Location: Alpine Meadows
Date: 3/13/2010
Conditions: Variable
Jodi and I took the Summit Six lift and traversed/hiked along the high traverse to Sun Bowl. While the cornice getting into the bowl was a bit dicey for one of us, the skiing was fantastic.
That night, we headed to our favorite bankrupt casino straddling the California/Nevada border and rested up for Day 2 on the overnight Bay Area Ski Bus trip.
Date: 3/7/2010
Location: Kirkwood
Conditions: Bluebird morning, snow showers afternoon.
I love Kirkwood. Of all the resorts at Tahoe, given my choice, I would ski Kirkwood any day. The terrain, the people, the mountain, the attitude, all of it seems to fit with me.
Thanks to our bat-outta-hell bus driver, we arrived at Kirkwood at 7:55 AM, over an hour before the lifts were scheduled to start. That earned us first chair on Solitude. First chair is the best way to start out the day, try it, you'll like it.
The morning was absolutely perfect weather, bluebird skies and nice temps all around the mountain. Kirkowwd hosted day 1 of the Freeskiing World Tour in the "permanently closed" Cirque between the frontside and backside of the mountain. We got close, but not too close to the action. As we hit the Caples Crest link, we spied a dude ski BASE jumping and doing flips as he hurled down the cliff-infested face. Other skiers competed by jumping 40 footers and riding away clean.
As I've said before,Kirkwood's backside is a mini-resort unto itself. We rode all four of those lifts covering the Fawn Ridge, Wave, Happiness Is, and Vista areas. I hucked the Cornice atop the Wave about 4 feet or so and landed it. To round out the backside tour, we hit my favorite, Thunder Saddle and traversed out past the World Tour as the flurries started coming down and new snow filled in our tracks.
I took a few park runs and managed to stay upright in the Timber Creek area. We hit Cornice Express and went over to Sentinel Bowl for some steep and deep to round out the early afternoon. I wanted one more shot at the backside, so we did that too.
Bell to bell skiing, blue skies, fresh powder, park, steeps, and a pro competition all in one day? Yup. Kirkwood.
Stats
Location: Squaw
Date: 2/28/2010
Conditions: Pow pow
I have probably skied 20 days at Squaw but this was my first verified powder day. With 18" overnight and snow falling most of the day, conditions were primo. Step 1, funitel. Then over to Gold Coast. Hit the Shirley Lake/Solitude area, then over to Red Dog and Squaw Creek.
Lunch was at Squaw Creek, great food, hidden gem.
We hit a few blacks near Red Dog and then cruised back town by around 4 PM. Great mountain, great snow, great day.
Location: Homewood
Date: 2/20/2010
Conditions: Variable, hard pack morning, powder
We expected about an inch and were rewarded with much more. What a day!
The morning started out pretty firm, dust on crust. By about noon, the storm moved in and didn't stop all day.
Location: Sugar Bowl
Date: 2/6/2010
Conditions: Powder/Sierra Cement
The morning started out with fantastic conditions. Sugar Bowl had fresh snow on the ground and more snow was coming down. We hit the White Pines lift and then over to Judah. Fresh tracks everywhere! After Judah we went over to the Jerome Hill lift and hit Sidewinder, a nice little tree-lined passage to the other side of the mountain.
All day we hit laps of Lincoln and Disney, the two main lifts on the Village side. We went through the gates below Lincoln and hit Stelhang and Hari-Kari Gullies. Off Disney we ventured into Crows Face through the gates. The best runs of the day were off Crowley's run all the way to the boundary. Noone was around and the powder was fantastic.
Too much speed into too much snow. As the day wore on, the snow kept coming, only it was heavier, wetter snow. As a result, I had another double eject and did a full front flip out of both skis.
After 3 PM I tend to take it easier recognizing that other skiers are tired and accident prone. We headed to the Judah side for some park action. On the lift up, I noticed two skiers down on the side of the run. As we got down the mountain, the two were still there, huddled up. I asked if everything was okay. They were trying to put one kids ski back on, and doing a piss-poor job of it.
Demetri: Hey, are you guys alright?
