Tahoe Weather, Conditions, Stoke, and What's Up Thread...

[TexasGortex]

Embarrassing admission: I desperately missed the foot rests on your lifts. My pampered Vail ass was not happy about having to support the weight of my own skis all day.

I thought it was weird that a) they were missing and b) that grown adults repeatedly asked to put the bar down. I didn't know that a kid died last year. That makes a lot of sense why people would be a little extra safety sensitive. Very sad.

[TahoeJ]

I personally find those foot rests really uncomfortable and awkward, forcing my knee and leg up into an unnatural position.

And yeah, gotta love it when BA starts to get fired up. "There is no reason that by Christmas there isn’t at least 4-5 feet of new snow on the mountains if the forecast holds for the next 10 days." Hell. yes.

[skinnyskier]

It amuses me when people quote BA's weather forecast to me. Yeah, I read the same two blogs on the interwebz as you, dude.

[TahoeJ]

^^ 2 responses, choose one:

1. I quoted one line not the whole thing. Chill the fuck out.

2. Unless you're saying in person like on a chair lift and not referring to me right above your post - that I also find amusing.

[jfost]

...West Shore looks a bit out of my league...

it's not that steep - those guys are always tilting their cameras.

[skysos]

^^^^ and then he looked at you and thought " yeah i am serious you fucking toolshed." you think he is there cuz he thought it up. no, he is doin his job as per vailcorp's policy. a good friend (who posts here) had his kid fall of a chairlift so its not w/o merit. if u dont like it, go hike up something where no one will tell you what to do. next time please find something worthy to bitch about. HAH!!!!

if avy issues are a concern, its all about choice of terain. here on the s shore, the luther pass trees are the go-to safe zone mr smith

OK, but you missed the irony I was trying to convey and obviously failed. I'm super-glad that Vail installed these bars. I've been hoping for this for years, because frankly Chair 10 used to scare the crap out of me on a windy day. I don't even care if they want to enforce a bar-down policy. However, at other resorts that have had bars for years I have NEVER been told to actually use it, and 90+% of the rides I take are sans-bar -- even when other people I don't know are on the chair. I just think this is ironic that they went from nothing to this.

I'm not going to get into a discussion of kids falling off chairs because that has nothing to do with this. There were no kids on the chair at the time.

[kidwoo]

chair 10 at kirkwood needs a bar

I about got bounced off that beyotch over the 'fun' part at the top during an emergency stop. I've never heard and entire chairlift population simultaneously scream "fuuuuckkk!!!" like that.

[The Dad]

just put the fucking bar down and set an example for the kids.

This.

As for the bar thing, skiing with kids it becomes such a good idea. Personally, especially on longer chairs, I like the bar down, just to hook things (helmet, back pack, etc.) when I stat going through all my shit. I really don't mind it down.

And this.

Fortunately, I don't need the bro-brahs' approval.

[TexasGortex]

I personally find those foot rests really uncomfortable and awkward, forcing my knee and leg up into an unnatural position.

I'm kind of tall so the edge of the seat hits me maybe 5-6" above the knee, making it PERFECT to give me tingly dead leg. I don't care if the footrest is comfortable, I just want pressure off my thigh.

Note: I'm sure if I wasn't completely pampered at my home resort I have no doubt this wouldn't be an issue at all.

[skinnyskier]

^^ 2 responses, choose one:

1. I quoted one line not the whole thing. Chill the fuck out.

2. Unless you're saying in person like on a chair lift and not referring to me right above your post - that I also find amusing.

Exactly, #2 not you. Random people on lifts who believe they have found out some secret weather knowledge.

[TurxSki]

Just please remind the peeps that aren't from around here, to give the old "Bar Down" or "Bar Up" warning before they yank at it & smack you on the back of the head, or on your chin.

I've hated footrests since the time I got my "bits" caught behind the upright.
"Squeek!"

[dookeyXXX]

Squaw was interesting today.

Conditions ranged from Tahoe Boiler Plate to powdered sugar. Lots of runs are scraped off others are refrozen mank. It was windy and cold and overcast for much of the day, so nothing softened up.

