OFFICIAL TAHOE 18/19 STOKE, CONDITIONS, WEATHER THREAD

[hercule33]

A few days before these incidents, I re-read the reports from the fatal avalanche at SME in Canada back in 2003. It seems that guides did their due diligence to check that the snow was “stable” and decided to have two groups climb up an avalanche slope. The worst case scenario happened when the top group triggered a small avalanche that then triggered a bigger avalanche that killed 7 people. It was a sober reminder to use proper avalanche hygiene even in “stable” conditions on the slope you are going to ski.

I always struggle with danger ratings. I check the weather forecasts (wind, temps, new snowfall), avalanche problems and recent observations and mainly use those for selecting terrain to ski. But I would lie if I didn’t say that the overall avalanche rating doesn’t effect my decision making at all. It seems like I am willing to take on a bit more risk, especially when the danger rating is low even though I know that avalanches are still possible with a low rating.

[bodywhomper]

that spot on echo is notorious. i often switch over in last clump of trees if not feeling it. they were gunning for the ne bowl which has a drop in as loaded as it gets with more consequence. blessing in disguise?

I thought it might have been a blessing, too.

[MashedPotatoes]

wow KW skied great today. bluebird, no wind, 4-6 inches of fluff. great day to be out with my groms. couldn't get into T-saddle because of the comp tho.

However, I learned a lesson the hard way. NEVER use your teeth to pull your glove liners off! The liner slipped between my teeth I chomped down and fuggin broke my top front tooth off! This happened in cave rock, there must be some weird juju in that place. I'm sporting a nice hockey player/country bumpkin look until I get it fixed LOL

[jorion]

I was in the mood to explore today and hadn’t ever noticed the line gimpy posted the other day, so I went and found it.

Sweet line but the snow was hilariously bad today. There was enough nice sheltered pow on the way up that I thought it might be fun up high. Nope! Total survival skiing the whole way. Serves me right for being a copycat, I guess. But I got to see a new place with no other people though, so I’m calling it a win.

[TheK12]

Squaw was pretty awesome today. Headwall was unbelievable. Skied way better than the 1” overnight they reported.

Light towers looked like a bowl with tons of people hitting it. Coolest thing I saw was a 10yr old straightlining a chute in horse trails area and screaming “yeahhhhhh!!!!!” On the exit as the rest of his freeskier buddies cheered him on. Very cool!

Alpine was amazing yesterday as well.. Pic of tracks off High T

[powdork]

looks crowded. and what's the guy doing behind the tree? he looks like he's facing the wrong way to pee. is he smoking the marijuanas? and did the kid in the front just get a whiff?

[Ottime]

I dunno. Some people like to piss up hill. If you aim right at the tree, other people might not see your marking.

Oh Mashed. That sounds like it would fucking hurt. Sounds like I went home too early as well. Oh well. And BTW, unless they changed the venue from yesterday, you could ski from 2 Man Chute and anywhere right of that.

[skier666]

West Shore - saw the pic and the crown is right at that unnerving wind loaded rollover. Yikes!

Squaw delivered this past weekend. A buddy and I set the Reverse Traverse on Saturday morning and it was creamy high speed goodness! Spent the morning on Reverse Traverse to Light Towers down CII bowl and repeat. Then headed over to KT for more high speed cream windblown fun on West Face. Tons of variations down Big Balls now...crazy!

Sunday more of the same...but now with Headwall running...laps down the face and more in Light Towers and hitting things like The Gate, spine near Adrenaline, etc. Rinse and repeat. Did some Fingers laps to cut out at the last minute skiers left above Main Air, as it got really firm as people side slipped down areas. Definitely found some hard layers on the lower mountain steeps and in Light Towers, so be careful as it can take you by surprise.

Was hoping for Silverado but Tower 15 was tweaked due to the weight of the snowpack. Today they announced it should open soon. Pics are crazy of the amount of snow they had to dig around the tower. Weather was sun, dumping, sun, flat light, dumping, sun...all weekend.