Kid 1: I'm trying to get his ski back on
D: Step one, stand up
Kid 2: We tried that, I think my ski is broken
D: Alright, let me see
Kid: 2: Ow!
D: Stomp down!
Jodi: Line up your heel!
Kid 1: Left!
D (Grabbing his heel): Right here, stomp!
Kid 2: I can't!
After a few minutes of wrangling, I finally pulled up on his rear binding and got the kids ski back on and watched him ski away, in a full pizza. Oh well, good deed for the day done.
I hit a few more laps in the park after learning that Summit Chair was closed down for the day.
Sugar Bowl has a ton of gnarly terrain to offer. It's up to you to ski within your ability level but start at the gates and watch for signs saying Cliff Ahead.
Got any lines I missed? Let me know.
Location: Kirkwood
Date: 1/31/2010
Conditions: Packed Powder
A bluebird powder day at Kirkwood can make your entire ski season. Today was one of those days. We caught 3rd chair (thanks two snowboarders who cut at the last second) and hit some cord before lapping chair 11 for some fast groomers to warm up.
Before too long, we took the traverse to the backside and found awesome snow and no lines. Kirkwood's backside is a mini-resort to itself with 4 lifts, including Vista which just recently opened for the season. After a shot at launching off the cornice and a punch save,wWe opted for the other surface lift, Covered Wagon, which opens up a large section of the Wave and Fawn Ridge.
Fawn Ridge held the best snow of the day. Plenty of powder lasted in the trees from the several feet that fell at the 'Wood over the past 10 days or so. With a low to moderate avalanche danger, and plenty of company, we ventured into side-country territory.
View Track 7 in a larger map
After a quick break, we went to Cornice Express, the entire other side of the 2300 acre resort. Again, there was some great snow in the gullies off Sentinel Bowl, thought the slope itself was fairly firm.
We made one more pass at the backside to hit the Wave again and then started the long journey back to Timber Creek to meet up with the Bay Area Ski Bus for our return trip home.
Location: Alpine Meadows
Date: 1/2/2010
Conditions: Packed Powder
We headed up to Lake Tahoe Friday, New Years Day, for a long weekend at the new Bay Area Ski Bus cabin. After chowing on some lunch at ToGo's our host and BASB owner Brian picked us up in Sunnyvale in a converted 15 passenger van. We loaded up my trusty Volkl Mantra 184s on the roof rack and met up with 4 boarders who were going up with us, Gary, Justin, Kosgey, and Emily. We chatted with Brian as we headed to SF to pick up Diane, the 8th member for the inaugural cabin trip.
We got news of the the Kirkwood Fire some tasty margaritas at Truckee's La Bamba. To avoid the disaster, Brian wisely re-routed his 6 buses scheduled to hit the fire-damaaged resort over to Alpine where we would ski the next morning. We came back to the cabin where a wood-burning stove warmed the entrance and a heated hot tub waited for us on the back deck.
Saturday morning, we were up and atem by 7:00 AM. A quick breakfast and we loaded up the van to hit Alpine Meadows for our first trip of the new year. Alpine has definitely upped their customer service game. Before we even got out of the van we had lift tickets in hand and a mountain host offering to carry our skis to the mountain. I took a few warm up laps on Hot Wheels while Jodi sorted out her rental skis. She got some nice Volkl all-mountain skis and we quickly headed to Alpine's back side to enjoy the sunshine.
On the way back to the front side, I had a minor slip that almost cost me dearly on Expert Shortcut. I caught an edge about 10 feet above a large exposed rock cliff and lost a ski. Luckily, I knew the boulder was there so I dug my ski poles into the ground to arrest my slide over the face. It took a long while to click back in but I skied down to the base where Jodi was waiting with a quizzical look wondering what took so long and how she managed to beat me down.
After a quick noon break we hooked up with Brian for some turns in Alpine Bowl, where the photo of Jodi and me above was taken. Brian rips, so any of you who want to try to keep up with him, I suggest you sharpen skis and prepare for an all-out assault on the mountain. We also met up with host Mario and Sliding on the Cheap creator Daryl.
We skied the rest of the afternoon with Brian and Diane and tackled some mogul runs as well as some easier stuff before wrapping up for the day. On the last run of the day we ran into David who runs the Alpine website and saw him shooting his little ripper kids in the terrain park.
