TAHOE: LAND OF THE SNOWFLAKES -- 17/18 STOKE

[JPaul]

Thanks, Gimpy, for breaking up the regularly scheduled Squaw sucks fest.

Great pics, I assume that was today?

[bonewrenched]

Bestest most developed and consolidated corn is below 8k. Still cookin above that. Found same on pass yesterday. We backed off full on solar aspects up high today cuz we would have made a big ol mess and ruined it for when it does set up.

Corn newb here, but going hunting for it Saturday. Was planning exploring S/SE faces around 8k. Was it icy crust over wet that you backed off today?

Don’t want to make a big ol mess either

[TurxSki]

Attachment 230315

Cool pic.
Otherwordly.
Planet Claire...?

Ungroomed at HV today was all kinds of unpleasant, for the most part.
Had fun tho.

Any/Many of you going to Mt Rose Sunset ski&wine tomorrow?

[gimpy]

^ just too wet and unconsolidated. It's not supposed to freeze hard this weekend so get on it early. U should prolly b skiing e/se by 9-10
Yes from today jpaul
Also of note today were massive midcycle crowns everywhere u could see from top tallac

[gnarbro365]

Ungroomed at HV today was all kinds of unpleasant, for the most part.
Had fun tho.

I think I spotted you again. Full facers. I don’t know your real name...next time I’ll just saddle up next to you and ask if you’ve got change for a nickel.

[old goat]

Alpine has been getting stuff open a lot faster than Squaw the last 2 years--same ownership, different mountain management.
I was told by an employee that there have been layoffs at Squaw this year, which may explain some opening problems in March. Don't know about Alpine.

Alpine closed High T and Beaver/EStelle around 11 today--trying to keep things smooth I assume.

[TurxSki]

I think I spotted you again. Full facers. I don’t know your real name...next time I’ll just saddle up next to you and ask if you’ve got change for a nickel.

Yeah. And tie&dye Chams.
Turx & Cinders.

Did you call out from patrol shack top of
Sky, a while back?
End of day?

[tahoe420]

100% spot on!

[tahoe420]

The best days lately at Squaw/Pine have been non powder days. No crowds, everything is open, snow is soft, you can ski just about every line. I do love the epic pow days and I had plenty this year. I'm just getting too old to deal with the junkshow and crowds. Today was epic, maybe firm down low first thing, but south and east facing were butter first thing. Light towers to C2 as good as it gets, hero gnar butter. Then KT west face all afternoon, all time! Chute-75, Dead Tree, Rock Garden, nose, alternates almost as good as powder. Suns out, nice and empty.

.
100% spot on!

[LightRanger]

Next year we need a separate Tahoe backcountry thread (or maybe a combined Sierra backcountry thread). At this point, I honestly couldn't give much less of a fuck about most resort operations complaints. KSL sucks at managing things; MTN is a soulless ticker on the NYSE that plunged its fangs into skiing's neck. We've known this shit for years.

Thanks for the photos gimpy and TahoeBC. Some cool wind features in some of gimpy's shots.

[BGnight]

Next year we need a separate Tahoe backcountry thread (or maybe a combined Sierra backcountry thread). At this point, I honestly couldn't give much less of a fuck about most resort operations complaints.

+1
It's mostly Bay area peeps complaining about traffic.

Online threads are dying due to instaclaim. I'm as guilty as anyone but I mainly joined strictly for beta because every millennial has to document literally every outdoor activity they partake in. Then on top of some douche it up by being super vague and secretive about conditions and locations don't post the picture then asshole). While I enjoy the pictures, it amazes me how blatantly narcissistic it is. It used to be about taking the effort and making a cool trip report but now it's just "look at me!", "hashtaghashtaghashtaghashtag!"

Like I said, I'm as guilty as any of them, but I'm trying to cut back. I've even had to force myself to leave cameras and gopros at home. I'll save it for the really good stuff. I have one buddy I've been riding/climbing with for 20 years. In all that time I've never seen him so much as take a cell phone photo. We should all strive to be more like him.

