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

[jables]

I think I can speak for everyone at Alpine Meadows today (all 300 of them) when I say... Best. Day. Ever.

Enjoy the week of no one being there cause all our passes are blacked out. The lady made some turns late in the day, said it was awesome and empty.

[~mikey b]

word is that SAC Facebook mentions an avalanche incident at Dodge Ridge. I am a patroller at Dodge Ridge and I can say that unless there was a SAR that we were never informed about, there has not been an avalanche incident at Dodge Ridge.

[frorider]

I think I can speak for everyone at Alpine Meadows today (all 300 of them) when I say... Best. Day. Ever.

I think I can speak for everyone at Kirkwood today (all 100 of us). Best. Day. Of. Season.

Overhead shots on untracked lines all day.

Thunder was skiing very well.

[powdork]

Sure looks more filled in from your point a view than from 89. Guessing that was a little soft slab from the new snow that had just fallen?

Yeah. Scared me when I watched it come apart about 8' above me and spider in front. About a 14" crown

[snapt]

word is that SAC Facebook mentions an avalanche incident at Dodge Ridge. I am a patroller at Dodge Ridge and I can say that unless there was a SAR that we were never informed about, there has not been an avalanche incident at Dodge Ridge.

They cleared up that it was a mistake and in fact no slide at Dodge Ridge.
Hoping some snow holds up for meadow skipping on Friday with pops in town.

[theetruscan]

I think I can speak for everyone at Alpine Meadows today (all 300 of them) when I say... Best. Day. Ever.

Yes. Very yes.

[harpo-the-skier]

Had more time today so I went up higher on PH today and dug a pit, mostly to review for my AIARE 2 in late January. Excitement was a CT23 Q1 on the facets on top of the first rain crust. The new storm snow seemed pretty solid. The taps getting to the CT23 crushed the first 25cm of the snowpack, leaving 90cm on top of the first facet layer. The whole 90cm column displaced about 3 inches. Now I know what Q1 is, I have never seen that before. ECT and PST had no results, but that was inconclusive as I don't think I isolated the back of them correctly. Yesterday, Shralp's BD flicklock saw attached firmly to the bottom half of my pole and cut the back of our columns, but I couldn't secure my G3 bone saw nearly as well. Should I get the BD saw, or make a ruschblock cord? Anyone have tips on how to make the cord (what diameter cord, what knots to use, how far apart the knots should be)?

We went to just below the summit after digging the pit. No whumping or cracking when we cut fresh track. A few sluffs on the way down but they didn't go far. I had my compass out and measured the slope frequently, it was mostly 30 deg or lower (on the skin track) except for a few obvious terrain traps. Fun slow paced day to play in the snow and work on my avi skills.

[dhklauer]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
thanks for the info!
+1 for my BD fliplock saw and poles.
i simply carry a 40ft parachute cord in my pack thats about 4mm. i tied knots every 12 inches or so.......to be used to cut a cornice from a safe distance. im sure it would work for an RB test........but no personal experience.

[Max Archer]

Went to slay pow at Sierra. (It was cheap at REI.)

Got slayed by pow at Sierra. Never managed to get myself that stuck that upside down that many times. Not sure if it's more related to the fact that I suck at skiing 4' deep powder or the fact that I attempted it on groomer skis from 2006.

Must've been epic for people less jong than me though.

[Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer]

Had more time today so I went up higher on PH today and dug a pit, mostly to review for my AIARE 2 in late January. Excitement was a CT23 Q1 on the facets on top of the first rain crust. The new storm snow seemed pretty solid. The taps getting to the CT23 crushed the first 25cm of the snowpack, leaving 90cm on top of the first facet layer. The whole 90cm column displaced about 3 inches. Now I know what Q1 is, I have never seen that before. ECT and PST had no results, but that was inconclusive as I don't think I isolated the back of them correctly. Yesterday, Shralp's BD flicklock saw attached firmly to the bottom half of my pole and cut the back of our columns, but I couldn't secure my G3 bone saw nearly as well. Should I get the BD saw, or make a ruschblock cord? Anyone have tips on how to make the cord (what diameter cord, what knots to use, how far apart the knots should be)?

We went to just below the summit after digging the pit. No whumping or cracking when we cut fresh track. A few sluffs on the way down but they didn't go far. I had my compass out and measured the slope frequently, it was mostly 30 deg or lower (on the skin track) except for a few obvious terrain traps. Fun slow paced day to play in the snow and work on my avi skills.

I have the BD Flicklock saw, but its attachment to BD poles is garbage (and has never worked). I just use the saw for cutting walls. For the back, a 4mm nylon cord with knots every 1 foot works fine. It is the same cord I use for cornices. I have long enough arms I can do it myself for an ECT by putting my pole in one back corner.

Note, however, that the ECT is not an effective test for weak layer propagation below approx 100-120cm. At that point, a weak layer is too deep. The PST ends up being a better test at that point (with the column as long as the target layer is deep assuming it is below 100cm).