[DJSapp]

Sierra was awesome shin to knee deep in the trees all day Sunday. Started out light and nice, but the sun hit some areas around 2 and it got a bit heavier. Seemed like everyone was more interested in the park and race course, while Telenater (he does still exist) and I lapped up trees. We saw a total of 7 people in the trees all day.



But Sierra sucks and is for gaper families only. Don't go here.

[Ottime]

Never do. When my sister and her friends were visiting Tahoe about a decade ago during a huge cold cycle (for back then) I took them to SAT and it was fucking horrible. No lines at all, so it was right into the lift with no rest. Storm and winds were blowing but that had all the lifts open, so you were hit by the wind pretty hard at the top. Visibility was shit, except in the trees where it was so calm the snow settled pretty light, so you could barely feel the bottom any where. And even though we kept lapping the same zones were could barely see our tracks from the previous runs due to all the fresh light snow falling. Fuck that. Never again. Place blows.

[hercule33]

Northstar got more snow this year than the crowded and intermediate-focused Sierra at Tahoe. Plus Northstar is bigger, has more extreme black terrain (backside) and for those that are truly insane there is Lookout Mountain. Why would you ski Sierra?

[NorCalNomad]

Never do. When my sister and her friends were visiting Tahoe about a decade ago during a huge cold cycle (for back then) I took them to SAT and it was fucking horrible. No lines at all, so it was right into the lift with no rest. Storm and winds were blowing but that had all the lifts open, so you were hit by the wind pretty hard at the top. Visibility was shit, except in the trees where it was so calm the snow settled pretty light, so you could barely feel the bottom any where. And even though we kept lapping the same zones were could barely see our tracks from the previous runs due to all the fresh light snow falling. Fuck that. Never again. Place blows.

Can confirm. As long as it hasn't been ski week or xmas SaT definitely sucks.

[DJSapp]

Northstar got more snow this year than the crowded and intermediate-focused Sierra at Tahoe. Plus Northstar is bigger, has more extreme black terrain (backside) and for those that are truly insane there is Lookout Mountain. Why would you ski Sierra?

I heard N* got 21" during last week's storm while squaw only got 4". AMAZING MICROCLIMATE AND TOTALLY NOT MADE UP NUMBERS

[gimpy]

Ralkingpole




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[dookeyXXX]

Northstar got more snow this year than the crowded and intermediate-focused Sierra at Tahoe. Plus Northstar is bigger, has more extreme black terrain (backside) and for those that are truly insane there is Lookout Mountain. Why would you ski Sierra?

Don't forget those $9 Blue Moons you enjoyed drinking last season at the Ritz...and the ski valets.

[rod9301]

Gimpy, i saw your tracks this morning.
Camped below for two days.
Upper ridge looked sketchy where it was steep, so we skied lower stuff.

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[lepistoir]

Gimpy. Absolute dominance this year. Glad to see you back in excellent form.

[hercule33]

Don't forget those $9 Blue Moons you enjoyed drinking last season at the Ritz...and the ski valets.

Ah yes, that was to celebrate skiing the gnarly backside. Unfortunately this year I didn’t make it to Northstar, however, I brought my own beers to Heavenly because I got tired of paying over $30 for 2 cans of Guinness at a crummy lodge with no ski valet. I miss the “affordable beers” being brought to me at the Ritz while I warm up on comfy sofa by the fireplace while others track out the deepest snowpack in Tahoe. Alas, this year I am slumming it in the backcountry...

[gnarbro365]

It was good today.

[Wobby]

It was good today.

Nice work, that looks fantastic! Is that halls?

[2_1_3]

I took the snowboard out today for a change, dEm lunchTrayz R fun!

[TahoeBC]

Two of my favorite tours by Gimpy and Gnar, way to go boys

[powdork]

Northstar got more snow this year than the crowded and intermediate-focused Sierra at Tahoe. Plus Northstar is bigger, has more extreme black terrain (backside) and for those that are truly insane there is Lookout Mountain. Why would you ski Sierra?

because it's not owned by fucking vail. lookout mountain. truly insane? really??

[DJSapp]

because it's not owned by fucking vail. lookout mountain. truly insane? really??

Calibration... how does it work?

[Crow]

A few days late but the Silver Peak trees were mint on Saturday