Tag Archives: kirkwood

A day of firsts

Yesterday I took the day off and hit Kirkwood with Nils.  With over a foot of new snow in 24 hours, and double that in the past 2 days, we figured it would make for a good day.  It actually made for a surprisingly epic day, with knee to thigh deep blower powder, face shots, and not a lot of people to share it with.

Powder of this sort makes for soft landings, and Nils encouraged me to try a few steeper aspects that I typically don’t do.  With soft runouts, near-cliffy stuff is surprisingly fun, and I now understand the appeal.

Make no mistake, I’m still a gaper at heart, and I proved that in spades on a traverse out to the Palisades earlier in the day.  Somehow I managed to fly off the traverse at speed, cratering just below the track.  I think I caught one of my phat ski edges on the uphill side of the track, and it happened too fast for me to make any attempt at recovery.  Luckily I provided some amusement for the folks behind me, though Nils was too far back to actually see the fail in action.

Feeling like a class A rookie, I insisted we go back on the next run so I could redeem myself and get through the traverse without wiping out.  I did, and was as proud of that ‘accomplishment’ as any other of the day’s firsts.

Ski, Eat, Sleep, Repeat

Today is the last day of my holiday ski break, and my legs know it.  I’ve not skied 5 days in a row in a long time, and definitely not 5 full days of powder snow and/or backcountry.  Today was the first day that we knew we were not going to have guaranteed fresh tracks, and we had to decide which resort to ski at based upon other factors (distance, crowds and snow conditions).  We ended up hitting Kirkwood because today’s warmer forecast would have less of an impact at a higher elevation ski resort, and the holiday crowds don’t materialize with the same tidal wave force that they do at some other Tahoe resorts.

We did ski Kirkwood on Boxing Day, which was a glorious bluebird day with 2+ feet of light dry powder.   N surprised me on Christmas day with new phat skis – Atomic Helis.  They’re wider than my ski boot in the middle, and are the skis that Alaska heli operators provide clients, so they’re perfect for powder.

Atomic Heli-Max skis

Powder Day! (and punters)

Today was our first official GENUINE powder day of the season.  We didn’t know it as we drove out to Kirkwood, but the cumulative snowfall over the past few days (2 – 5 inches here, 2-5 inches there) had built up to something rather powder snow-like.  It started to become apparent as we neared the resort, with substantial snow on both the roads and the mountains.  This could be a pretty good day after all!

It was.  N and I ended up exploring the Palisades (which had some surprisingly deep snow), despite our concern that we’d be hitting rocks just below the surface.  We did, rather, he did, but it was well worth it to ski winter snow again.

After lunch, N discovered that his ski binding was loose in his ski, and decided to end the day then rather than worry about a ski launching down the slope.  I took a different run from him, and nearly got creamed by a stupid, typically male skier who was charging down the hill without looking, and was obviously skiing way too fast for his ability.  Had I not been the one to stop my traverse, he’d have knocked me down…hard.  Since I had the right of way (I was below him on the mountain), I was pissed, and told him so.  The a**hole didn’t stop, just spewed out a feeble ‘sorry’ as he continued down the hill, so I did what I always do when I encounter stupidity at a ski resort.  I chased the jerk down.  And read him the riot act under the chairlift, where he had opted to stop.  Another example of his brilliance.

I think I scared the idiot, which is a good thing, as it’s reason-challenged, testosterone-fueled losers like him that result in ski resort collisions.  Did I mention I was wearing my “You Must Be Blind To Miss Me” ski pants?

After that little adrenaline rush I was ready to explore somewhere with less stupidity.  So we headed to Hope Valley for a lovely cross-country ski with the dog (whose stupidity IS accepted).  Smooth snow for kick-and-gliding, sunshine, and views of the mountains helped end the day on a much better note.

74 degrees and Sunny

It’s been a slightly strange week here.  As I sit around in shorts and sandals today, blinded by my pale legs, I remembered that last Sunday I was in knee to thigh deep winter snow not far from here.

Instead of schlepping to one of the ski resort closing day celebrations today, I figured ending on a powder note would make for fonder memories of this ski season. So I went long run this morning in the nearby meadow, which is already so dry that by July it’ll be a dust bowl.  But I’m enjoying it now, because normally at this time of year my running route is affected by what has melted out.

 

Earth Day = Powder Day

At Lake Tahoe, at least.  We had heard that a storm was moving in last night, and while we agreed we’d hit Kirkwood, we weren’t sure what to expect.  We’ve had such an unpredictable season in the Sierra that we could have easily awoken to sunshine after a rainstorm.

