Its finally SNOWING! So why not a 2017/18 recap-mega-blog of ‘Skiing is FUN and ALWAYS WILL BE regardless of the conditions even if Winter takes its sweet time!’
The Report: Squaw Valley & Alpine Meadows, California, USA – Early December 2017 to Late March 2018 (injured mid-April through end of May)
Remember, Squaw Valley Alpine Meadows is just 1 of 38 iconic destinations available on the Ikon Pass.
Chapter I: Early December 2017 – Just enough but stoke meter at high levels…
It was a slow start to the season in Tahoe but after a few inches of snow, things started to look more and more like Winter. Who would have thought that 4 inches of snow at Alpine Meadows would turn the mountain into a legitimate powder day! While waiting for the Summit Chair to open, I lapped the steep section under Roundhouse Chair and given the year so far, I was pleasantly surprised on the coverage. Once Summit Chair opened, I ventured over into Wolverine Bowl and eventually poked around the nooks and crannies of Alpine Bowl. Mini golf lines were in play and felt great to finally get some solid runs under my feet. The day finished with laps on Kangaroo with my 6 year old daughter and yes, I am still the faster skier.
The forecast called for cold temps for the foreseeable future, so the snowmaking was cranked full force in order to open more glorious groomed terrain.
First day views are always nice…
Early season means more runs with the kiddos…
She found some steeper chalky conditions over on Shirley Lake…
A small storm rolled through overnight and coated Tram Face…
And so we decided to roll over to Alpine Meadows…
With the guns pumping, we lapped some Kangaroo…
Lack of crowds helped the father and daughter team get back into ski shape…
Summit Chair popped so I took a look around…
Idiots Delight and Wolverine Bowl showed promise…
Traversing into lower keyhole provided the goods…
The next day we stayed at Squaw to change up the scenery…
Mountain Run Mama finds some soft snow on the right side…
Ski season means HOT COCOA BREAKS!!!
Chapter II: Mid to Late December 2017 – still thin, still fun, still skiing…even some pow.
Well, the winter season was officially upon us and the snow gods were STILL taking their sweet time in supplying the Tahoe area with the likes of a much needed 10 foot storm. However, in the meantime, the days leading up to Xmas actually skied quite well! With my 6 year old daughter again in tow, and of course with some ski team and instructor help, we ventured out to ski what Squaw and Alpine had to offer.
The first day was spent cruising top to bottom runs on the Mountain Run, Squaw Creek and lapping Red Dog Face via Far East Express. Albeit it was all man-made snow, given the cold nights, the snow quality was much better than expected. The rest of the day was spent primarily following Jamie Blair making Super-G turns over every type of snow surface.
The following two days were spent at Alpine Meadows exploring some immaculately groomed runs on Kangaroo to Summit Chair, and adventure skiing in Pete’s Peril, Wolverine Bowl and Alpine Bowl. The groomers were in mid-winter egdeable form and the offpiste yielded firmpack to mid-winter chalky conditions. The sun was shining, the air temp comfortable and the skiing was carvetastically chalky.
On our final day, back at Squaw, a fast moving winter storm dropped around 5 inches of overnight on the upper mountain. With old buddy Dave in tow, we lapped Hogsback, Reverse Traverse, the Slot and skied some beautiful cold smoke under perfectly blue skies. Hogsback ended up being the deepest turns of the day due to the wind machine working its transporting magic.
With my daughter at Mighty Mites, Dad got to cruise around the hill…
Hard to beat sunshine, snow and stellar views…
Jamie Blair and I decided to go a carving mission, with the first stop being Squaw Creek…
Red Dog had signs of winter all around…
We ended up lapping Far East Express over and over to ski Red Dog Face…
The next day, we got some untracked corduroy on Kangaroo…
Who doesn’t like going fast and feeling your skis bend
After poking around, I found some decent snow near Pete’s Peril, so I got aggressive for no reason…
You see, the soft snow was landing right next to those trees…
Higher sections of Alpine Bowl were open and some chalky conditions were found offpiste…
Jamie Blair selling real estate while carving turns…
Chalk skiers know the drill…get low and charge hard
She still can’t beat me…
Well look at that, another fast-moving overnight storm! WE’LL TAKE IT!
On the first runs, we lapped the wind-blown powder of Hogsback and then headed over to the Slot. Not disappointed.
One of those scenarios that you didn’t expect when you went to sleep the night before…
Old buddy Dave is a having a good time…
Fun laps with skis strapped to our feet, YIPPIE!
