Squaw Snophone and Report--run by lying _ unts

[Jim S]

My children and I are passholders at Squaw. I am extremely mad and disgusted with Squaw's blatant mispresentation on the Snowphone, especially today Sunday February 11th. I work 75 hours a week and my free ski time is extremely valuable to me as it is to probably everbody who loves the sport.

I set the alarm for 6am and dial in to here this: "It's 6am and Squaw has 16" of new snow and at el 6200 feet and el 8200 feet lifts scheduled to run (paraphrase) everything: Emmigrant, Shirley, Siberia, Granite, Solitude, KT."

So I wake the kids up and we decide to not sleep in, drive over 431 directly past Mt Rose at 7:45am giving up first chair and the high-altitude freshies on the East Bowl thinking we'll be able to get some great lines at Squaw. I call Mr and Mrs Corky telling them the great news. They were going to get first chair at Rose too but the false Snowphone report prompts them to head for the place where WE CARE.

We arrive at Squaw and the ONLY lifts loading are Red Dog and Far East. KT and the ENTIRE upper mountain are closed. KT opens about an hour later at 10am. Why? They had only 12-14 patrollers was one phrase I head. Upper mountain remains closed at least until 1pm when we left.

THANK YOU SQUAW BLOWPHONE.

Maybe someday the Squaw snowphone report will have a semblance of truth to it.

[enlosandes]

Dude, you having been posting here and skiing Tahoe for a lot of years, right? Why would anything the fantasy phone says be taken seriously. You should now better!!!

[Jim S]

Shame on me then. I think it was a bit more frustrating this morning because of the rarity of powder days this season. But I like that: Squaw Fantasy Fone.

[jimmy page]

Do they usually only issue one phone report around 6 AM or do they update it throughout the day?

[runethechamp]

After a storm when they say they expect the whole mountain to be open, you can't possibly expect all of the mountain to be open at 9 am? It takes a while to open up shit, especially in sketchy conditions.

[Jim S]

After a storm when they say they expect the whole mountain to be open, you can't possibly expect all of the mountain to be open at 9 am? It takes a while to open up shit, especially in sketchy conditions.

I respect that but "all of the mountain open?" Not even 1/2 nor 1/3 was open. KT didn't load until about 10am and when I left at 1pm the upper mountain lifts were still closed.

[freshies]

i feel your pain. it took until 11:30 or so for Alpine to get Summit spinning, and even Roundhouse had a delayed opening this morning. I was at Alpine at 8:15AM frothing at the mouth, and stood around for hours until i could get some upper mtn goodness.

OHC has a good point, but I also think that Alpine (like Squaw and everywhere else this season) laid a bunch of people off due to no snow and no business, so when we finally got a good storm, they were short handed, and thus it took forever to get things bombed and running safely.

[runethechamp]

I guess I'm used to the conditions at Kitrkwood, where past-lunch openings of the backside are not rare.

[TOL]

Does anyone know if they finally open the top today???
Cause I m planing on going to Squaw this monday......

[avacadotoast]

I understand all points to this...but taking a step back and looking down from 10,000 ft squaw definitely needed to get it's head out of it's ass today. All I know is as I pulled out to McCarran and I asked the wife "Squaw or Rose"...she said, "let's do squaw"...ok right turn it is. 3 hours later I was finally loading KT for some luscious thick mank, 2 hours after I would've been skiing ultra light blower (albeit low angle) at Rose. I fully expected the upper mountain to not open until 12 or 1..but I'm fairly certain it never opened...and to not even have KT going until 10..come on. If I had any inkling that I would be waiting around to ONLY ski elev. 6200 goo, I never would've considered the international resort. If Squaw is always like that...well then it sucks!! The smiles on all the bastards faces at Rose when we showed up at 1:00 said it all. Being shortstaffed is no excuse when you charge what squaw charges...and that's the fact.

