this is about half the pics and words, and not necessarily all the best. for more - http://www.powdork.com/2015/remember...owed-in-tahoe/
it's no secret that tahoe has been hurting for snow this year. as the year started we had promises of storms of the century that yielded nothing more than 'much needed wind'. our best storms became the inside slider, which in most years simply ushers in colder air. when one of these moves west enough to grab a little moisture off the pacific they can bring some decent cold snows, and with little wind. as one approached at the end of february things got more and more promising as it neared. there was a forecast of up to 6-12" (tiny by normal tahoe standards) with a possibility of twice that wherever the deformation axis set up.
so on friday morning we were a bit disappointed to find that kirkwood had only received around 7" while the north shore resorts received up to 17". even so, we skinned up dangberg to get a few quick laps in with the pups while kirkwood's finest did their patrol work.
febuly 28th. the pups could care less about no defamation ackses. they just like the snow (and each other obviously).
hutchski, nacho, and stoke nearing the top. no more pics from today cause it started dumping again
watching the snow fall during the day and the radars echo away at night we decided to dawn patrol the next day. hutchski had never been on one (doubt she's ever seen a sunrise) so we were stoked. we opted to leave the dogs behind since they make it hard to take pics when it's just us.
marchtember 1st. sunrise was pegged for 6:34 and we made to the top of our line above red lake exactly then. the sun, however, was nowhere to be seen.
even in big years this is a pillowy zone.
these are fun, but i want my real pillow. waaaah.
pillows
and dreams
the next day we hooked up with the frush and headed back to the carson pass skinning resort. having a third person makes it easy(er) to corral the dogs while taking pics.
marchtember 2nd. nacho. deep thoughts
the frush
on our second lap we were going to to hit something similar to our first but this ramp with a bit of southeast to it is so rarely light and fluffy we decided to get it while the sun was out. of course as soon as we started the sun disappeared
my bros and my bros
i took us a little lower to a what is normally an awesome zone to get deep pow pics backlit by the sun. it was a tad rocky still.
yessssss!
i'm still getting used to jumping. i miss it so.
nacho vs the goat
our next lap took us to dead tree bowl. the sun finally decided to join us. hutchski goes deep
once again, things are awesome below the road. me and stoke, stoked.
our last lap of the day was a bit further skiers right. the frush goes deep again
the next day the forecast was for bluebird. we decided to tour from carson pass to kirkwood with nacho and stoke. this meant we didn't have to get too early a start since we wouldn't want to finish while the backside was still open. kirkwood and unruly pups don't mix.
marchtember 3rd. nacho. rollin' in the deeee-eeep.
skintrack stoke. and nacho and hutchski
stoke's bane, the snowshoe hare. he came back so tired
life on the edge. this is the main ski goal of the tour. the top portion was awesome although there were a few scratchy turns
down lower we ran into the season's main problem. limited to no snow below 8k. after shooting pics hutchski was making her way across very easy terrain to the lunch log when she hit some rocks, caught her ski, and supermanned her way into a broken hand. i owed her a rescue but the situation didn't warrant it. even so i did open her beer cause i'm a gentleman and all. chivalry's not dead.
looking back from the top of our next line
i took a spill as well. came out of it without a pole. fortunately hutchski had an extra she didn't need.
anybody know how to hotwire a chair?
the day's final skin pull as the sun drops below the horizon
on wednesday, hutchski hit the hospital where they told her she had fractured (just barely that wuss) her hand. so we took the day off. reports from wednesday included tales of very icy conditions on the west shore of emigrant lake. we decided to head around to the more north facing areas and then head back to where i lost my pole (the pov footage showed me exactly where to find it).
marchtember 5th. solar freakin' roadways
hutchski in sally alley. the top was decent hotpow over ice and the midsection (here) was a bit crusty. then it softened up below.
then it got good
back in the always shaded shark tooth. everything above this had turned to wind crusted nastiness. good to finish with sweet pow turns though
until the next storm, wherever we find it
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