14/?? The OFFICIAL Tahoe Thread

[Dhelihiker]

I get the vibe its not exactly puking?

[TahoeJ]

Can I pick up my Vail pass at Heavenly Stateline office?

Yes - right next to the gondola.

[lepistoir]

I get the vibe its not exactly puking?

BA said it was going nuts early afternoon, but looking at snow tables cam, it seems to be blowing into the lee.

Edit, 6:45... rain has completely stopped in kings beach. Wind has backed way off too

[dhklauer]

Been raining all day in Glenshire. By the looks of the Cal Trans Cams, Castle Peak and Sugar Bowl area are getting the best of things. Squaw Cams don't make me very optimistic at this point.

[4matic]

Looking fluffy on the Kirkwood snow stake. Just and inch so far but should start piling up.

[FormerKnuckleDragger]

BTW, I would be stoked to e in school on a day like this. My son was amped in the heavy stuff. He would have been fine outdoors the whole morning.

Not to go too off topic, but (as the parent of toddler twins kept indoors today) I'm pretty sure they closed schools more for the teachers than the students...

[TahoeJ]

The Resort with No Name isn't going to spin Summit chair until Saturday, as expected. That's going to be one hell of an opening up top. I'm in... along with everyone else, but screw it. Should be fun.

[buildakicker]

The Resort with No Name isn't going to spin Summit chair until Saturday, as expected. That's going to be one hell of an opening up top. I'm in... along with everyone else, but screw it. Should be fun.

Bring breakfast and down and enjoy sunrise!

[4matic]

Relentless rain East Bay.

[powfiend]

Not even raining or snowing at all at my house on the river off 89 a few miles north of squaw. No snow accumulation yet, seems doubtful that we will be getting this 15 inches at 6k west of 89... But there were about 3 wet inches on the ground at alpine around 4 today. Hope we get atleast a foot in the mountains!

Biggest storm of the decade turns out to be the biggest hype since I can remember. I love how people were frantically buying shit at safeway the last few days in fear of the superstorm!

At least little by little its starting to become winter in the the alpine. Maybe we will actually get to ride kt again this decade, who knows!

[meter-man]

Not to go too off topic, but (as the parent of toddler twins kept indoors today) I'm pretty sure they closed schools more for the teachers than the students...

You're way off topic. As the parent of toddler twins kept indoors today -- and the husband of an SF public school teacher who had school cancelled and mother to said twins, you can take your bullshit to the padded room and whack off there on your teacher-hatred.

Back to the snow.

[lepistoir]

Here's what Lou Dawson had to say on his excellent blog wildsnow.com:
https://www.wildsnow.com/530/guest-b...ountry-skiing/

"If you have outdoor survival and judgment skills from backpacking, hiking or climbing (as well as knowing how to ski or snowboard safely) a good learning exercise is to simply go out backcountry skiing by yourself during good weather in an avalanche safe zone on a well used route close to civilization, in an area with cell phone coverage in case you get hurt and stranded."

Note he mentions that as steep 3 or 4. 1 being get at/tele/splitboard gear and 2 being get educated on how to choose safer terrain. Sounds like you might be at step 2 right now but sunrise bowl is a good place to learn how to skin and figure things out. Make some friends who will take you out and show you the ropes, then spend the three days and less than $100 on Avy I at Lake Tahoe Community College. Also, read up on all the accident reports you can find. Hopefully you'll learn caution and respect for the mountains that helps you err on the side of safety as you gain experience.

[WTF is dat]

Wtf why dont heavenly and northstar have 24 hour pow cams???

Anyhow,

Colorad gets so much shit on tgr but does tahoe seriously ever get snow anymore? At least even in our shittiest most butthurt years we still have at least A foot of natural snow down to the base by this time of year

[lepistoir]

Above was my general answer. Now to answer your specific questions and point out some high priorities.

Backcountry novice here looking to get some insight from you guys, please excuse my ignorance

There's ignorance and there's asking someone to inform you without attempting to educate yourself first. You're obviously not reading the avy report nor have you done the most basic Google search about avalanches and backcountry skiing. So do that before anything else.

