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While Tahoe has been getting slammed with the Pineapple Express, I figured why not post some pre-holiday Kirkwood stoke? At the very least, you will be able to see what the mountain looked like prior to feet upon feet of snow. Who doesn’t like a good comparison? Well, that and I made a video while tanning on the beach in Florida for New Years.
Early season at Kirkwood mountain is quite unique. The mountain is littered with deep volcanic chutes and cliffs that skis quite differently at the end of the season with a deeper snowpack.
On a normal year, these same chutes and cliffs disappear and may even turn into a open bowl later on in the year. Therefore, this early part of the season yields some radical mini-golf action in the classic Fingers, Wagon Wheel Bowl, Oops & Poops, Lightning, All the Way and of course all of Thunder Saddle.
On this trip right before Christmas, I had two days to explore with my two older kids. The first day being a gorgeous sunny day and the second surprising us with a quick two inches before the lifts opened to give that much needed extra layer of fluff. With the entire mountain open, it was a great time skiing everything from the Palisades all the way to Thunder Saddle and everything in between.
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Early bird gets the corduroy…
When you let your kids pick the first run…
Lightning is radical early season…
The Fingers can be intimidating early on in the year…
Skiing in from the cornice is always a good idea…
And then down deep into the early season fun…
Chamoix had a small exit air, but no longer after the last storm…
The view from The Wall gives you a much better perspective…
The backcountry zone of California Chute saying hello…
Lots of snow on the backside of Kirkwood…
Vista had a mix of untracked pow and solid ice…
After lunch, the oldest and I skied some BLACK DIAMONDS off Chair 6…
Hand out front…HANDS OUT FRONT!
Apres snowball manufacturing, but the my son wasn’t impressed…
Dinner at 7800 checked all the boxes…
The next morning, we met up with Bevan…so I took some action shots!
Follow-cam down Oops & Poops…
I think his heel is broken…
The Fingers were all-time fun…
The top of The Wall provided some nice grippy steep turns…
What was Florida like you may ask? Day after day of this…
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Oh and the current forecast is looking quite promising after Sunday…
Correction: FREE your heel, ski for REAL