Since I try to never wallow in self-pity, I did have a good time today. I hooked up with Huckwheat, who let me tag along with his crew for 2 runs on Far East (cause Red Dog had a HUGE line)...and then I went back and snuck back into the spot the wife was holding in the KT line...got about 25th chair when KT opened and rode up with Cliff Huckstable (the semi-famous one w/ duckfooted pontoons). Hightailed back to Rose and skied with a nice big posse of friends on some great tracked out snow. I got to ski with the famous Mr Jim S at both places...all-in-all we had a great day jetsetting around tahoe regardless

note to self: Rose on the powder day...Squaw the next day.

[huck4bucks]

note to self: Rose on the powder day...Squaw the next day.

Not so fast there Corky. Mt. Rose (although not an international resort like Squaw Valley, Host of the 1892 Winter Olympics) has its faults too. The Northwest 6er was on wind hold for 15 minutes this morning. C'mon people. I mean, what is my $350 going towards, anyway? Luckily I had second chair, so my entire day wasn't ruined.

[Jim S]

I got to ski with the famous Mr Jim S at both places...all-in-all we had a great day jetsetting around tahoe regardless

Word. We took a lift up KT and headed east of Oly but lost each other in the fog. Later, skiing with Corky at Rose at 2:30pm and flying across some nice chalky bowls was just what I needed to ski out my frustration and get the adrenalin cooking. Thanks, Corky.

[kb1dqh]

Nice work guys. Stoked to see the mountains start to look like they should.

[MTT]

Hey Squaw is a big famous resort where all the beutifull people go. I am sure hanging out in the KT line was much more rewarding than 5 min laps on the East side @ The Rose.

I am hang @ Rose, and only Rose on pow pow days. But I'm a wuss and can't handle the rough stuff at Squaw and K-Wood.

[karma]

Upper mountain never opened (unless you consider Gold Coast upper mountain)... In all seriousness, PLEASE visit a Tell Alex box. Squaw needs to know that they are disapointing their guests, I can tell you that they have plenty of employees available, there just not working...

[Jim S]

After a storm when they say they expect the whole mountain to be open, you can't possibly expect all of the mountain to be open at 9 am? It takes a while to open up shit, especially in sketchy conditions.

After a night of sleep the answer is "no of course not". But the Squaw Fantasy, er Snowphone shoud reflect that and not say that every single lift is open.

Upper mountain never opened (unless you consider Gold Coast upper mountain)... In all seriousness, PLEASE visit a Tell Alex box. Squaw needs to know that they are disapointing their guests, I can tell you that they have plenty of employees available, there just not working...

Karma,

I did email Squaw CONTACT US a letter that was devoid of profanity. Wait, um.... is "cocksucker" profane?

Seriously, the letter was respectable. And to clafiy: I'm not bashing Squaw but only the morning report that lured skiers to the mountain with a blatant lie. I love Squaw for many reasons.

[Steven S. Dallas]

PLEASE visit a Tell Alex box.

Alex should really get off his ass and do something about the situation. What's wrong with that guy, anyway?

[GapersGoHome]

Alex should really get off his ass and do something about the situation. What's wrong with that guy, anyway?

Umm, I'm gonna take this as sarcasm....

But to everyone else who doesn't get this, he's DEAD.

Tell Alex. Please. You know he never read a single one. Old blowhard.

Oh, and Huck4Bucks, you shoulda been on the slide side. She opened at 8:30 with only about 100 people lapping it, before northwest got their wind shit figured out at 9:15. I say the extra 2 minutes (from tahoe) is worth it on a powder day. Next time... I thought I saw you up there, by the way... heading up this week at all?

[Huckwheat]

Well as another person (ticket buyer in my case) who was at Squaw I will chime in.....and Jim and Corky are definately justified in their comments!!

My day was about like Jim/Corky's. We skied 4 quick Far East laps first (exciting), then to KT when it opened, and then multiple Funitel laps (trying to keep our eyes on the upper mtn), and then spent a good deal of the afternoon (post about 1) on Gold Coast (which despite low angle was a pretty fun time......no one was there and it was all wind buff). Made the most of heavy snow and not much open.