And there were far too many fools skiing like it's been a bomb-ass season (i.e. not skiing to the current early season conditions).

On my first ride up Gold Coast I witnessed a snowboarder sliding out of control down the run under the lift. He slid into another boarder, knocked her on her a$$ and continued to slide until the slope leveled out.

About an hour later I was riding up the Shirley Lake lift with a buddy of mine who was in a clinic. He'd just been sideswiped by a skier who came out of nowhere, totally out of control and hit him. This was on the bottom half of "Shirley Bowl".

Later, on Siberia there was just me and a snowboarder at the top of "Siberia Run". While the boarder strapped in I started down the skier's left working on controlled short-radius turns. I was about 1/2 down when all of a sudden I hear this loud scraping sound. I look uphill just in time to traverse out of the way of the aforementioned boarder who was in an uncontrolled slide down the run. He didn't self-arrest. He continued sliding all the way down past the "Newport" / "Yellow Trail" merge.

Finally toward the end of my day (around 2 pm) I witnessed a kid who had obviously skied down under "Palisades". All I saw was him crawling 300 yards back up the hill to retrieve both of his skis and poles, which were strewn haphazardly about. Just as he reached his gear another skier skied up to him and asked if he was okay (not sure, but seems like he may have tomahawked his way down "Siberia Bowl").

Bottomline is that we are still very much in early season and the conditions, due to weather, are still very firm at many of the resorts. So unless you're some ex-East Coast racer on razor sharp GS skis, take it easy out there. Hell, I'm a fairly decent two-planker and I've already slid into a tree this season, effectively pulling what some call a SchralphMacchio.

One final note on the whole safety bar issue: at the Star the rule is 2 kids under the age of 7 to 1 instructor and 1 kid to 1 non-instructor adult. I personally make every kid in one of my classes ride with an adult unless they are a teenager. I also talked to some SB instructors today and they said they have a 51 inches rule that sounds similar to what they have at theme parks with rollercoasters (i.e. if you aren't at least "this" tall, then you can't ride the lift w/o an adult).

As for the aforementioned patroller who was yelling at folks to put the bar down, I can't imagine that that was his sole job for the day. I'd be willing to bet he was checking tower pads or something else and just happened to see folks not putting the bar down.

[TahoeJ]

Finally toward the end of my day (around 2 pm) I witnessed a kid who had obviously skied down under "Palisades". All I saw was him crawling 300 yards back up the hill to retrieve both of his skis and poles, which were strewn haphazardly about. Just as he reached his gear another skier skied up to him and asked if he was okay (not sure, but seems like he may have tomahawked his way down "Siberia Bowl").

I witnessed a similar incident several days ago, but here's the worst part: it was 10am! So even if the sun had been warm enough to soften things up, the light hadn't even crossed the groomed trail next to the Siberia lift yet. He started hiking over there against the advice of his friends and it was like a trainwreck in slow motion. He was fine but his ego was appropriately bruised (I hope anyway). Good thing it's going to snow before the holidays or the carnage would be massive at this rate. Not to mention, it's that kind of crap that makes patrol think twice about spinning certain lifts in those conditions.

[Ottime]

Squaw was interesting today.


About an hour later I ran into a buddy of mine who was in a clinic.


Hell, I'm a fairly decent two-planker and I've already slid into a tree this season, effectively pulling what some call a SchralphMacchio.



As for the aforementioned patroller who was yelling at folks to put the bar down, I can't imagine that that was his sole job for the day. I'd be willing to bet he was checking tower pads or something else and just happened to see folks not putting the bar down.

Dude, you sound dangerous. I did not read the other parts of your post, but man, please slow down. And I think is it only a Schralph if you hit the tree while in mid air. And for that last part, yeah, you are probably right.

[Flexon Phil]

Dook,

You should have hit Alpine today, it was skiing fantastic.

[skinnyskier]

Dook,

You should have hit Alpine today, it was skiing fantastic.

More solar aspects to choose from?

[parkmeister]

Gaperific days in Tahoe, yo.

