TAHOE 22/23 -THE YEAR OF THE (t)RAM

[skier666]

Yesterday was all about the wind buff/new snow on the northerly aspects in Silverado. Lapped Hanging Gardens with almost nobody else...no moguls, steep and some fresh snow in sunny skies.

A freeride comp was in Cornice Bowl zone, so that unfortunately took that off the table but found great snow in Red Dog steeps and in Three Trees of Oly Lady. Broken Arrow was open but everything in the sun was turning springlike...I'm not ready for corn as there's still winter turns around.

[Dark Energy]

Days are getting longer.
N. facing trees ~100 feet below ridgelines are still holding soft snow.
Ott - FOMO is following your S.E. Asia TR.

[lepistoir]

https://amp.theguardian.com/us-news/...housing-crisis

Not sure I'm reading news. Seems more like a history book.

[~mikey b]

it’s probably news to a lot of Guardian readers

[TahoeBC]

Woke up early to beat the heat yesterday, intended to ski pow on north then go for corn on south but north was to dam good so got a 2nd lap on north, really good. But 47 degrees at 7400 at 1:00 yesterday driving home.







Edit: I really hate that photo’s turn up side down when uploading with my phone for some Radom unknown reason

[Sutter]

Edit: I really hate that photo’s turn up side down when uploading with my phone for some Radom unknown reason

If you crop them just the tiniest bit before posting, they won't go all wonky.

I had the same problem and looked it up in the photo/video forum and found my answer there.

[TahoeBC]

Well that would explain the last two pics showing right side up, thanks

[jackstraw]

That looks great!

I'm still high from last week at that hill. That snow skied deeper with wet below. The staggered lift openings were just awesome...for me. Others not so much I'm sure [emoji16]

My kid took this pic of his brother

[markathome]

Hey Ski Fam - LOL - it's been a minute since I've been on this dusty old forum - gotta say, not much has changed. Still good banter and a few good belly laughs.

Anywho,,, me and the missus (and the dog) are rolling our way down to you from Squamish... Hope to be touring Sunday Feb 19th through to Feb 24th. We've got a good friend here in Squamish who was a Truckee local (shout out Mikki!) and she's given us some beta - but thought I'd mine the hive mind here and see if anyone has any recommendations for a week of bc touring in your backyards.

Ideal situation is: Be able to park the truck/camper at an area and ski the same zone for a couple of days and then head off and explore zone number two for a couple of days - before heading home. If weather is on our side we have six days to ski.

Any ideas?

We have WB Epic passes so we can hit up Kirkwood / Heavenly and Northstar slack or backcountry...

We're fit (and old) and have been touring all over BC's backcountry for 20 yrs plus - we're keen, capable and like to ski pow. BC's snowpack is wack and if the gods smile on us next week we hope to either ski snorkel pow or tour around in the sunshine... (in case you didn't know it rains like a mofo in Squamish).

Hope to meet you on the skin track - and the camper is basically a 48 square foot beer fridge/dog bed - beers on us if we meet up!

Cheers, Mark From Squamish!

[powdork]

^Get yourself a sno park permit. You can buy them online and i think you can print a temporary one or here is a list of vendors. The Blackwood Canyon sno park is about the only legal place (within the Tahoe Basin watershed) to spend the night in the camper and probably about as close to Jakes, Rubicon, Hidden, Emerald Bay as you can get.
There are other places to park however (but grocery store lots suck for dogs) and once you leave the basin (i.e. Truckee) different rules apply. I'm not sure about camping at the Donner Summit Sno Park. The best sno parks are south of Tahoe at Blue Lakes Rd. and Carson Pass (camping only in the Meiss Meadows lot). The sno park at Bassetts gives you access to the Sierra Buttes. Permits are $40 and sno parks generally come with restrooms although clearing the restrooms isn't always a priority. They are also valid for sno parks in Oregon and Idaho (you could also buy one of theirs as you drive down and it's valid here)
sno park map for the area
http://ohv.parks.ca.gov/pages/1233/f...WebVersion.pdf

When arriving keep in mind gas is currently $5.50ish+ on the north shore/truckee, $4.50ish in south lake (I never understood that difference), and $.50-.70 cheaper than that in Reno/Carson

[Ottime]

What powdork said as far as sleeping goes. Carson Pass for a few days. Both sides of the pass has good offerings. Tour out of the backside of KW for a day or two. Then head north through the basin for a few days.

[lepistoir]

Just write your sno park pass number on a piece of paper.