Two things to Squaw's credit. I bought a ticket, @ 8:30, and they gave out $17 vouchers (like an admission that it was going to suck, and they werent going to open anything)....I have rarely seen them do this. Second the winds really were ripping up to, until the very end of the day, so if that was the excuse, maybe it was valid.


However.........sounds like Karma has some inside scoop too, but I happen to know Squaw laid off a bunch of patrollers this year. So I have to believe that has to do with how fast, and what got opened. There were definately options that Squaw could have done (Oly Lady, C2), which regularly run in high winds. Just some effort to get people skiing some higher up runs. Really Shirley and Solitude could have gone too. If money is the problem I am hoping Squaw learns that relying on lift ticket sales might not be the answer, and like almost every other resort in the country they should sell a discount pass (get the money early.....every other resort cannot really be wrong).

Despite not being the best ski day.....this storm was PERFECT!!!! Such plaster, the season is back on track. Very curious what Squaw does for the comp.....in theory they could even open Silverado or something. Could be sick.

[Steven S. Dallas]

Umm, I'm gonna take this as sarcasm....

But to everyone else who doesn't get this, he's DEAD.

You know who's no fun at all? You.

[Sinecure]

Next year save yourself some aggravation and money by buying passes at Alpine. See you then?

[jdl]

Not sure what Squaw was thinking, but 14 patrollers for the whole place, WTF?-- and considering this is really the first decent strom we have seen this season, I would imagine some of those 14 were new guys learning the routine.

[TJ.Brk]

My children and I are passholders at Squaw. I am extremely mad and disgusted with Squaw's blatant mispresentation on the Snowphone, especially today Sunday February 11th. I work 75 hours a week and my free ski time is extremely valuable to me as it is to probably everbody who loves the sport.

I set the alarm for 6am and dial in to here this: "It's 6am and Squaw has 16" of new snow and at el 6200 feet and el 8200 feet lifts scheduled to run (paraphrase) everything: Emmigrant, Shirley, Siberia, Granite, Solitude, KT."

So I wake the kids up and we decide to not sleep in, drive over 431 directly past Mt Rose at 7:45am giving up first chair and the high-altitude freshies on the East Bowl thinking we'll be able to get some great lines at Squaw. I call Mr and Mrs Corky telling them the great news. They were going to get first chair at Rose too but the false Snowphone report prompts them to head for the place where WE CARE.

We arrive at Squaw and the ONLY lifts loading are Red Dog and Far East. KT and the ENTIRE upper mountain are closed. KT opens about an hour later at 10am. Why? They had only 12-14 patrollers was one phrase I head. Upper mountain remains closed at least until 1pm when we left.

THANK YOU SQUAW BLOWPHONE.

Maybe someday the Squaw snowphone report will have a semblance of truth to it.

Man Jim I feel your pain buddy. ITW/Fortress plays that game with us. It's all done to get people in the gate after they get there knowing they will not turn around and drive back home. They pull that shit here at Tremblant all the time. They reported 2" of snow the other day and the skis were clear with -34C over nite. To fucking cold to snow.

[Homewood Warrior]

My rule of thumb is the larger and more modern the resort, the less honest the snow phone. Never trust Squaw to open the upper mtn unless the wind report is gusts of under 20mph. I skied at Alpine and once the Summit Six opened at 10:30 (as the 8:15 snow phone message predicted), we were rocking left and right on those chairs at the very top.

Did anyone else see the mangled Scott chair yesterday? (the effing cable and chairs were lying in the snow between the bullwheel at the bottom and the first tower. Anyone know if that happened on saturday night during the storm? the site says the scott chair will be turning on wednesday, but thats some serious maintenance.

[SquawMan]

today more than made up for the entire weekend's debacle

chalky goodness everywhere up top (in complete contrast to the mank-fest of the lower mountain on Sunday)

for those lucky enough to be sking tomorrow, the conditions will be just as nice, so go get some