Tahoe '24/'25 - This Thread Shall Not Be Privatized!!

[bodywhomper]

My understanding is that SB uphill chairlift capacity exceeds the parking lot capacity.


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[SnowMachine]

The resorts must be conspiring to save money since there were wind holds yesterday across the basin.
Or maybe you just can’t see wind when there’s no snow to blow around.


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PT upper mountain is always on wind hold. That's the way it plays there. SB is very rarely on wind hold. Yes it was windy. East winds were blowing hard across Lincoln. Snow was blowing up there. From there you could look right down on Disney and the chairs weren't swinging. No snow blowing. Today the chair was running and swinging hard. Snow was blowing/swirling. So maybe you know something that I don't, but there didn't appear to be a weather related reason not to run.

[SnowMachine]

My understanding is that SB uphill chairlift capacity exceeds the parking lot capacity.

Until they expand parking capacity (in the works).

Look, I'm always skeptical and a bit grumpy, but between my work, clients and friends, I know a lot of people in a lot of places. Bridget was brought in to transform SB. She's done everything I would do: discounted lift tickets, expand teams/lessons, expand uphill travel, bolster marketing, bring in brand ambassadors, build terrain parks, etc.

Will it improve or ruin SB? I guess it depends upon who you are. If you're a weekend warrior that has been abused by Northstar or PT crowds, it'll be great. They'll love their new mountain. If you loved SB's low key vibes and lack of crowds, you probably won't love it.

I've already debated whether I'd buy passes there next year. My oldest is going to full time teams (5 days a week at PT OV). SB may no longer make sense, anyway. Either way, it would make me sad if the mountain gets blown out. It's been my home mountain for a long time. It's still the place I can go and see a crowd of my homies on the Judah deck on any given day.

Last edit: crowds weren't as bad today, but it was cold and firm. I think that kept folks away. My kids were done by lunch time and just wanted to come home.

[powdork]

If you think Sugar Bowl (or any resort) is going to shut down a large part of their mountain for a money hold on a busy Saturday then you’re probably vulnerable to many of the other conspiracy theories out there.
Is that you? Because your posts make it sound like it is.


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[powdork]

If you think Sugar Bowl (or any resort) is going to shut down a large part of their mountain for a money hold on a busy Saturday then you’re probably vulnerable to many of the other conspiracy theories out there. Because your posts make it sound like it is. As evidence, you just posted it’s less busy today and Disney is open AF.


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[SnowMachine]

If you think Sugar Bowl (or any resort) is going to shut down a large part of their mountain for a money hold on a busy Saturday then you’re probably vulnerable to many of the other conspiracy theories out there.
Is that you? Because your posts make it sound like it is.


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Pass holders also got an email from Bridget last weekend apologizing for the traffic shitshow and promising solutions (to a problem that her policies created). I dunno, sometimes in business you bounce shit off the wall to see what sticks.

Shut a lift on a busy day that you can blame wind and see what happens. Do it two days in a row and people get pissed. Who knows, today was definitely worse than yesterday and it was running. Maybe it was a mechanical, but that isn't what they listed.

I don't do conspiracy, but I do business. I'm married to a corporate bean counter. I've watched the inside decisions made. When you want to make changes there are two ways to do it: slow and calculated or fast and loose. These changes are looking pretty fast and loose.

Let's talk about it in a year.

[TurxSki]

My understanding is that SB uphill chairlift capacity exceeds the parking lot capacity

[emoji1] You make joke yes?
Isn't that true of like *everywhere* we ski? I bloody well hope so!
Think how many days you have to cruise around looking for a spot? Or head out/up/down to distant parts of lots? But it's pretty mellow out on the hill.

[old goat]

PT upper mountain is always on wind hold. That's the way it plays there. SB is very rarely on wind hold. Yes it was windy. East winds were blowing hard across Lincoln. Snow was blowing up there. From there you could look right down on Disney and the chairs weren't swinging. No snow blowing. Today the chair was running and swinging hard. Snow was blowing/swirling. So maybe you know something that I don't, but there didn't appear to be a weather related reason not to run.

It's not just wind speed, it's direction. I very much doubt this was a money closure. This is the same resort that started loading chairs at 8:25 last Saturday. I get really tired with the conspiracy theory bullshit, unless it's sarcasm.