Anyway, wanna get my feet wet in backcountry riding this season. I've only ridden inbounds in the past, so completely inexperienced. Was thinking of hitting up sunrise bowl this weekend, obviously a pretty mellow spot, but is that a good choice?

Excellent choice. Also look into sugar bowl's uphill policy.

Any idea how much coverage that area will have after this storm? Was there a base beforehand or is this new snow falling on dirt?

Plenty of coverage. Not sure if you have been up yet this season, or if you are paying attention to the weather and looking at a topo to see what the forecasted snow levels mean for sunrise bowl. Tahoe Donner has a webcam too. You can go up there and dig in the snow to see how far down the dirt is. Do some legwork.

Also sunrise doesn't seem to be very steep (never been myself, just basing off pics and vids) so would that equate to low avalanche danger?

This is important. You need to go now and read about how steepness relates to avalanche frequency. I don't think there's a pitch over 25 degrees up there.

Even at a spot such as that, would it be foolish to go without your basic bc safety equipment and training? Figure I can do some basic stuff to get the feel for it before making the investment on a beacon and the proper training on how to use one, and an avalanche safety class, all the basics. But should I hold out completely from earning my turns before I accomplish all said above? Or would I be fine sticking to relatively safe slopes when avalanche danger is low? What about after a storm, such as this weekend?

This is your call. With your life on the line, do you feel you have the knowledge and information to make that call safely? Your questions make it unclear whether you know how to identify "relatively safe slopes when avalanche danger is low". You can read SAC to learn more about how a storm like this affects avalanche danger. @SierraAvalanche

Be safe and have fun [emoji53]

[lepistoir]

Wtf why dont heavenly and northstar have 24 hour pow cams???

Anyhow,

Colorad gets so much shit on tgr but does tahoe seriously ever get snow anymore? At least even in our shittiest most butthurt years we still have at least A foot of natural snow down to the base by this time of year

http://www.northstarcalifornia.com/t...stake-cam.aspx

Yeah. It kinda sucks sometimes. Thanks for the reminder. I'll think of you next time I'm in stable bottomless without all the windjack and hardslab [emoji8]

[NakedShorts]

You're way off topic. As the parent of toddler twins kept indoors today -- and the husband of an SF public school teacher who had school cancelled and mother to said twins, you can take your bullshit to the padded room and whack off there on your teacher-hatred.

Back to the snow.

just Hype here in SLT. Big wind, little rain, NO snow. Sugar bowl got the goods though.

Back to sleep. No shovel needed.

[lepistoir]

just Hype here in SLT. Big wind, little rain, NO snow. Sugar bowl got the goods though.

Back to sleep. No shovel needed.

Damn straight. They really should be open tomorrow.

[BGnight]

What a dud. 2-11" at squaw. 2-3" at Rose. Looks like Sugar Bowl was the winner. Don't know about Kwood. It does look like the Southern Sierra are getting pounded with more of a westerly flow which is the saving grace of this over hyped wind event. Can't find totals for Mammoth.

[El Chupacabra]

One inch of snow, twenty feet of wind.

.

[Ottime]

You're way off topic. As the parent of toddler twins kept indoors today -- and the husband of an SF public school teacher who had school cancelled and mother to said twins, you can take your bullshit to the padded room and whack off there on your teacher-hatred.

Back to the snow.

wow, i assume there is something else going on here. and as a husband to a teacher and father of one boy (just so i have credentials) i can assure the FKD that most teachers hate cancelled days. just more work for the next day adjusting lesson plans. anyway, my wife's school did not cancel yesterday, and many of them had to drive over the hill. no pansies in this family. :0

As for getting getting back to the snow, where the fuck is it?

[~mikey b]

Toddler twins kept indoors why? Cuz it was raining? Sissy.

[powdork]

Chair 6 is running and the cats are working feverishly around the base.

[FlakeShredder]

Wow - seriously where is the snow? Expecting at least more than a dusting at lake level - or > 2 ft in the mountains. Serves me right for buying into the hype. Might as well go check out some trees off 89 or see if things get spinning a kwood.

[TahoeBC]

Cup:O:Joe in hand with the #StokeLevelFalling

[gimpy]

U headin out c??

As soon as slt cancelled school last night in anticipation of the big storm I knew it would be an underproducer

Sigh......