Alpine is a fantastic mountain. If you make it there, be sure to find your way to the backside and explore Sherwood. I'm still looking for fabled Munchkins. Next time I'll track down one of the locals to show me the way.
Date: 11/21/2009
Location: Northstar
Conditions: Packed Powder, powder
I've been waiting nearly six months to make this post. We started off the 2010 ski season in style yesterday at Northstar. Their season opener was marked with a 8" plus dump of fresh snow. My third turn of the season was in boot-deep powder.
Effectively, two runs were open. One had a small terrain park setup and the other was just a groomer. There were stashes of powder along side each of the runs. Some of the powder was strewn with rocks which definitely limited my willingness to explore.
One positive thing I will say for Northstar is all the employees there are super nice. When we got on the gondola first thing in the morning two employees took our skis and set them up in the rack outside the doors. At the top, another lifty grabbed Jodi's 148 rentals and my Volkl Mantra 184s to hand us our skis. As he handed me the Mantras, I said, "No, those are hers." Good times.
More to come as conditions improve and more mountains start to open. Peep the bayareaskibus site for more details.
Location: Kirkwood
Date: 3-29-2009
Conditions: Firm, groomed, icy in spots
Sunday we took yet another trip to Kirkwood for some spring skiing. We arrived early on the Bay Area Ski Bus and boarded the Timber Creek express lift before its official 9 AM start. The front side of the mountain was groomed and still a bit firm from the overnight freeze. We applied a follow the sun approach which dictated that we head to Kirkwood's backside early in the morning. The runs below Iron Horse were great.
We hit Sunise lift as well. I thought the conditions there were fine, other skiers apparently disagreed as I overheard a ton of complaints about the "ice." We headed back to the front side for a lunch run, but not before I hiked to Outlook Vista and took a run down the face. It was pretty crusty up there and I had the entire area all to myself. Still, I'm glad to have checked off the new lift. I can once again say I've skied all the lifts at Kirkwood.
That afternoon, we headed to Cornice Express were the real fun began. The lift line had an "Experts Only" warning which should we should have taken as a sign. We traversed along the ridge past Jim's, Fireball, and Chamonix. As we did, I peered over the ledge and convinced myself that it was indeed steep. As we came to Sentinel Bowl, tt was like the Ice Capades had come to town. One could hear skis scraping the ice, skiers exclaiming how difficult the run was, and the sounds of skiers sliding down the mountain on their backsides. At one point, I saw a kid drop a pole and then slide sixty feet on his back. His dad was first thinking about grabbing the pole but finally decided it was a better idea to ski down below him then stop to arrest the kid's fall. We managed to stay (mostly) upright and made it down in record time.
That afternoon, we hit up the terrain park for some fun box training and a few cracks at the half pipe. It was a nice way to wind down the day and prepare for the ride home.
Location: Kirkwood
Conditions: Groomed, bluebird
We arrived at Kirkwood at 7:35 AM. That is the earliest I have ever been to the mountain on Bay Area Ski Bus. We were meeting two friends from Oakland; what's up Samantha and Guhan?!? They were a bit behind us so I had delusions of hitting sentinel bowl prior to hooking up with them. All hopes were dashed when the stoned-out Kirkwood lifties arrived.
Demetri: Waiting patiently in line before the lift lines are even set up at 8:15 AM.
SOKL: Dude, it's going to be another hour at least before this lift opens
D: Want me to help drill some holes or run some lines
L: Uhhhhhhh
D: Ok, no prob, I'll wait
L: Chair 5 is opening at 8:30, duuuuuude
D: Oh?
L: Yea, but only for the comp, what do I know
After waiting patiently for nearly 45 minutes we took the first chair along with our Ski Bus host David. As I shred the sweet corduroy all the way down the bunny slopes I imagined the poor people stuck on the lift watching as I slayed the mountain. After a few SMS messages, we hooked up with Samantha and Guhan and took another few laps in the Timber Creek area. I hit up the terrain park and made my best attempt to not look like an idiot on the half pipe and small features.
