The Official 19/20 Tahoe Ski Snowboard Thread. Plus bonus Bootfitting Recs!

[Mr. Toad]

Bummer, it was nice having skiing all to myself.






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[meter-man]

I was initially pretty amped up to get down there Saturday for a decent weather window, but Mono County making it pretty clear they don't want visitors https://coronavirus.monocounty.ca.gov/pages/reopening. The stage 2 requirements with their low population mean that just a couple cases could royally delay their business opening and I'm sure many of their businesses are hurting just as bad as the truckee tahoe ones that are just being able to open now.

Also FWIW don't get this virus, it sucks. I had a super mild case, but am still dealing with persistent lung pain 8 weeks out now. Down from 6 big tours a week to 2 very casual outings. I'm lucky as a lot of people had it way worse, but it's still scary to hear your doctor say, "it will probably clear up in a few more months, but maybe not. There is a lot we don't know about this virus."

Damn dude wow - good luck with recovery.

[TahoeBC]

Hell yea Mr Toad, done so many bike to ski missions this year that I’ve lost track on how many.

Even got Gimpy out last week on his classic rock hopper burner bike


One tire is fatter than the one



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[frorider]

Size matters.

[sruffian]

Right on toad I too would be bummed if my motorized access to a closed road were suddenly opened to motorized vehicles


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[TahoeBC]

In California Class 2 e-bikes are legal on any paved surface that a regular bike is allowed to operate.

[Mr. Toad]

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[emcee]

^ that looks live

Can we talk about Kirkwood's "no uphill" policy signs still?

The Eldorado USFS had a "Developed Recreation Areas Closed" special Forest Order in effect that expired on 5/15 and was not renewed. I assumed that Kirkwood was exercising their 'no uphill' closure under that FO policy. That order expired 2 days ago but Kirkwood has kept the signs up at the entrance.

At this point, does Kirkwood have the right to enforce no uphill access? I am almost positive that their USFS special use permit has expired for the season, which means their permitted area returns to governance by the USFS, which currently has no posted closures. I know there are special carve outs for "interfering with summer [or closing] operations", but that does not apply to the entire permit area, just near lifts, on cat tracks, access roads, etc. I"m just trying to get to Melissa Coray without falling in a river.

Sno-Park parking areas are still technically closed, but I believe that is set by Cal Trans.

[Paul Blart]

Can’t say anything for certain but I would have to imagine there are one of three reasons the signs are still up. In order from least likely to most likely.

1.) There is still some reason that their use permit is valid and hasn’t expired whether that be some sort of special extension or god knows what other legal loophole.

2.) They are intentionally leaving the signs up to keep people away.

3.) They have limited personnel with permission to access the resort and those that do have permission are taking on many different roles so a lot of small duties are being overlooked right now.

[TahoeBC]

It was my understanding that it was alpine county that requested kirkwood to shut down uphill traffic. I may not have the timing exact but kirkwood shut down about a week before the forest service shutdown heavenly access.

[~mikey b]

yes

[dookeyXXX]

As of Saturday 5/16/20 The Sno-Park at the PCT staging area near Boreal still has metal police barricades blocking the entrance.
Likewise, Sugar Bowl still has the entrance to Judah blocked, but they didn't have a security guard on duty when I drove by mid-morning.
It seemed to me that in April especially, all of the Truckee area hills were prohibiting and/or discouraging uphill traffic.
At that time both Soda Springs and T/D had driven cats all over thair respective hills, leaving deep, erratic tracks and making their runs effectively unskiable.

Oh, and I just woke up to at least 3/4 of an inch of fresh on the deck and it is still coming down in a moderately thick and steady wave.

[Ottime]

I would have thought you’d get more than an inch. We had over 9/10” rain here since Sunday morning.

[teledad]

A lot of moisture but too warm (@7000') - it rained hard all day yesterday. We got about 4" today but it looks like it's flipping back to rain now (3PM).

[dookeyXXX]

I would have thought you’d get more than an inch. We had over 9/10” rain here since Sunday morning.

That 3/4 of an inch was at 7am. Probably ended up between 3 and 4 inches give or take, by noon. Pretty much all melted off the decks and roads now, at least here at 6500...

Heard there was chain control over Donner this morning, too.


Somebody braved the slush up on Sunrise as I saw tandem tracks on the main face during an afternoon driveby.

[teledad]

It dried up enough to get out with the pup (I wasn't the one in Sunrise though, this is a different zone):

[Wobby]

Feels like winter out there. Snow is skiing like winter too!