G3 makes a rutchblock cord that is light at nice and also works great for snow pit s. I carry it sometimes instead of the cornice cord if my partner has one.

Sad about the incidents at Alpine and Donner. Vibes and condolences.

[Vets]

Where is SchralphMacchio?

Name the resort.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

I think I can speak for everyone at Kirkwood today (all 100 of us). Best. Day. Of. Season.

Overhead shots on untracked lines all day.

Thunder was skiing very well.

Agreed....it was pretty damn good today

[Ottime]

Where is SchralphMacchio?

Name the resort.

No idea, but that is some solid air on skis Alex

[climberevan]

Jesus, I can't believe you Bay Area people drive up here all the time. We live here, and went to SF for xmas and drove back today. 3 hours from Placerville to Meyers, chains required the entire way, including on a 15 mile stretch of merely wet pavement. What a junk show. I'm never leaving in the winter again.

[P-ville Madman]

Agreed on the Wood today. Best snow of the season by far. Shit kept filling in all day and late pm it was straight dumping.

[gone2alpine]

Chiming in on best Alpine Meadows Pow Day ever....i am beat from endless faceshots and no lift line recovery time. Squaw Valley will be unbeatable tomorrow

[Max Archer]

Jesus, I can't believe you Bay Area people drive up here all the time. We live here, and went to SF for xmas and drove back today. 3 hours from Placerville to Meyers, chains required the entire way, including on a 15 mile stretch of merely wet pavement. What a junk show. I'm never leaving in the winter again.

Ugh same thing driving up 50 today. Went through like 3 chain checkpoints before I hit anything that actually would've been worth using chains for. Sucks being forced to just tear the things up and crawl along at 25 for no reason.

[Jim S]

Rose was the tits today. Lots of pow and surpringly few people for a holiday week with no blackout dates.

I'll wait until January 1 to go back to Squaw. On Dec 24 it had more people than trees on the mountain.

[The Dad]

I had just gotten the family motivated and ready to go to Alpine when I got a text that the access road was closed for avy control. Since I had to pick someone up at RNO, I lost the day. Sigh.

[SDW]

Should I get the BD saw?

Harpo - get this one: http://brooks-range.com/igloo-70-folding-snow-saw.html

[MrSmith]

Jesus, I can't believe you Bay Area people drive up here all the time. We live here, and went to SF for xmas and drove back today. 3 hours from Placerville to Meyers, chains required the entire way, including on a 15 mile stretch of merely wet pavement. What a junk show. I'm never leaving in the winter again.

Route planning and terrain management apply to the drive as well

This is one reason that I don't make it to South Lake very often. I much prefer 80 over 50. I have 4WD and most frequently make the drive super early in the AM, aiming to be off the road long before any other traffic. Monday Consigliere and I left Oakland at 3:30 AM for a day shot, made record time and were in the Squaw parking lot by 7, including chain control, snow on 80 from Nyack, and a fuel stop. After the upcoming ludicrousness of Squaw became clear, we headed over to Alpine and were in line for the 4th chair on Summit by 8AM. Great day and only took 2-3 nights sleep to recover.

[MrSmith]

So, it looks like Little Guy Smith's first time on skis is going to be the first weekend of the New Year. He's 2.5 years old and I'm just looking to get him used to the whole idea so he can do ski school next year. I've read lot's of threads here, but would definitely appreciate any specific advice from those that have done this previously (telemike, 666...).

Picked up those strap on XC skis from Amazon and will probably start with those. May not even worry about sliding at this point, just go out and walk around a bit and get him used to the planks on his feet. Followed by lots of hot chocolate, of course. The Mrs and I have XC gear and she really enjoys XC, so this seems reasonable.

Wish me luck.

[TahoeBC]

Harpo - get this one: http://brooks-range.com/igloo-70-folding-snow-saw.html

Dam with that saw you could cut up snowboarders and make a booter out of them.

[TahoeJ]

Route planning and terrain management apply to the drive as well

This is one reason that I don't make it to South Lake very often. I much prefer 80 over 50. I have 4WD and most frequently make the drive super early in the AM, aiming to be off the road long before any other traffic. Monday Consigliere and I left Oakland at 3:30 AM for a day shot, made record time and were in the Squaw parking lot by 7, including chain control, snow on 80 from Nyack, and a fuel stop.

This is pretty much my M.O. as well, or I'll go up late the night before. The lack of multiple lanes on 50 is a deal breaker for me - even really early in the morning. I haven't driven that road since last March when it took me 3 hours to get from Heavenly to Placerville.

[dynosaur]

Really sad about the n lake avi deaths. Can anyone confirm 100% that someone was blown/knocked off the chair at Squaw by the KT avi? I can only find it referred to in blogs but not in any official reports.

Also, Further and Deeper are showing tonight at Squaw. Should be fun!