Warmed up, we headed to chair 5 to get started for the day. After a quick break, our border buddies were ready to tackle the line down past the water tank a few times before heading in for lunch.
I lead the pack out towards chair 10 for some early afternoon Buckboard basics. Jodi loves Buckboard and I was unable to coax her into the drain which runs parallel. I had a few nice drops into the gully off of 5 before we moved over to chair 1 for some beginner laps.
As we headed up chair 2, Caples crest, the mountain revealed its backside slopes. There were cliffs, and awesome lines as skiers and riders took the newly opened and running Outlook Vista to the ridge separating the two halves of the mountain.
We took it easy and came down to chair 3 for a return to the mid-mountain. By this point, it was time to start heading all the way across the mountain for our bus departure at 4:30 sharp.
I ran into Brandon from Flowskipix and said hello. As I raced down the route to the frontside, I lost Jodi and Samantha for a while and caught up with Guhan. Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves on a perfect bluebird day.
A few chairs and traverses later and we were back in Timber Creek where warm buses and cold beer waited for us. I loaded my pockets with free beer and had the chance to bust out my 686 snow tool belt for the second time this season. A quick stop in Jackson lead to more beer and a sandwich allowing me to sleep off my day on the slopes with friends. Day 16 will go down as one of the most fun of the season!
Location: Sugar Bowl
Conditions: 12+ of Sierra Cement
Date: 2/22/2009
We skied Sugar Bowl yesterday on the Bay Area Ski Bus. When we arrived at the resort at around 9:30 AM, there was about 4" of fresh in the parking lot. This was a relief as most of the other resorts were reporting rain.
We hit a few warm up laps on Judah lift. There was fresh cement to cut up and it was fun. The Judah lift serves the terrain parks and noone was going for the fresh so I had it all to myself.
We then headed to the Jerome Hill lift for some more. The snow there was more tracked out but still fun. We took Sidewinder to the Lincoln side of the mountain and went directly to Mount Disney. The runs back there were very heavy with new snow. Some of the best skiing of the day was in a little gully off Mt Disney.
We came back to the front side to pick up a friend around 11:30. From there, we took a few laps then went back to Sidewinder. The trees off of sidewinder were untouched. We did a few laps on Christmas Tree and I found some great snow below the lift line.
Mount Lincoln was very windy up top. By this point, we were all soaked. I could literally wring water out of my gloves. Otherwise, I was dry as a bone.
There were some awesome lines to be had off of Lincoln. Very few people were there and the snow was coming down at about 2" per hour.
A true Sierra Cement day will test your legs and your gear to the fullest. Get out there and enjoy it, and bring a pair of spare gloves.
Location: Squaw Valley
Conditions: Groomed, moguls, bluebird
Date: 2/21
Saturday, we hit Squaw on the Bay Area Ski Bus for the first day of a two day trip. My Volkl Mantra 184's needed some tuning so I dropped them off at the base ski shop for some welds, wax, and edge. I took the funitel to Gold Coast and hit up the demo shop for some boards for the day.
I was going to get the 2009 Manras in a 191 if they had them. I talked to the demo shop guy about what to chose for the day:
Demetri: Hey, my skis are at the base getting repaired and I need to demo something for today.
Shop Guy: Sounds like a great idea
D: Do you have the Mantras?
SG: Yup, sure
D: What size?
SG: 170, 177, 184
D: No 191s?
SG: nope
D: I actually have the Mantras, is there anything else I should try?
SG: Head Mojos, they are the Mantra killer
D: Seriously considers punching the shop guy in the face for dissing his Mantras. Okay, I'll give them a shot. We'll see. I'll take the 187s.
I liked the skis. They were heavy pigs though. I found myself tightening down the boot buckles to get a bit more control over the monsters. I liked the 187 length. The Mojos were great in anything tracked up.
We hit the whole mountain that day. We started out on taking Red Dog over to Squaw Creek for a few laps. We did Shirley Lake, Granite Chief, Gold Coast Express and a few rides on the funitel. Conditions were pretty good all around the mountain with lots of moguls especially in Siberia Bowl.
