55 posts tagged “skiing”

Because my life isn't full enough with work, teaching, playing and my feeble attempt at finding balance, I've started writing about telemark and backcountry skiing in the Lake Tahoe region for Examiner.com.

Check it out - and don't worry, I'll still be ranting about stupidity and posting photos of my latest culinary disaster here.

Ski season has finally started at Lake Tahoe, with the openings of Mt. Rose, Heavenly, Northstar-at-Tahoe and Squaw Valley this week.  N and I actually had plans to head to Mammoth (which has been open since October), but his asymptomatic manflu reared up again, leaving him with no desire to move, much less drive 2+ hours to ski - especially after a snowstorm left the roads a bit messy, and the mountains with upwards of 6 inches of new snow.

While cynics may claim this is but a dusting, last night's storm brought a few inches of snow to our house at lake level, and the resorts are reporting up to 6 inches.

October typically marks the beginning of the ski film season, when filmmakers of all winter persuasions (telemark, alpine, snowboard) take their shows on the road, fueling the winter lust of die-hard skiers like me.  This weekend brought a double whammy of telemark films, including the newest film from the Powderwhores, a Utah based collection of rippin' backcountry telemark skiers.  

We had hoped to spend this past weekend huntin' for corn snow up around Tioga Pass, but the forecasted precip did arrive, and came in wet enough to encourage us to hit Mammoth for some resort skiing instead. 

While we knew it would be a wet storm, we didn't factor in the ridiculous winds that kept most of the mountain shut and made visibility optional.  We skied anyway, but quit midday when goretex layers had become saturated, and headed to our digs at June Lake, where the weather was windy but not so wet.  Since neither of us had really walked around the town of June Lake, we figured a faux-urban hike would be a way to see parts of the area we tend to overlook for the more exciting hiking trails of the nearby Ansel Adams Wilderness.

In doing so we discovered a bit of history - June Lake, like many other Eastern Sierra towns, had a mining history.  Its history was a mere 5 years (1924-29) but resulted in a fair bit of ore from the various shafts located in the slope above Gull Lake.  Who knew?

Coupled with the first pilgrimage of the season to the Whoa Nellie Deli, where we were rewarded with amazing vistas of clouds and the Sierra Wave along with our fish tacos and mango margaritas, it ended up being a lovely escape from Tahoe.

This week Lake Tahoe finally received one of the epic storms that results in snow days, road closures and lots of snow shoveling.  With 3-4 feet in a 24 hour period, and a storm total of around 8 feet, it's been a huge boon for the ski resorts, tourism industry and water supply.  I'm pretty sure lots of locals called in sick yesterday, based upon the enormous crowd at the base of Heavenly's Gunbarrel chairlift.  While I did pack my camera yesterday, I didn't take many photos, as I was too busy skiing the 3 feet of new snow.  A few are below.

We're off to Mammoth tomorrow for a family ski trip.  Heard that mountain got some snow too, so it should be a continuation of this week's fun.

And don't come back some other day.

This latest storm system has come in wet and warm, a real pineapple express.  While a few resorts are crowing about their 'top to bottom snow' (I'm talking to you, Kirkwood), even that's borderline snain/sleet at the bottom of the mountain.  Yesterday's foray to Kirkwood was quite the test of our ski clothes waterproofness.  My bitchen new Holden jacket held up well, but my beloved Patagonia drop seat pants failed miserably.  And with N still fighting this 'malaise' and with me feeling on the cusp of catching it, we didn't stay long.  Instead we spent the afternoon re-waterproofing and drying out ski gear.  Fun!!

So it's with a bit of nostalgia that I'm looking at my photos from Saturday, when I skied Jake's Peak again with friends (minus N, who was not well enough to slog up 2,000 feet on skis).  We hit things early before the clouds arrived, and it was the perfect Tahoe winter day - blue sky, powder snow and sunshine. Even bumped into a friend on the descent (it's kind of a popular backcountry location what with its awesome views and easy roadside access). <sigh>

I know winter will return at least once more.  I'd just like to see it stick around longer than a week.

Actually, winter came back to Tahoe last week, and has stuck around a bit longer this time.  Today was the first proper bluebird sunshine day we've had in nearly a week, and I'm guessing a ton of people called in sick today to ski.  I prefer storm days for the relative lack of crowds (and free refills) so I hit Sierra-at-Tahoe yesterday morning to 'product test' the 10 or so inches of new snow.  It, like many of the Tahoe ski resorts, saw 5 feet of new snow over the past 7 days.  

I've learned that it's essential to make the most of the snow when it comes because it's never guaranteed when the next storm will be.

However in this case there is more snow forecast for this weekend, so I'll be keeping my phat boards in easy reach.  

The unseasonable and falsely happy high pressure system that kept us in blue skies and mild temps finally pissed off yesterday.  We're now left with gray clouds, mist and some surprisingly clear snow here in South Lake Tahoe.  I appreciate the efforts of some to get me snow for my birthday, but this current system backfired slightly.  Though I've been told by many it's supposed to cool off and snow levels may even drop to the elevation of our house. 

While resorts are reporting new snow (between 3-7 inches depending on who is overstating), it's wet enough here that we're headed to Mammoth, where the higher base elevation (9,000 feet vs. 6,200 feet) should ensure we see snow and not rain on our skis.

Soleil's stoked too, cause she's got a Heavenly bed reserved at the Westin Monache, Mammoth's only luxury hotel that just happens to be dog friendly.  It'll compensate for her hanging out in the car while we play in the snow all day. 

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. 

Today's snow was less powder, more packed powder (with some bumps).  Coverage is pretty good on the north facing slopes, and by now many of the hidden rocks are now visible.  I enjoyed it, but by midday I was ready to go home and take the much neglected dog for a cross country ski on our nearby meadow.  The snow by our house has definitely changed with today's 40 degree temps, and was heavy and wet in most places, making trail breaking a challenge.

And while forecasts are showing a high pressure system moving in this week, we'll be heading north to Bend where snow is falling.  After all, I have new phat skis to break in.