22 Blue - Looking ahead to the New (aka Fuck Summer (aka Tahoe Thread))

[45hill]

There is nothing like a fresh sheet of black ice. For me it's the same feeling as being the first one down the hill on a powder day, except it lasts all day. The hiking in Monday and seeing that its open water except in the shade way in the back corner. Going back on Wednesday and finding it all frozen over but only a half inch. Knowing that you should gain a half inch a night you get ready to go on Sunday. It's pretty damn magical. I am on my 27th winter in Mammoth and have bot been on rhe hill in probably 5 years. I have hiked and skated a lot of lakes though. It's even gotten to the point where we go and skate with our sticks but don't even play hockey.

The pictures are ridiculous too. The problem is everyone wants to know where. Conditions change so quick that it is not safe to say. It can be great one day and broken up rhe next. We put in a lot of miles and time. I can't tell you how many times we have been skunked. Those pictures though. Oooooh weee.

[Taldor]

There are a lot of kids around. Spring break already? [emoji19]

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Yesterday was some kind of staff training day for Washoe County Schools, all the kids were out. As any good parent would do with a beautiful mid-winter mid-week day and no school, I also took the kids skiing.

[~mikey b]

all over Turx’s lawn

[skier666]

Here's some video from Saturday at Alpine...

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CZvyU..._web_copy_link

Pleasantly surprised to find some decent turns.

[MTT]

Here's some video from Saturday at Alpine...

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CZvyU..._web_copy_link

Pleasantly surprised to find some decent turns.

Not bad. The steeep stuff that second line is where those guys got killed some years ago. When there was fresh snow

[skier666]

Pete's Peril?

[TahoeJ]

Summit at Alpine was on “wind hold” again today. Just call it what it is: lack of staff hold.

On the upside, considering it hasn’t snowed in like 6 weeks the skiing is actually really fun right now. If it’s not going to snow it might as well be nice and sunny. Low sun angles keep it from getting sticky or sloppy other than true south facing slopes (I’m not sure how long Sherwood has left at this rate).

[lepistoir]

Art Haus added a second night for the Backcountry Film Festival.

[powdork]

Summit at Alpine was on “wind hold” again today. Just call it what it is: lack of staff hold.

they were forecasting 60-80 out of the east today and kirkwood had sustained 60 on the ridge with gust to the mid eighties. i don't know about summit but chair 6 at the wood can run with faster speeds than that, but mostly when they're out of the west

[TahoeJ]

Yeah I mean it was very obviously not a wind hold. There wasn’t any snow blowing off the ridges up there and from the top of Sherwood I traversed over to South Bowl and it was mellow. Whatever, not a big deal but a little annoying. Just close roundhouse and put that staff on Summit.

[davjr96]

Yeah I mean it was very obviously not a wind hold. There wasn’t any snow blowing off the ridges up there and from the top of Sherwood I traversed over to South Bowl and it was mellow. Whatever, not a big deal but a little annoying. Just close roundhouse and put that staff on Summit.

https://palisadestahoe.westernweathergroup.com/




No idea what they can run in and wasn't there but that does seem highish.

[TahoeJ]

They had it closed yesterday too when squaw had GC and Sibo spinning. It was windy at the very top of those lifts but pretty mellow by Tahoe standards. Again, whatever.

[old goat]

I was at Oly yesterday and while the east wind wasn't horrible the stuff that was hitting me in the face at the top was downright painful. Something about the way the snow/rain/cold/grooming/skier scraped cycle has created particularly sharp little ice pellets (I'm guessing--I don't look at snow crystals with a magnifying glass, unlike some people around here.) OTOH it has made for some powder like conditions on steeper north facing in places. The oddest snow conditions I can remember.

At Royal Gorge noonish the snow was slushy on the surface but still scary fast (for me, trying to relearn XC after 40 years.) Another odd condition,

[TahoeBC]

Gimpy on the corn train today

[~mikey b]

fkna

[TahoeJ]

Ideal time to hit a north / west facing slope right now with the still low sun angle? 12:30 or 1-ish? Something like that? Earlier now that we're getting into the 50's mid day?

[powdork]

i'd say earlier starting tomorrow. with the inversions there won't be much of a freeze up high.

[Derelicht]

At Palisades over the weekend and I was very surprised at how firm the area around Cornice bowl stayed throughout the day. I was convinced it would begin to corn up by the afternoon given the temp and longer sun window on that face, no such luck. It got me thinking if there's any impact on the corn cycle/melt rate due to skiing itself. For example every time you edge you're sweeping off that top layer of snow, leaving exposed a lower layer that I'm guessing would be a lower temp. Meanwhile the snow that's pried loose by the act of skiing has more surface area and thus melts faster.

Probably not, but it seems like the corn inbounds is never has good as out of bounds. Or to say the good corn window seems longer than resort skiing, where you go from bullet proof to slush in like minutes.

[TahoeJ]

Yeah it’s been tricky to predict lately regardless of skier traffic. Friend and I skied light towers at around 3pm the other day… not a good decision but similar zones (like Headwall face) had softened up so we thought it might be good to go. In late March or April it would have been fine but the sun clearly wasn’t high enough during the day to shine beyond the rocks for very long. Had to side slip down much of the top portion with our tails between our legs. In retrospect I’m really glad we didn’t try to hike the peak, although the shoulder looked good.

[heckacali]

....Attention Tahoe ice skaters...

Beware, a kid went through the ice at Boca reservoir today at 3:00 p.m. near the dam.

Kid is ok, folks nearby broke ice from the shore out to him to pull him in.

Boca has to be considered unsafe now with these warmer temperatures thinning the ice.

please spread the word and stay away

This is second hand information I got from a Truckee first responder just now.

[heckacali]

Correction, FD broke ice out to him, mild hypothermia.

[powdork]

North and west are also different (unless you just meant NW). West will get the good afternoon sun and then not completely refreeze whereas N won't get nearly as soft. North facing corn though is generally less desirable IMO. Warmth grows mashed potatos. Sun grows corn.

[Taldor]

Weird conditions on Incline Peak yesterday, I was expecting some corn/slush on the south faces but the surface was jagged, sharp and crusty on the lower faces and more of a softened coral reef on the higher southeast facing aspects. The former lake-meadow area all the way up the first pitch looked like a thousand micro elephants had been post-holing everywhere they could access. What was left of skin tracks had been generally trampled by snowshoes, and a bounty of turds on small towers where, when they were hot, must have melted and then froze the snow underneath. Mostly survival skiing except for the shaded area on the north side of the southeast ridge. Still, a great day to be out on the snow.

[TahoeJ]

Almost looks like suncups… which is kind of messed up for February.

[TurxSki]

...the surface was jagged, sharp and crusty on the lower faces, trampled by snowshoes, and a bounty of turds
Still, a great day to be out on the snow.

Sounds exciting.
We were boring and just went *skiing* at KW yesterday.
Will prolly go to Rose this arvo to *ski* but will look for penitentes, sun cups and refrozen chunks, aight?


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