MAKE TAHOE DEEP AGAIN ~ 2016/17 OFISHUL SNOW/FOOD/WHINE & STOKE THREAD

[TahoeBC]

It's getting deep!

[LightRanger]

sugar bowl is claiming everything but crows nest tomorrow, is that realistic? i thought they bullshitted less than squaw

They do. But, yeah, I dunno about that.

If the report in the morning looks reasonable, I'll likely be up there with you. And 20 million others. Been years since I've seen freeway backups like that to exit at Soda today.

[unpossible]

alpine meadows has already called it for tomorrow, citing avalanche risks (see UA's report from today for more details).

[hercule33]

alpine meadows has already called it for tomorrow, citing avalanche risks (see UA's report from today for more details).

I read the snowbrains report on what caused the delays in Squaw Alpine lifts opening. You don't have to read too far between the lines to see that they don't have enough people to open both mountains. There are only two people who can put down the cat track for KT 22 and apparently there isn't enough staff to dig out the lifts or get rid of the rime.

Here is a link to the story.

http://snowbrains.com/what-causes-sq...a-lift-delays/

It's getting deep!

[LightRanger]

I agree with your conclusion there, but it doesn't follow from the "two people" comment. Talk to a Squaw cat driver about grooming that road sometime.

[96avs01]

Kirkwood was deep today. They got 6 open by around 10:45 and then 10 by 11:15 or so. Everything else worthwhile stayed closed. Patrol took a good look at eagle bowl but decided against it. Route 50 was totally clear coming back, and it looks like they got 88 open now too. With the next system coming in I bet a bunch of people are trapped up there until Tuesday. Oh well

Today was the best pow day I've had in a couple of years, Kirkwood was more than worth the slow drive up 50.

[hercule33]

I agree with your conclusion there, but it doesn't follow from the "two people" comment. Talk to a Squaw cat driver about grooming that road sometime.

If Squaw is trying to be a world class destination and compete with Vail and the likes then having only two people who can lay the cat track down on KT is a huge operational risk. What happens if one quits and the other one gets sick or hurt? What happens if Vail decides to poach both CAT drivers?

Don't get me wrong, I am not saying that it's an easy job but KSL could hire and train more people to do it.

[LightRanger]

I'm unaware of any cat track at any Vail resort that takes the kind of skill and crazy intimate terrain knowledge that grooming that track takes. Like knowing where cliff edges are when you can't see-type stuff. At least one cat driver has almost been killed in a storm on the ridge between KT and Headwall. It's about the gnarliest "grooming" out there.

Seriously, talk to a Squaw cat driver about it some time. You can't just "hire and train" somebody to do it.

[spnce]

well i hope those cat drivers know how much leverage they have

[old goat]

It's always been understood that KT is usually not going to open at 9 on a storm morning. The other operational problems--lift breakdowns, wind holds with no wind, lifts like Oly and ABC off line with huge lines on KT and Summit, Headwall never running after the previous set of storms, despite Reverse being open, etc, etc, etc, that have been going on all season and before that aren't as easily explained (actually they are easily explained--lack of money spent on operations) Squalpine is gaining a reputation for operation problems--hard to imagine anyone considering it a world class resort with that kind of reputation. (There has been an upside--terrain that was previously lift accessed and skied out within minutes at Squaw is now hike to terrain and offers good skiing for a lot longer. Just before xmas my son did 8 RT laps and got freshies every time; I only managed 2. Tower 16 on Thurs and Fri was sweet as well--I managed to get freshies both days.)

[Mr. Toad]

Serious question: any of you long timers seen roofs collapse with so much snow? I'm getting worried.

[Eastern Sierra Skier]

I read the snowbrains report on what caused the delays in Squaw Alpine lifts opening. You don't have to read too far between the lines to see that they don't have enough people to open both mountains.
Here is a link to the story.
http://snowbrains.com/what-causes-sq...a-lift-delays/

Interesting that Squaw continues it's trend of opening lifts late or not at all, and somehow Mt. Rose (the little ski area that could) is able to get their lifts up and running not just on time, they are open early.

Checked the web site and no suprise that Rose will not be open today. Bummer. Skied the rest of the afternoon (Saturday) on the Slide side. North West began to slow down, then start and stop as the Southwest winds kept increasing and shut down for the day around 2:00. This was what it looked like just before it went down for the day.

Zephyr kept chugging away and with the wind buffing out the Slide side, the skiing just kept getting better. Had to get back over to the other side and pick up my kid from Falcon's program which ends at 3:00 p.m. We jumped on Lake View and with Patroll's blessing, hiked up the catrack and got back over to Slide for two more great runs before the wind blew out Zephyr for the day. Powder in the morning followed by silky wind buff in the afternoon. Doesn't get much better than that. Stoke meter is running very high!

[Ottime]

As has been noted, KW was fantastic yesterday. I like when the Spur remains closed. Much better crowd. And a thin one to boot. Skied untracked all day except the one run we took up 10, and a mid day Jims lap. Even near Sentinel remained lightly skied all day. Deepest inbounds snow I've had since the drought started. Would do again.