Sorry, I'm 3 IPA's in and needed to rant.

[mr. hankey]

+1
Online threads are dying due to instaclaim. I'm as guilty as anyone but I mainly joined strictly for beta because every millennial has to document literally every outdoor activity they partake in. Then on top of some douche it up by being super vague and secretive about conditions and locations don't post the picture then asshole). While I enjoy the pictures, it amazes me how blatantly narcissistic it is. It used to be about taking the effort and making a cool trip report but now it's just "look at me!", "hashtaghashtaghashtaghashtag!"

Like I said, I'm as guilty as any of them, but I'm trying to cut back. I've even had to force myself to leave cameras and gopros at home. I'll save it for the really good stuff. I have one buddy I've been riding/climbing with for 20 years. In all that time I've never seen him so much as take a cell phone photo. We should all strive to be more like him.

Sorry, I'm 3 IPA's in and needed to rant.

I agree with ya, but I do like seeing the photo's too. For some of us that don't live in Tahoe, this site and SAC are all that's left to get up to date beta. And even if someone's posting narcissistically, from that pic I can see the snow/route conditions. And lots of pics like TAHOE BC's recent one with the cool looking haze and sun just makes ya feel like you're there. And the recent TR's from Doc and AK - it's got me so looking forward forward to the East side this year. But I know what ya mean.

Speaking of losers postin' pics. Here's my "posterbation" contribution for today:
Many permutations of heavy snow (cream, porn, heavy slow mush, mush w/zipper crust) on N aspect today. Switching to Southerly aspects tomorrow for sure. Skiied the hanging face with Sherpa1 today. Gimpy, we must have just missed ya at the top. Nice pics!.

Probably the sketchiest conditions I’ve had on the hanger: 8-10 inches of semi-powder on top of the rain layer below. Hand pit and ski cuts seemed to say it was not sliding, and there were 3-4 tracks there from the past, but each time I’d venture skiers left onto the untracked side I’d think about it. The cross over to the chute has a rock in it as well. All of the snow below this was sun/temp affected in some way. Definitely gonna stick to S. side for a bit.

BTW- the original thought was to ski the face that’s on the other side of the chute but we opted for the known vs. the unknown . Has anyone here traversed under the rock face(or over it) and skied that? (Lookers left in this pic. kinda off camber in the middle near the trees, with its own tiny chute exit to the left of the main chute).


There were tracks in Baby Cham. Wouldn’t be surprised if it also has that rain layer since it’s similar elevation to the top of what we skied. We were really glad we didn’t try for that one today after seeing the conditions.

Other pics:




Afterwards we went to scope out Jakes for tomorrow. We were gonna do the lookers left Emerald Chute down to Eagle falls TH, but the bottom looks too burned out so we’ll prolly do the other chutes. Without new snow, a lot of the lower elevation approaches in Tahoe will start burn out. I think this is my last weekend in Tahoe. Gotta get the East side before it's past it's prime, then hit the Volcano's.

[BGnight]

Nice! I want to see some sicko straight run that chute next to the hanging snowfield some day.

As for the eastside, I don't think it's that great right now. Good touring but marginal skiing. Had a buddy in Rock Creek yesterday say everything was either unconsolidated mush on sun exposures or breakable crust on north. Some things are probably decent if you know where to look. Some dudes just did Hulk but no way to tell if it was "good" from the pics. Corn should be here soon at least. We desperately need a colder refresh without ballistic north winds.

[TahoeJ]

Nice pics Mr. Hankey (I chuckle every time I see your username/avatar) - nothing narcissistic about sharing some stoke. A whole lot of projection and above-it-all circle jerking going on around here too, which I find just as annoying as complaints about resort ops (having said that, yeah, Vail and KSL suck, let's not be surprised anymore). But surely a Backcountry thread won't have any complaints about parking! ;-)

Anyway, enjoy what we have over the next week or so, it's gonna suck after it rains up to like 10k (or higher) next Friday.