[powdork]

Winter for sure



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[tahoe420]

Rumors been spreading on the west shore about Homewood taking a season off.
No updates and no season pass sales have many wondering. Looks like they were
working on or removing the Happy Platter on the front. With the Ellis chair down
and both public platters down Homey was hurting pretty bad this season. They
have no value to any mega pass program as they have zero parking. Keep HW spinning!

[powdork]

That would blow

[Blaster]

The Tahoe Backcountry Alliance needs you help to establish legal parking for Lake Run off of Donner Peak in the West End Beach neighborhood. Parking there has become more limited/non existent in the past few years, but this solution could give bc users a great permanent option.

Please consider submitting a public comment in favor of this project. The full details are here https://drive.google.com/file/d/1GwB...ew?usp=sharing.

But the gist of it is: submit a comment via email to Laura Dabe at Ldabe@townoftruckee.com by Friday May 22. Below is a sample letter.

Dear Laura,
As a member of the Tahoe backcountry ski community, I write to express my support for the Tahoe
Backcountry Alliance (TBA) and their proposed project to create a designated parking area and trailhead
for the Donner Lake Run.
The leadership of the TBA and Truckee Donner Land Trust (TDLT) address parking, safety, conflict
resolution, and accessibility issues that grow with urgency as backcountry skiing numbers grow in our
community. The Lake Run Proposal helps to mitigate the following existing pressures on the Donner Lake
Woods neighborhood:
-Existing, illegal parking is unsustainable. The proposed plan will direct parking into one, legal
area, plowed and maintained by the TBA and TDLT, illegal parking.
-Trailheads provide a means to channel user behavior, reduce litter, and concentrate traffic to and
from one point. Current backcountry traffic in the Lake Run vicinity is high and unsustainable with
dispersed skier traffic, often on private land. By creating one access point for legal, public
recreation, users will begin and end their trips at the new trailhead, reducing unintentional
trespassing and concentrating impacts onto the designated space. Additionally, mapped signage
will help educate users about property boundaries and neighborhood regulations.
-An established trailhead provides a safe location to teach avalanche safety and avoidance, thus
protecting the community with a more safety conscious user base. Creating one access point also
discourages users from more dispersed travel through overhead areas of avalanche terrain near
the neighborhood.
-The current Lake Run Proposal does not propose any disturbance or building over sensitive
wetlands or meadows.
Please support the Lake Run Proposal as a responsible, community-led effort to address current winter
access issues for the safety and betterment of both the neighborhood and winter recreation community.
The current explosion in backcountry skiing popularity, along with the shuttle accessibility of this run make
action like the TBA proposal increasingly urgent to address and mitigate potential future conflicts.

Thank you for your consideration,

NAME

[CaliKid]

Rumors been spreading on the west shore about Homewood taking a season off.

Keep HW spinning!

That would really suck. IIRC they did that at least once in the early 90's. I remember sledding on Madden face as a kid.


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[mmmm...pow!]

Homiewood Backcountry Ski Area? $10 parking, put a sign up at the bottom of Lake Run directing people to Homewood, 2 birds stoned at once.

[TahoeJ]

Homiewood Backcountry Ski Area? $10 parking, put a sign up at the bottom of Lake Run directing people to Homewood, 2 birds stoned at once.

You would think they might at least keep the cat operation going, as they could run that pretty simply and use the entire resort and not just the adjacent terrain.

[lepistoir]

Dear Laura,
As a member of the Tahoe backcountry ski community and the Tahoe Backcountry Alliance (TBA), I am writing to express my support for the TBA and their proposed project to create a designated parking area and trailhead for the Donner Lake Run.
One of the great things about North Tahoe is the way we work together to create access to outdoor experiences that are sustainable, respectful, and rejuvenating. We are a community that strives to balance the need for preservation of (and access to) public lands with the quiet and more rural feel that draws so many people here. This proposal meets this challenge through first creating a corridor to help keep use to appropriate areas, as well as educating users to responsible enjoyment of the shared resource. Secondly, creating a properly-constructed and legal parking area at the trailhead reduces neighborhood conflict and preserves the ecosystem that illegal parking harms.
The TBA Lake Run Proposal properly addresses the urgent issues of illegal and unsustainable use and is an example of solutions that come from our community to address the conflict within our community that has reached a fever pitch. I am requesting urgent support for the Proposal to resolve this situation before it gets any worse.