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

[Ottime]

I forget, what's the deal with skinning at Kirkwood post season?

Call the toll free number to check in. Worth calling the day before in the u likely chance the are planning to work on the hill.


I'll also be skiing on Father's Day. At Mammy. Because it happens to be on the way to San Diego where my wife has a conference the following week. Sort of.

[Mr. Toad]

Everyone seemed pretty chill yesterday. A couple of guys stopped us and I thought they were going to give us shit for my dog running loose but they just said have a nice tour. Wouldn't hurt to call I guess. Lots of snow work going on.

[dookeyXXX]

windy as f@#k up on Castle Peak today.
me'n Vets made the long slog in, then got semi-sidelined by the wind (well, it changed our initially ambitious plans to slightly more mellower ones).
skied 1 run on the south slope just under the ridge.
skied a 2nd run off of Andesite Peak opposite on the way back out.
snow conditions were soft-serve (we were skiing mid-afternoon (1pm - 2pm-ish), so probably would be a bit better earlier in the day).
"skied" all the way back to the truck, but it was a slog over sun-cups and rollers; not sure if skinning out or hiking out would have been better/faster...
we "dry" hiked in--although our hiking boots got soaked)--as the snow was firm enough and enough folks have hiked in to make a somewhat followable trail.
still lottsa good coverage up there.

[Paul Blart]

windy as f@#k up on Castle Peak today.
me'n Vets made the long slog in, then got semi-sidelined by the wind

That ridge can really get you. After the approach you're just not prepared for the knock you on your ass winds. In the handful of times I've been up there it's usually not too bad once you get past the castle ridge area and start ascending above it.

[~mikey b]

Sounds like a walk up KW is in order this morning. Saves me a bit of time not having a long approach.

[Ottime]

That is the best thing about touring KW. I bet Thunder Bowl still goes. Also bet that has not been skied often in June. OTOH, Cirque must certainly still go and you'll be able to ski back to the car. Switch.

[dookeyXXX]

That ridge can really get you. After the approach you're just not prepared for the knock you on your ass winds. In the handful of times I've been up there it's usually not too bad once you get past the castle ridge area and start ascending above it.

it took us by surprise, honestly.
in all the years i've been poking around there at this time (May/June/July), i've never encountered knock-you-on-your-ass winds until yesterday. crazy.
didn't help matters that our hiking boots and socks were soaked from the trek in, either. nothing like swapping into ski socks and ski boots with wet feet whilst the wind is whipping through your cold toes!

good skiing, though, which usually makes up for any (perceived) hardships.

Vets slarving some late afternoon soft-serve on Andesite Peak - 6.7.17

[bodywhomper]

you guys should really consider hitting up north fork of prosser crk via the rest stop on i-80 while you can still ski back down to the car... though, maybe this rain will melt-out the bottom by the rest stop....

[dookeyXXX]

you guys should really consider hitting up north fork of prosser crk via the rest stop on i-80 while you can still ski back down to the car... though, maybe this rain will melt-out the bottom by the rest stop....

assuming you mean the SE facing lines one sees from I-80 going west from Truckee (i.e. the long patches literally above the westbound rest area)?
we have skied those in years past (one time going up the NW ridge (Castle Pass), then skiing down into Coon Canyon, then hiking back out in a loop.
there's so much stuff up there right now, one would either have to camp out for a week or so or just hit up different lines every day.
there's a few lines back in the Coon Canyon section I've been interested in for years...

[~mikey b]

Good call Ottime. Quick easy fun solo shot this morning. ''Twas snowing on me. Windy as fuck.

[bodywhomper]

assuming you mean the SE facing lines one sees from I-80 going west from Truckee (i.e. the long patches literally above the westbound rest area)?
we have skied those in years past (one time going up the NW ridge (Castle Pass), then skiing down into Coon Canyon, then hiking back out in a loop.
there's so much stuff up there right now, one would either have to camp out for a week or so or just hit up different lines every day.
there's a few lines back in the Coon Canyon section I've been interested in for years...

Yep. Those are the SE facing lines that I'm referring to. Ski to/from the car to access that area is nice and won't last for long.

[JPaul]

Yep. Those are the SE facing lines that I'm referring to. Ski to/from the car to access that area is nice and won't last for long.

We had pans to seek those out Thursday morning (ski on the left is pointing directly at them in the picture below), but decided to stick to the more familiar given the rain coming down as we left home in Truckee.

So, skipping the quickly-closing wind & fog on Castle, we stuck with just the snain on lower Andesite. Dug a little bench on the bottom to boot up and serve as our lodge for yo-yoing. Got several laps in on particularly grippy mashed potatoes -> good times!



No skinning required. Access path still pretty firm, then boot-packing for laps. Stayed out there between 9-noon, so a pretty solid summer session.

Monday looking pretty good for up there, no?

PS - Thanks to Dookey for his wet sock beta above. We brought spares, they were relished.

[mcski]

What are the accumulation predictions for the snow this weekend?

[JPaul]

What are the accumulation predictions for the snow this weekend?

Accumulation varies by your favorite weather site (for skiing purposes, wunderground is best with Norden getting 3-5" through Mon AM).

I'm mainly hoping that the few nights of temps going below freezing will help corn up the snow.

