to 6 inches...with 6 to 12 inches above 7000 feet. Lows 27 to 37. South winds 15 to 30 mph with gusts up to 85 mph over ridges.

Tuesday: Windy with snow. Highs 33 to 43. South winds around 20 mph increasing to southwest 20 to 40 mph in the afternoon. Gusts up to 90 mph over ridges.

Tuesday night: Mostly cloudy and brisk with a chance of snow showers. Lows 19 to 29. West winds 15 to 25 mph.

Wednesday: Partly cloudy and brisk with a chance of snow showers. Highs 35 to 45.

Wednesday night: Mostly cloudy with a chance of snow showers. Lows 22 to 32.

[divegirl]

So, does this mean Wednesday is the day? Or is Tuesday the day to ski again, despite the wind?

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

It means that Gonzo is once again bringing the Gurge to Tahoe and everyday should be Boner City.

Gonz -- I expect more 3 am phone calls from the Maw.

[FollowMe]

No action shots of today, just snow on snow, but looks sweet nonetheless...





The best parking spot at Kirkwood you never want...

[basom]

I smell "The Maw of The Gurge II"...

..........

[freshies]

was @ alpine today at 8am, waited for an hour as roundhouse was on hold and summit was off line due to 60mph winds, blowing snow, and zero vis. managed to skate over to (drum roll please) yellow and make some low angle, zero vis pow turns. waiting in line i hear a "hey, change for a nickel?" where i promptly meet OneHotChili, StormDay (?) and 3Pin. Make a few runs w/Chili and Storm off Roundhouse once that was spinning on fast, wind buff'ed Sierra snow....hitting Sympathy Face, Gunners Knob and such.

It is hammering snow, and i have lost the crew, when patrol drops the rope out to Waterfall/Lower Beav from RHouse...so skate over there and lay some fast arcs down Waterfall, face shots ensue. then proceede to session that area for 4-5 runs, heading further out ea time to ski fresh snow. Fun. But by 2 I am frozen, the jaw is caked in ice, and I am done.

Now I am off to sleep, dreaming of Summit 6 and Scott pop'ing tomorrow, for what promises to be a deep day. Big Monday awaits.

[StormDay]

Now I am off to sleep, dreaming of Summit 6 and Scott pop'ing tomorrow, for what promises to be a deep day. Big Monday awaits.

Freshies, it was good skiing w/ you.

I'll be at Alpine tomorrow.

We went back out around 1. Got a lap on waterfall around 2. It was tracked up, nice work...

BTW: things went well at Cosmo's. Pick up a pair of Dalbello Kryptons.

[freshies]

Freshies, it was good skiing w/ you.

I'll be at Alpine tomorrow.

We went back out around 1. Got a lap on waterfall around 2. It was tracked up, nice work...

BTW: things went well at Cosmo's. Pick up a pair of Dalbello Kryptons.

great meeting you as well! i will see ya in the line-up @ summit 6 bright and early tomorrow morning!

nice score on the kryptons, cosmo is the mang.

[Huckwheat]

So, Tap (who did the power drive down from Bend last night) and I weren't quite as prompt as Hucka. We didnt get to KT until, the late hour of, 8:30 below was sight.

The day was absolutely sick. We charged all day and were the last people on top of KT at 4:15. Good stuff.

[Arty50]

Hmmmm...it appears I rolled back into town just in time.

[Darkside]

Saw some Bro's at Alpine today, didn't get a chance to talk to the owner. I'll be up there rocking the Mo'ships, red jacket, brown pants, and greenish helmet with Powder sticker.

[Huckwheat]

tap here...

18 laps on KT yesterday - huckwheat and crew hauled me around my old stomping grounds and it was GOOD to be back!

Another 16" last night...all the while Mt Bachelor got a biiiiiig 3 inches. Bitches. Heh.

I'll be doing it all over again today...but check this out.... I think I'll be staying for Tuesday. Heh.



Today: Scattered snow showers in the morning...then snow likely in the afternoon. Snow accumulation up to 2 inches. Highs 38 to 48. South winds 10 to 20 mph with gusts up to 60 mph over ridges.

Tonight: Brisk with snow. Snow accumulation 6 to 10 inches...with 12 to 18 inches above 7000 feet. Lows 28 to 38. Southwest winds 15 to 25 mph with gusts up to 40 mph. Gusts to 85 mph over ridges.

Tuesday: Windy with snow. Snow accumulation 6 to 10 inches...with 12 to 18 inches above 7000 feet. Highs 34 to 44. Southwest winds 20 to 30 mph with gusts up to 50 mph. Gusts to 70 mph over ridges.

Tuesday night: Snow showers likely. Lows 19 to 29. Southwest winds 10 to 15 mph with gusts up to 40 mph in the evening. Over ridges...gusts up to 60 mph.


word!

[basom]

..........

[Foggy_Goggles]

Base, the shocker is so January. March in the month of the Garden Weasel (tm)

middle finger over pointer finger
ring finger over pinky
insert
repeat

+5000 gnar points for successful application

[Ubersheist]

The 'Wood ruled yesterday. I skied around all day with Lunch. We're already talking about a serious stomach flu that seems likely to hit on Wednesday. And only Wednesday somehow.

Anyone else getting *cough* sick on Wednesday?

[3pin]

definitely a great day of storm skiing at Alpine. hooked up with StormDay and bumped into freshies for some laps. saw 3pin ripping it up with his GF on the cool Karhus. after taking a couple hours off midday to let the wife get some fresh, we went back out from 1-3pm for some more great windbuff pow. we also caught a couple of runs at Waterfall until the wind and visibility shut us and Roundhouse down at 3:15.

then had the epic drive from hell trying to get home... what a buzz kill. it should be a great day tomorrow... hopefully they'll get Summit and/or Scott spinning for all of you. i am planning on getting the goods on Wed after the next storm comes thru on Tues! oh yeah....

Good seeing you guys, and finally meeting you for a second there freshies. I kept hoping to do some laps with you, but waiting was a little nasty in the wind, and everytime I turned around, you guys were a couple lines back.

Anyway, decent morning, just not in the mode... binding issues not making me happy. It got really good when they dropped the ropes on Waterfall, my gf and I were 3rd out to 3 sisters for untracked runs that became followed by more untracked runs.

Hopefully they run more of the mountain today, although I'll be at Squaw all week for our ski test.