[PB]

Definitely not buying into the money hold - mechanical is much more likely, and SB has had some chronic issues.
I'm also curious about wind direction - possible that the more easterly the wind, which it has been lately, might impact Disney more than Lincoln.
It's been my experience that Lincoln shuts down sooner than Disney with a true northerly.

[skier666]

Wind was ripping on the crest yesterday. I watched smaller kids having issues getting 'into' the Sibo groomer due to the strong East wind.

I came off the weekend with a smile on my face. Groomers were great especially in the morning this weekend at PTOV. Not a lot of steeps open due to slide for life conditions but I managed to find really enjoyable skiing under Oly Lady, 3 Trees, Skiers right of CII bowl (all that was open), and upper Red Dog chair line steeps. I rarely saw anyone else in these zones so add another reason why I love skiing at this place.

[dookeyXXX]

Yesterday all the East Coast transplants came into the locker room with smiles on their faces due to the classic Vermont-styled “packed powder” conditions which have been persisting at The Star for the past several days.

For a born and bred Cali skier such as myself, the conditions were what we in the coaching profession call “character building.”
Conditions also hi-lited the importance of well tuned skis, which mine currently aren’t.

The fun was in spending the day(s) trying to find those hidden pockets of “good” snow, which existed, but weren’t always obvious.

NW and NE were the sweet aspects.

But some of the lift -served patch skiing options were fun in a quasi masochistic way…

Hill was really empty today. Methinks a lot of folks bailed after skiing on Saturday due to the boilerplate condis.

Also, today was CAF in the morning. I made my crew straightline to the bottom so I could pick up some mittens as my fingers went numb on our first run. It warmed up a tad after 10, but from 8:45 - 9:45 it was beyond brisk.

[SnowMachine]

Yesterday all the East Coast transplants came into the locker room with smiles on their faces due to the classic Vermont-styled “packed powder” conditions which have been persisting at The Star for the past several days.

For a born and bred Cali skier such as myself, the conditions were what we in the coaching profession call “character building.”
Conditions also hi-lited the importance of well tuned skis, which mine currently aren’t.

The fun was in spending the day(s) trying to find those hidden pockets of “good” snow, which existed, but weren’t always obvious.

NW and NE were the sweet aspects.

But some of the lift -served patch skiing options were fun in a quasi masochistic way…

Hill was really empty today. Methinks a lot of folks bailed after skiing on Saturday due to the boilerplate condis.

Also, today was CAF in the morning. I made my crew straightline to the bottom so I could pick up some mittens as my fingers went numb on our first run. It warmed up a tad after 10, but from 8:45 - 9:45 it was beyond brisk.

It was real cold this am, but the winds and cold temps kept the snow dry and from freezing into a rock. The groomers were really fun.

None of my crew really expected or dressed for it. We bailed fairly quick.

Nothing exciting in the 10 day.

[SnowMachine]

It's not just wind speed, it's direction. I very much doubt this was a money closure. This is the same resort that started loading chairs at 8:25 last Saturday. I get really tired with the conspiracy theory bullshit, unless it's sarcasm.

Let's revisit this in a year.

[Hart Gremlin]

Saturday at PT-OV was definitely firm, but the Sports Basement ski bus was still full.
The usual steeps off KT were closed(West Face, Dead Tree, Rock Garden,C75, Mosely's), but Red Dog Ridge did hold some character building combination of carve-ible pockets with some hard fast transitions between. The Youth Freeride comp in the Enchanted forest area was impressive in the balance of ripping it and managing the hard conditions. I heard a few dad/competitor conversations on the lift talking about completion and holding it together. Gnar...

[MashedPotatoes]

Also, today was CAF in the morning. I made my crew straightline to the bottom so I could pick up some mittens as my fingers went numb on our first run. It warmed up a tad after 10, but from 8:45 - 9:45 it was beyond brisk.

You guys have any recommendations for warm/toasty gloves or mittens for Tahoe? I've chilled my fingers too many times over the years and now it doesn't take much for me to end up with numb fingertips for a week as I learned during our brief storm 9 days ago. I'm a guitar player so it kinda sucks when it happens. I have the Hestra Vertical Cut and they are just not warm enough for me anymore on chilly days..

[maskinut]

Race ski weekend. SL’s sat and sun with crowds. GS, SG and DH for the weekday mornings. Then snow dammit!