[bodywhomper]

i'm hoping for an improved corn cycle and some smoothing of the surface....

jpaul, thanks for the inspiration. maybe i'll be able to get a grub up onto andesite or sugarbowl for a walk-and-ski.

has anybody gone to sugarbowl lately? what's the story with access and parking at the moment?

regarding skiing to/from the rest stop on westbound i-80, the terrain on the bottom third of the slope is more gully-like than the meadow-like approach to castle ridge/andesite, with a lot of flowing open water surrounded by steep snowbanks.

[JPaul]

has anybody gone to sugarbowl lately? what's the story with access and parking at the moment?

Hey Bodywhomper,

I think Andesite is the way to go right now for easy kid access in that area.

Wish I had a definitive answer on Sugar Bowl as we were hoping to do some laps on Judah last Wed. Unfortunately, there is a gate across the road leading to Judah lodge parking with a keypad for homeowners to access, and sign noting that it is run as a private community outside of the ski season.

We had our SB uphill passes all ready, FWIW, and the SB website notes that the uphill routes were to be opened after the cleanup ops for the downhill season were completed, but that website hasn't been updated since April 7th. I suspect that statement assumed much less snow up there in June! Had put some calls into the resort, but nobody we spoke to could speak to access/no forwarded calls returned.

At the same time, tons of snow on the slopes, and you can see some good looking recent turns on many runs under Jerome lift from the access road.

regarding skiing to/from the rest stop on westbound i-80, the terrain on the bottom third of the slope is more gully-like than the meadow-like approach to castle ridge/andesite, with a lot of flowing open water surrounded by steep snowbanks.

Good to know, thanks. We were hoping to get over there from the CP trailhead, but kept getting boxed in by open water. Will try from the rest stop next time.

Hope you get some good turns in this week!

Cheers,
Paul

[Huck Pitueee]

A line North of Round Top yesterday. All day Kaepernicks from mean wind gusts.

[TahoeBC]

Dumping pretty hard at the house right now and accumulating at lake level.

Despite the snow showers and wind things corned up nicely today at least on Echo Peak. Took advantage of the road opening to Angora lakes and drove up to the upper lot. Dirt road to the lake is clear and there is still top to bottom skiing from Echo Peak to Angora lake, some smooth turns to be had but mostly summer conditions, fun but not Epic. Walked over to Indian rock, all the chutes are burnt out at the bottom, lots of options in the desolation still.

[dookeyXXX]

^sweet!

Slightly off-thread: I scoped out some Eastside lines today on the drive back from Mammoth. Nice chute/couloir up above June Lake and some interesting stuff still lingering around Virginia Lakes. Bailed on hitting anything due to partial hangover and weather that just didn't call to me (overcast, windy), probably due to aforementioned hangover.

Back on Tahoe topic, though, I got back into Truckee around 3 pm and it's been lightly snowing on/off since then, but nothing is accumulating at my house (6300 feet). Had some fat flakes fall for about 30-minutes around 5pm, though. But again, nothing sticking this low here.

[dookeyXXX]

PS - Thanks to Dookey for his wet sock beta above. We brought spares, they were relished.

no worries. at least 2 extra pairs of socks is gonna be my modus operandi this spring/summer for patch skiing, especially with all the run-off that's gonna start happening soon.

jpaul, thanks for the inspiration. maybe i'll be able to get a grub up onto andesite or sugarbowl for a walk-and-ski.

some other grub friendly spots with easier access than Andesite (at least in my humble opinion) to check out:

1. Sunrise Bowl
Off Ski Slope Blvd in Tahoe/Donner. You can either park by the water tower on Ski Slope or enter up on Glacier Way and park at the dead-end circle. Approach is about 30 minutes to the top of the ridge, give or take. Best hit early morning or early evening.

2. Tahoe Meadows Interpretive Loop
Off Mt. Rose Hwy, this is about a 15-20 minute skin from the road to the visible knoll, where there are a few low-to-mid-angle shots. Relatively easy skin out. Great place to get acquainted with new gear, too, due to it's easy access.

3. Mt. Rose Summit parking lot, top of Mt. Rose Hwy.
If you park at the furthest end of the lot you will usually see a makeshift terrain park. Hike up the ridge behind the park and you can access some relatively fun, mellow lines. If you're more gung-ho, you can keep going up the ridge to Tamarack. To get to the first set of skiable lines, though, expect about 30-minutes of hiking/skinning. For the more advanced grubs, there's a great little avy chute down the bend from the parking lot, it's great to yo-yo and provides some steeper terrain, not to mention cool views of Washoe Valley/Reno

[dookeyXXX]

Just woke up to 2 inches of compacted wet snow on the deck.
June 12th, WTF?!?

Just heard that chains/snow tires required on Rose Hwy!

[Skiwald]

Yup. 3-4 on the deck in Incline.

[SkiCougar]

Just woke up to 2 inches of compacted wet snow on the deck.
June 12th, WTF?!?

Just heard that chains/snow tires required on Rose Hwy!

http://apps.nevadadot.com/cameras/default-Reno.asp

Mount Rose cam looks like it could be January or February up there and the cam outside Squaw looks like mid-April; too bad Squaw doesn't open again until Saturday.

[jibmaster]

http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/201...nd-lake-tahoe/

[gimpy]

Nice Jeff!!! angora rd open when echo is still worthy is a rare thing. Thanx for the word. As of last Thursday the main halls chute still goes and is in good shape though there is some loose scree to contend with below the apron. If anyone drops in without climbing it there is a small step that will prolly be impassable by next weekend after temps get warm again.