[jahroy]

The best days lately at Squaw/Pine have been non powder days. No crowds, everything is open, snow is soft, you can ski just about every line. I do love the epic pow days and I had plenty this year. I'm just getting too old to deal with the junkshow and crowds. Today was epic, maybe firm down low first thing, but south and east facing were butter first thing. Light towers to C2 as good as it gets, hero gnar butter. Then KT west face all afternoon, all time! Chute-75, Dead Tree, Rock Garden, nose, alternates almost as good as powder. Suns out, nice and empty.

True that 100%

Squaw was absolutely insane yestetday.

Corn is king.

[Ottime]

I think I spotted you again. Full facers. I don’t know your real name...next time I’ll just saddle up next to you and ask if you’ve got change for a nickel.

I usually just yell “Turx” as loud as I can. Then I hear a British sounding giggle and know I’ve hit gold.

[lepistoir]

If there was a separate backcountry only thread, I wouldn't know where to put this.

The Lucky Fucker (otherwise known as "Luggi Foegger Uphill/Downhill Festival") Is this weekend at Diamond Peak. I would love to see more resorts supporting this kind of event and in the meantime, I'm going to support the ones that do.

Friday, March 30th, 2018

Human Powered Snow Sport Movie Premier & Après Ski Registration Party presented by Patagonia Reno at Diamond Peak's Loft Bar - 4:00pm – 8:00pm
Saturday, March 31st 2018

On Snow Gear Demos presented by Tahoe Mountain Sports - 10:00am – 3:00pm
Guided Interpretive Ski/Snowboard tour presented by IVGID WasteNot - 11:00 am- 12:00pm (meet on the snow behind the Base Lodge by the trail map)
SkiMo Race (Long or Short Course) - 4:30pm
Award Ceremony & Après Ski Party at Diamond Peak Loft Bar with Maggie's Farm Band, presented by Crystal Bay Club Casino – 4:30pm – 7:00pm
Official After Party at Crystal Bay Club, Tainted Love - 9pm
Sunday, April 1st 2018

Easter Egg Hunt - 9:00am
March of the Penguins Children’s Ski Boot Race (Ages 12 and under), presented by Diamond Peak's Child Ski Center - 1:00pm
Family-Friendly Base Area Relay Races - 3:00 - 4:00pm Loft Bar d

[spnce]

+1 for a unified pan-california backcountry thread.

[Redsmurfer]

"A whole lot of projection and above-it-all circle jerking going on around here too, which I find just as annoying as complaints about resort ops (having said that, yeah, Vail and KSL suck, let's not be surprised anymore)."

that there is the pot calling the kettle black.

[TahoeJ]

^^ Fair enough, I got suckered into the conversation about KW's early close but I barely ski there so I don't really care. It was one or two posts. You, on the other hand, need a better font color. ;-)

[Huck Pitueee]

Ya I'm loaded up to do the Rose thing at 3:30. Planning to side country out of Bruces gate with skins. Checking wild card also.

[TurxSki]

If there was a separate backcountry only thread, I wouldn't know where to put this...

I would sorely miss the mix of stuff you get on here now.

It's a shame DP isn't offering any Tix deals to go along with that fest.
Be cool to give it the once over.
($49 buddy-tix at Rose this evening).

[mcski]

Squaw groomers were phenom yesterday. and slot to C2 was perfect spring conditions. Even the parking was better than Jake's

[BGnight]

nothing narcissistic about sharing some stoke.

Pretty much referring to the whole instagram phenomenon. Not here. They are two very different animals.

Fuck! I always forget about Squaw groomers this time of year. Mid week groomer days are some of my favorite days for sure. Getting sunburned on the driving range in shorts and T shirt was o.k. though.

[TahoeJ]

Pretty much referring to the whole instagram phenomenon. Not here. They are two very different animals.

Yeah, I know, I was just replying to Hankey’s comment. I actually appreciate your Instagram posts for what it’s worth. I’m always amazed by those people who physically appear in almost every one of their photos... it must be exhausting asking other people to take pictures of them all the time.