As usual, Jamie Blair skiing like there is no tomorrow…
Under the Headwall Chair, Jamie grabs some frequent flier miles…
Sign of the times…
A few more Headwall laps and it was time to head to non-skiing portion of the Xmas season…
Flash forward to MLK weekend and still no new snow to be found…but you know I’m still going to enjoy myself!
The Squaw Creek groomer was still holding up quite well…
North face of Headwall held some steep chalk…
So skiing conditions weren’t ideal but they were perfect for taking this guy out for the first time EVER!
18 months old and riding the carpet of magic…
He’s sure looking the part…
Chapter III: Mid-January thru Mid-February 2018 gave us just enough snow to open up KT-22 and we went for it…
The bad news is that we were still waiting for measurable snow with only a handful of storms reaching the Sierra. However, the weather had been AMAZING and the snow on north facing slopes has been quite fantastic! With most of the upper mountain terrain open, there was JUST enough to keep you occupied for an entire day.
From January until mid- February, the highlight reel included the opening of Headwall and KT-22…finally allowing laps on steeper terrain. I still can’t believe the mountain operations team opened the Mothership on the thinnest snowpack imaginable but I wasn’t complaining. Even more surprising, as most people headed to Siberia or Shirley, the Olympic Lady zone opened up to provide solid turns without a soul around. However, It did get quite adventurous (dirt patches) at the Exhibition lift elevation but that only made life more interesting.
Current weather models were indicating cold storms for March…so I say BRING IT ON!
Early Ups to slay some piste? Why not?
Headwall provided to most varied terrain…
Even found some CHALK…YEWWWW!
Yup, it snowed a bit… SO THEY WENT AHEAD AND OPENED KT-22!
Back with my ski model, Jamie finds some soft snow under Headwall…
Shadows and some soft snow works for me…
At least it’s starting to look a lot more like Winter…
Mr. Blair slashes a wall near The Slot…
Early season conditions persist on Chute 75…
Inversion layering in the Tahoe region…
Headwall and Hogsback holding onto some coverage…
Spying on Siberia Express…
Shirley Chutes begging for snow…
Granite Chief Peak views aren’t too shabby…
Hey look, I found some hidden chalk and made a snow-fall!
Ski with your kids they say…
Olympic Lady zone finally opened and go figure, Jamie Blair showed up …
Remember when patrol was warning people about the lower sections of KT? This is that day…
Nobody was skiing this, so I literally lapped it all day. Even grabbed from son early from Mighty Mites and took a couple laps…
Skiing is always fun…
Chapter IV: Early March 2018 – Massive storms pummel the region and stoke meter at high levels…
FINALLY! The first mega storm hit the Tahoe region at the beginning of March and dropped anywhere from 3-7 feet of the white stuff. Traffic and road closures riddled the weekend warriors like myself, so thankfully, I took off work Monday and Tuesday to sample the fantastic remnants of the storm.
To get my fix, I spent Monday afternoon entirely on KT-22, sampling all open terrain from East to West, North and South. Sure, there’s still some areas that scream ‘low-tide,’ but hallelujah, what an improvement! On Tuesday, I played around on the Palisades, Upper Sun Bowl and then drove over to Alpine Meadows to hit the ridges and bowls with Nate Kushlan. Thankfully, we found untracked chutes in Keyhole and fluffy low-moisture snow in Estelle Bowl…all in glorious California sunshine.
Another massive storm hit the area around mid-March. My oldest and I decided to take a sick day and spend some time skiing some cut-up powder on ALL open areas of a mid-week quiet mountain.
Now that’s more like it Squaw Valley USA…
All my favorite zones are finally starting to fill in…
Upper Sun Bowl views…
And then a quick drive to Alpine Meadow to meet up with Nate…
Two-day old pockets of fluff in Keyhole…
We JUST had to wait until March for this…
Nate scopes some danger to avoid…
Ahhhh, the infamous ridge to the Bowls at Alpine Meadows…
Yeah, we are partial to Estelle Bowl too …
Just point it and turn…QUICKLY!
Estelle Bowl is great because it has a few different routes off the top…
Estelle Bowl also has some airs…
The next morning it was time to play on KT-22…
By mid-March, the mountain was looking amazing…
And of course, The Palisades…
Following the oldest kid down to Shirley Lake…
Old Blue saying hello on a beautiful day…
Some sunny steep spines on The Slot were in order …
Don’t underestimate the terrain under Red Dog …
Olympic Lady looking nice in her new makeup…
Squaw Creek has some tasty tree skiing as well…
Bottom of Silverado never received the required snowpack, but we did get some token Broken Arrow laps before the snow melted…
Epic post!