[TahoeJ]

Agreed that cutting the KT cat track is just plain gnarly and not to be underestimated. But at this point there's simply no denying that KSL is cutting corners by understaffing patrol, lift ops and general mountain ops. This was confirmed (second hand) by a long time patroller who said the delays are bullshit and all management cares about is money.

[Marshall Tucker]

umm, jong question. on say a holiday weekend inbounds, what resort(s) with a view to crowds? Know storms change that geography but if storms not a factor which resorts are "less" crowded, or is it all just a shit show to which I realize i'm contributing ? thx kindly!

[Dhelihiker]

I skied Squaw yesterday against my core beliefs that you never go to Squaw on the weekend. It did take till 11 to get things moving. After that it was 2-3 laps an hours on the best terrain in Tahoe. I have to admit, it was pretty fucking good.

[Driver]

Second time I've posted such a comment in a few weeks, but yesterday was about as good as it gets at the Wood. Snow seemed to get better through the day. Deep untracked whenever you wanted. Most medium sized hits are now burried, and larger stuff that hasn't played in years now looks closer to reality. Ottime and FranklezZ were sending all day. And a strong larger crew of mags on outer pali late in the day for some of the best turns in years.

[powdork]

As has been noted, KW was fantastic yesterday. I like when the Spur remains closed. Much better crowd.

Nothing but criminals, drug dealers, and rapists come via the spur. Some real bad ombrés

[wolfy]

x2 agree with Tahoe J's statement above, wish i could explain more but can't on a public forum, ski industry jobs can change with the wind. hopefully the "Squaw Renaissance" mentioned by KSL doesn't turn into the dark ages...

Mr Toad with snow load Q's- your concerns are valid, some big past storms have caused structural failures, usually starting in mobile home parks. we currently have over 5' of lead weight in the valleys on our metal 4 in 12 at 6200'
and i'm keeping an eye on that day to day. what you need to watch for is- doors that won't open or won't close, interior or exterior. thats the sign your getting too much compression on the headers in the walls from above. then time to shovel or pay someone who can.

during the 82-83 end of march storm- 14' in 3 days- a friend who's a plumber went to a "washer won't get water" call at a hillside home at a local ski area. large cantilevered deck with 2 stories above. he gets to the basement and finds the washer at the slope side wall with 15" of frozen dirt and snow showing between the foundation and mud sill- the whole house tilted downhill from the leverage of the deck weight. the owner shaved a layer of snow off the deck in 6 hr. increments for a couple days. the rear of the house lowered back down, some real large fender washers and he was good to go. it will all happen again-

[mmmm...pow!]

Serious question: any of you long timers seen roofs collapse with so much snow? I'm getting worried.

I've seen or heard of decks and garages collapsing, and numerous propane tank explosions. Haven't heard of a roof collapse. That said, I'm getting pretty nervous about mine. A few feet of concrete from last week's storm, plus all the snow from this week is a lot of weight for an older house. I'm renting, can't really access it to shovel myself, and property management isn't too concerned, but plenty of people have been shoveling roofs around here. Not an easy task, especially for a single story, nowhere to put the snow except pile it around the sides. But I guess as long as the house remains standing it's the best problem to have ��

[mandudebro]

I'm unaware of any cat track at any Vail resort that takes the kind of skill and crazy intimate terrain knowledge that grooming that track takes. Like knowing where cliff edges are when you can't see-type stuff. At least one cat driver has almost been killed in a storm on the ridge between KT and Headwall. It's about the gnarliest "grooming" out there.

Seriously, talk to a Squaw cat driver about it some time. You can't just "hire and train" somebody to do it.

Maybe they can hire an astronaut away from NASA?

[SchralphMacchio]

Awesome for those of you who scored at the Wood yesterday! The Reno NWS mountain weather wind forecast seems to be biased toward Donner Pass and Slide Mountain, so it's hard to get an accurate feel for how winds will play out in the southern or northern halves of the Carson Range - and specifically the guessing game of KW and Heave lift ops.

I didn't want to take those risks on Chair 10 winds and 50 junkshow on the way home so I went to Flatstar for the day with my fiancée, and that was unbelievable. All lifts running, no lines, no wind, untracked shin to crotch deep every run. Yes, apparently you can white room even at Flatstar. Drive home ended up being the same as 50 would have been thanks to a wreck at Emigrant Gap that shut down 80WB for an hour, but whatever I'm home and chilling today. Next order of business: get some double planks wider than 106 underfoot!!!!

[4matic]

umm, jong question. on say a holiday weekend inbounds, what resort(s) with a view to crowds? Know storms change that geography but if storms not a factor which resorts are "less" crowded, or is it all just a shit show to which I realize i'm contributing ? thx kindly!

Tough question. Depends on your goal. To get your day in before the crowds I'd say stagecoach Nevada access and you have a good two hours of high speed laps.

For a full day with more varied terrain I'd go Kirkwood because the hikes are so accessible with good reward and worth the time off lift.

[mandudebro]

Fwiw- looks like the SB article on SV ops has been censored/removed. Can anyone post the text?

[gimpy]

Nv side closed at heave today so skiing will b self powered again. There is so much snow here that many slopes have given up some degrees of pitch that they couldn't afford to give up. When the weather finally breaks, conditions to go deep are as good as they can get.