[powdork]

Kirkwood was good yesterday. Monte's was groomed off the top which was nice. Anything 'west' facing held about 3" of pow. Vista was nice and only three tracks down it at the end of the day



For those with young kids there is light at the end of the tunnel. My oldest got me the ticket


edited-I said east facing first time around

[markathome]

Thanks Powdork! Some great beta there - very much appreciated! Getting stoked to be your neck of the woods - looks like there might be some good pulses are coming through next week. I've heard tons about KW as a quality ski resort but not so much about Heavenly or Northstar... good slack country to be had?

And... we're pretty jaded by the whole WB Vail experience and are the types to be in a lift life hella early on a pow day (7:00 am or earlier for an 8:15 lift opening).

What's the weekday crowds like at KW on a pow day? Mayhem? WB is utter chaos.


And thanks for the gas beta - we're in a second gen Tundra loaded with 1000lbs of beer and dog bed... it's thirsty set up.

[powdork]

KW can be not too bad on a Saturday as most local passes are blocked. Parking is more of an issue. It can fill up by 9ish and then you have a 40 mile drive back (more likely a tour at one of the many destinations in between). Heavenly has epic sidecountry if conditions are right. The stuff on the front side (Firebreak, etc) is low hanging fruit that gets hammered early. The backside (Minden Mile, Porcupine Ridge) takes effort but gets you 5k vert runs (personal shuttle or hitching required). The backside does have a lot of complex avy terrain.

[Powcruzer]

What's the 'Minden Mile'? Is it in the guidebook yet?

[powdork]

If the guidebook is Google then most definitely. I like this 3rd result (for 'Heavenly sidecountry')
https://caltopo.com/m/3823

[Eastside]

Since I’m Epically blacked out, I was thinking about farting around Red Lake Peak, Crater Lake, Stevens peak this Sunday and getting some of that epic powder/sastrugi/breakable death or whatever is up there right now.

[TahoeBC]

Still good pow in protected zones

Today


Yesterday

[Powcruzer]

That's better protection than Trojan. Nice pic.

[~mikey b]

from Tahoe Backcountry Alliance

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Long Post Alert: Recently, a lot of backcountry users have been getting ticketed at High Meadow (on the south shore) on days that most of us would not consider during "snow removal conditions". That's obviously a big concern as it significantly limits access to public lands from one of the few spots in the County that provides public land access in the Winter...

We reached out to EDC Supervisor Laine's Office to assist with setting up a meeting with the DOT and the Sheriffs Dept, along with a few other members of the Community. Supervisor Laine was able to get that together quickly and we had our first meeting earlier today. We're thankful that everyone took the time to meet and is open to this discussion.

To be blunt, things aren't magically resolved. This is something that will take more work from all parties. The best take-away? There's more momentum now for TBA's long-term plan of developing a year-round lot beyond the current closure and acknowledgement that the best way to reduce conflicts in neighborhoods that border on public lands is to move parking beyond the residences.

In the interim? We believe the Sheriff's Department will use a bit more discretion and we'll hopefully see less blanket ticketing. Backcountry users have to play a role in this as well. As is always the case, we can't park in a way that inhibits emergency vehicles from getting by. We can't block driveways. And, we have to be prepared to leave and go to our "Plan B" for the day if we arrive and parking is full. And, do your best to carpool. At trailheads with limited parking in particular, please don't have your crew show up in separate vehicles.

One more thing we can do: Putting your phone number and approximate departure time on a sheet of paper plainly visible on your dashboard may be helpful and was a suggestion from the Sheriff's Department.

Regarding what snow removal conditions means... We'd love to get more clarity on it, but the reality is, the County does ongoing work widening streets well after storms. We're hoping we'll have better communication as to when they'll be in certain areas and will relay that when we can. Speaking of, there are no snow removal plans for that area this weekend. That said, we can't guarantee there will be no ticketing. We're not in position to do that. But, this is the info we have.

If you have been ticketed, so long as you weren't blocking a driveway or anything like that, we encourage you to contest it. There's a decent chance you'll win. And, going forward, if you don't already do so, take a photo of your parked vehicle before you leave. You'll have something to help back your case up if you feel did park correctly.

The backcountry community has been great in keeping us in the loop as to what's happening there and in other zones. Thank you for that. Please keep doing so!


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[skier666]

Love that the weather models were showing snow in SF yesterday...

That is all, have a good night.

[old goat]

Front page article in the Bee this morning telling readers "Tahoe's 'perfect' getaway weekend has arrived". Pure advertising masquerading as news. To be fair there is a single sentence that says "it will be busy".
What fucking idiots.

[jackstraw]

Front page article in the Bee this morning telling readers "Tahoe's 'perfect' getaway weekend has arrived". Pure advertising masquerading as news. To be fair there is a single sentence that says "it will be busy".
What fucking idiots.

When's the WC? That might be bit of a shitshow, eh?

Old Goat, we're you around for Miracle March?

[old goat]

I've been around for several.