Skied Squaw on Sunday with a good friend (and full on gaper) from Hawaii. Had no expectations and so was pleasantly surprised at the firm but totally skiable groomers off of Sibo, Emigrant, Shirley, and GC. Turns in the skier scraped ‘shave ice’ were totally fun. No crowds anywhere, all day long. I still have an early season mindset, which is: sliding on any kind of snow is fucking awesome and super fun! I even enjoyed the experience of getting a stinging facial by the ice pellets blasting over the ridge at the top of Sibo and Emigrant. I just love being in the mountains in winter! SUPER BONUS: Introduced myself and said ‘Hi’ to Sherry McC and Kevin O’ at le Cham at the end of the day. SQUAW IS FUCKING AWESOME.

Skied Mt. Rose on Monday and had another super fun day on the mountain. Snow quality on the groomers, while still firm, was way better than at Squaw. Off the groomers, the refrozen chunder was skiable though not a whole lot of fun. Morning sun runs on the Slide side were corntastic, and the Rose side was equally fun later in the day. Hecka good times in the sierra!

Have fun and be safe, y’all.

Aloha!

[powdork]

Methinks the "No Tucking" / "No Straightlining" signs only come out on the weekends and holidays when it's busy as I haven't seen 'em at the Star as of yet.

the pic i posted was yesterday. a slow monday. i was also told today that violations, or any ticket given out by the guys in yellow requires a mandatory safety school or your pass is blocked (after a grace period)

All,
As a coach with SBST, John Henderson's death was a huge tragedy and I personally re-live that day.... everyday I am coaching. In any case, this was shared with the SugarBowl community the other week:

"Numerous interviews were conducted during the investigation. While many people recalled fragments of the accident, there were conflicting accounts and few direct eyewitnesses. As a result, we cannot state with certainty, exactly what happened. We do know that John was on the chair with two other members of the Sugar Bowl Ski Team and that their coach allowed them to load without supervision. We also believe the chair lift restraint bar was not lowered properly at the loading terminal and that children of this age were unable to lower the bar themselves. We found no evidence of horseplay or foul play. Ultimately our safety practices were insufficient to prevent this tragedy."

Anyhow, hope all parents and kids are staying safe. I got my first days on snow this past weekend.... one at SB coaching and one at AM tele free-skiing. Feels good to be outside on snow. Looking forward to some snow this week!

Props to SB for that honest sincere statement.

[lepistoir]

Kirkwood used to have 'no tucking' signs all over the place...

I bet those got remixed pretty often.

[skier666]

I bet those got remixed pretty often.

yeah, and probably all were swiped.

[lepistoir]

Honestly curious how you more experienced bc guys would manage terrain this weekend given the high probability of storm/wind slabs ripping loose on crusts all over the place. It's enough to scare me off of anything remotely steep, I'll likely opt to just battle it out at the resort.

I like how you changed your co-title to "Gripped". Avalanche risk can be pretty scary from down in the bay. Come up and check it out and maybe you'll change to "fresh underwear". It's probably going to be dust on crust in the BC and super fun fluff on groomers inbounds on Friday. Steepness is not needed for having fun on snow this light and cold as it's easy to get enough speed on a 25-degree meadow skip. You'll have to ask someone more experienced than me where that would be though.

[jfost]

... You'll have to ask someone more experienced than me where that would be though.

you already mentioned Luther did you not? Some of those aspects are meadow skippy...

[lepistoir]

I opted to say "Morning, Roy!" at NoStraightlining and had a great time. Always bummed when they groom the best cruiser on the hill into a terrain park (off Vista). Went to Reno for some glasses and came back to try the central SW-facing chute on Castle, since it looked in. The reason it looks in is because the snow there is frozen in place and covered with Actual Ice. Pretty sure the descent would have involved crampons so traversed all the way over the summit and descended out Upper Castle Creek valley. Great 3.5 hour circle route involving skinning, hiking, steep snow and rock climbing and survival skiing/luge-ing. Plus, the most incredible, crimson sunset I've seen in my life, witnessed from just north of the summit:



Here's an even better pic someone posted from over in Graegle:

[powdork]

meh. i like yours better

[dookeyXXX]

Woke up (@ 6 a.m.) in T/D to what looks to be about 1-1/2 to 2"" of fresh on the deck...