[jackstraw]

Yesterday all the East Coast transplants came into the locker room with smiles on their faces due to the classic Vermont-styled “packed powder” conditions which have been persisting at The Star for the past several days.

Ha! Yeah, these conditions are pretty good for anyone with ec roots. Ninety percent of everything we were skiing was empty except for me and my kids. I did realize my edge could use some luv, meanwhile my oldest is on his Bent120's having zero issues with edge hold and popping off shit. It's good to be young.

[fomofo]

You guys have any recommendations for warm/toasty gloves or mittens for Tahoe? I've chilled my fingers too many times over the years and now it doesn't take much for me to end up with numb fingertips for a week as I learned during our brief storm 9 days ago. I'm a guitar player so it kinda sucks when it happens. I have the Hestra Vertical Cut and they are just not warm enough for me anymore on chilly days..

My girlfriend wears Black Diamond Mercury Mitts whenever the temps drop much below 30 F. They’re a little bulky, but definitely warm, and wouldn’t say they’re completely waterproof, but pretty good dealing with wet conditions. I’ve always preferred gloves, but I’ve got an older pair of the same and I too break em out when it gets nasty out.

https://www.blackdiamondequipment.co...mercury-mitts/

[Dark Energy]

Delightful EC skiing yesterday at SB.

Did drop off the south side of Lincoln searching for some soft patches thinking the snow that was blowing must be somewhere. Nope. Full on sublimination. It was firm, glazed, and the wind was howling way down in the trees.

Did run into this guy "Alpha Bravo Six Delta" with his portable ham radio and home made aerial system sheltering from the 40mph + wind behind a tree just outside the fence at the top of Lincoln. Redefining the "safety meeting," he was talking to a person in Kansas and another person on some mountain in Oregon.

[maskinut]

The entire Ca government is going to change over the next several years in major ways. I think these fires are going to drive a massive change in the way environmental and local government regulations work, how long they take etc.

If the duopoly loses all their fire insurance, they might be inclined to sell it all. (I don't think that is a good thing for skiing BTW)

[hercule33]

The entire Ca government is going to change over the next several years in major ways. I think these fires are going to drive a massive change in the way environmental and local government regulations work, how long they take etc.

If the duopoly loses all their fire insurance, they might be inclined to sell it all. (I don't think that is a good thing for skiing BTW)

With no signs of the ridge high pressure breaking down, let’s talk about the wildfires. I find it rich that after decades of neglecting the environment both on forest maintenance (underfunding the forest services) and denying climate change voters now are mad at the government that they voted in themselves. Political change usually starts at the grass roots and then goes into the political system so I don’t see any major changes until average people start talking about forest maintenance and climate change, not just about how wildfires suck.

[powdork]

I have long had issues with cold fingers and it also leads to badly cracked fingertips after each occurrence. I have the Hestra Army Leather gloves now in a half size too big for me and haven’t had issues this year. I’m fairly certain back in 2010 I had the verticals in 10.5, but now they only make the half sizes for dress gloves.
Either way it’s very important that the fingies aren’t pushed against the glove tips.


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[El Chupacabra]

I started using generic super glue (cyanoacrylate) on fingertip cracks in winter. It seems to work pretty well - by the time the glue wears off in a few days, the crack has healed.

[bobz]

My standard (about 60% of days) downhill gloves are an old pair of Marmot three-finger gloves (thumb + index + a big glove finger for the rest) with gauntlet and polarlite insulation. I don't find I'm missing out on much dexterity being part-way to having mittens, they're really warm, and they go off and on easily if I need to use all of my fingers for something.

[TahoeJ]

With no signs of the ridge high pressure breaking down, let’s talk about the wildfires. I find it rich that after decades of neglecting the environment both on forest maintenance (underfunding the forest services) and denying climate change voters now are mad at the government that they voted in themselves. Political change usually starts at the grass roots and then goes into the political system so I don’t see any major changes until average people start talking about forest maintenance and climate change, not just about how wildfires suck.

I don’t want to turn this thread into a long boring ass convo about forestry and fire prevention, but I will add one key point: our mistakes with forestry management really go back like 100 years and blaming modern politicians for all of this is foolish. Also- what is happening in LA is really an urban fire for the most part. So it’s more about property management and policy on a micro level, multiplied.