Happily our very low expectations meant that we were pleasantly surprised.  Nearly a foot fell overnight (more in places that received wind deposited snow), and Kirkwood did not have its regular hordes of rabid powder hounds.  So snow that usually gets tracked out in an hour lasted all day (if you knew where to look).  We bumped into my colleague and her husband after lunch and spent the rest of the day hiking for deep virgin snow.  Such bliss.

N and I are now in a state of euphoric fatigue, unable to do much more than stare at the TV tonight.  I’m blissed out by the fact that I had my last powder day of an otherwise slim year on April 22nd.

Powder Day

It came, it snowed…and rained.  This weekend was the official start to the 2007 winter season, and despite the painfully late start, it seems here to stay.

The front that blasted in on Friday night came in quite warm, but was still snowing up at the resorts (7500 ft snow level that slowly dropped).  By Sunday morning Kirkwood was claiming 2-3 feet of new, and we knew that it was the place to be, despite the tendency to overstate snow totals.

We quickly learned we were not alone in our savvy decision.  While we got a good spot in our usual lot, it quickly filled up, and I learned that by 10 am westbound traffic was backed up to Caples Lake.  Oof.   Coupled with the slow openings of the lifts due to avy control, it was utter chaos.  We took a whopping 5 runs in 2 hours, since only chair 6 (the “high-speed” quad) was running to the top – with limited terrain open.  They finally opened chair 10 at noon, but our favorite traverse to the Palisades stayed closed until 2 pm.  We eventually got tired of the crowds, which never really dissipated, and decided to hit Luther Pass for a ski with the dog to counteract the utter madness of Kirkwood.

It was a good call for me (though I refused to acknowledge it at the time), as I skied harder and faster than usual, and ended up paying for it on Monday with painfully sore hamstrings.  Twas worth it!

Conditions are truly mid-winter at Kirkwood now, and should be mostly winter-like at other resorts (read: fewer rocks to worry about).  We’re Oregon-bound on Friday, and I’m hoping that by the time we return, the crowds of the holiday weekend will have helped reveal any rocks still uncovered…and that the next round of storms comes in heavy!

Kirkwood – land of gaper snowboarders?

Yesterday I hit Kirkwood for the first time all season, and was pleasantly surprised at the conditions.  While I didn’t even bother with the south facing slopes, my favorite north-facing stashes were still holding grippy winter snow, albeit fairly moguled.  Nonetheless, it gave me ample testing grounds for the skis I’m reviewing for a friend’s website.

The morning didn’t start out all that well though.  On my first run I was clipped by an idiot snowboarder who was above me.  When the a**hole didn’t even bother to stop to see if I was ok, I gave him chase.  The Aviatrix skis have no speed limit, I learned, and I easily caught up to him at the bottom.  I gave him a tongue lashing after it became apparent he had no remorse about not stopping.  He was insistent that he just knew I was ok, and when I asked him how that was possible, as he did not look back, he argued that he just knew.

Dude was a chubby intermediate snowboarder with bad facial hair who was one of those dangerous types that thinks he’s better than he really is, and his utter complacency about his ability and lack of responsibility in that situation was shocking.  But I got the last laugh, since I figured he didn’t think anyone would call him on his stupidity and cowardice.  I spoke to a patroller about the situation later, and while he admitted that unless I was hurt or had a name they couldn’t do anything, he did suggest that if I saw him later I accidentally hip-check him, preferably on a steep, icy slope.

 

Whither Spring?

The sun has finally come out at the lake, after a pretty wet April. And while I’m loving the vitamin D, the temperatures have shot up from the winter realm straight to summer, with no intermediate spring. The result is that snow has melted rapidly at lake level, but hasn’t done much for the snow at higher elevations.

I went to Kirkwood last Sunday for its closing day, and the snow was soft, verging on mushy, at 9 am. It’s almost heretical for me to admit, but I left after a little over an hour….and took the dog for a hike in Gardnerville. For those who know me and my self-admitted obsession with sliding on snow, this is unfathomable. Yet the conditions weren’t holding me. I’m a corn snow lover in the spring, which requires a hard freeze at night, something we haven’t seen much of the past week.

However, I am going to give it a shot this weekend. Alpine Meadows and Squaw Valley are still open right now….as is Mammoth. So there’s still mucho resort skiing to be had, without counting the backcountry.