Location: Alpine Meadows
Conditions: Epic Powder, 28" overnight, 6" more during the day
Dat: 2/14/2009
Saturday marked the Bay Area Ski Bus's first trip to Alpine Meadows for the 2009 season. The conditions were epic: a whopping 29" of snow in the morning report, and another 6" during the day on top a huge storm total for the week. We were waist deep in powder by the first run.
Early that morning word came that legendary ski filmmaker Warren Miller was filming at Alpine. You know you're skiing the place to be when Warren Miller shows up! Also in the house were Jonny Moseley, Erol Kerr, and other Tahoe locals.
We hit Hot Wheels Gully for some fresh and went to the backside for some more.
What a day! Definitely the most snow I've skied at Tahoe and the most ever since Alaska.
Location: Northstar
Conditions: Skier tracked powder, powder
Date: 2-10-2009
Late last week I started to get word there was a big storm coming to Tahoe. I put in paperwork to take the day off and signed up for a free trip on the Bay Area Ski Bus.
Wait, free?
Yea, free. Every six trips earns you a free day on the mountain.
We had skied powder Saturday at kirkwood so Sunday was a rest day. Sunday night, I watched the storm pelt Tahoe.
I knew Tuesday was shaping up to be a great day.
We got to Northstar by 8:00 AM, the earliest I've ever been to the Mountain, short of staying right there. I took the gondola up and headed to powder paradise. I was so early, in fact, that ski patrol wouldn't let me take the Lookout Link. No matter, I made it a quarter way up the Pommel and dropped off into a field of bottomless powder. Not bad for the first run of the day.
I made it to Lookout by 9 AM. I checked out the new glade area and wound up skiing both through trees as well as *on* them. They needed to do a better job clearing out the chopped trees because the fallen logs were a constant hazard. As I was skiing alone, I decided to abort on my glade adventures and head back to the on trail and near trail pow.
The best snow of the day was actually to be found on the front side. Northstar is not exactly known as an advanced mountain and I gather than many of the skiers were not comfortable dealing with mad powder. No problem for me though, other than my legs were absolutely beat. I had to take a lunch break and refuel.
The afternoon was spent searching for and finding mad powder all over the mountain. Some of the best spots were below the Rendezvous lift, which was not running, and in between the terrain parks. All the steep stuff was skied out so I had to venture into the trees to get the goods.
As I wound down the day I ran into two boarders pleading with strangers for help. The one boarder could not get out of his binding and was stuck at the base of the mountain searching for tools. He asked other boarders if they could help. I overheard and offered a tool. I told them they wouldn't believe it is as proceeded to whip off my belt, remove my belt buckle, revealing a phillips head and standard screw driver hidden in the pins. The boarder unscrewed his stuck binding and marched off after a cold one. Too bad he didn't have a bottle of brew right there. The belt buckle also features a bottle opener.
Powder day and blue skies make for a perfect day on the mountain. Today, my legs feel like jello but I'm resting up and scouring the weather reports in search of more powpow.
For more info on the conditions at Northstar, check out Northstar Snow Blog.
Location: Kirkwood
Conditions: Powder
Date: 2/7/2009
First two runs of the day were pure powder pleasure. Lots of fresh on the front side to be had. Avy control in full effect from 9 AM till about 10.
At 10, after hearing a lull of the big 75mm Howitzer, we headed to the backside. Big mistake. The top of sunrise was a whirlwind. Snow pelted our faces. We couldn't tell if it was new snow or stuff getting blown around. Visibility was near zero.
We bailed on the backside and headed over to Cornice. More trouble at the top there, but not as bad.
Lots of fresh in the trees even late in the day. By 3, the sun started to peak out.
Pretty darn good day out there.
Squaw Valley
Conditions: groomed, thin, icy, soft
We started out the day on the Funitel and then took Gold Coast Express over to Shirley Lake. The snow was pretty firm over there so we headed to Red Dog and Squaw Creek areas. Much nicer over there. We met an on-mountain photographer who took a few snaps of us in front of Lake Tahoe. In the afernoon, we did more Shirley Lake, and laps on the Funitel. By the end of the day, the Mountain Run was pretty beat up. There were a lot of icy spots. Still, it was a great day, great weather, decent snow conditions, and no crowds.
