tseeb
Well-known member
Usually I begin my season in Dec. at Kirkwood with a powder day. The second half of Feb. is probably the latest 1st day I've had there, especially in years with pass valid there. We arrived about 10 am after 45 minute drive from SLT after cleaning and closing up cabin. The second lot across from Timber Creek was already filling. My wife moved cones to get us into the third lot (which later almost filled) so we could be close enough to trees to give our dog shade. I quickly got $59 buddy passes for my wife and son and setup auto-charge so they are direct to lift (and my credit card) in the future. We rode our only very crowded lift, Hole-in-the-Wall, twice as my wife dropped bandana that we were able to retrieve. Next we went up Cornice and skied excellent groomed and fast Sentinel Bowl and returned to Hole-in-the-Wall lift again as my wife got ahead and missed way back to Cornice. We skied upper Monte Wolf as I avoided scraped off looking Zachary's. There were bumps, but it's East-facing into the sun and I was able to lead my wife first to the right, then to the left to avoid the worst bumps.
Kirkwood was hosting Daron Rahlves Banzai tour and we went up Reut chair which had a partial view of the course that started just below and lookers right of the Wall. Sat. was timed qualifying. Sun. it was four at a time skier and boarder-cross for over 1,000 vertical feet. Near the top of the Reut was a road crossing where we saw one skier launch a 90 foot jump and one boarder take out one of the Alaska Airlines banners. Snow was very good on Wagon Wheel run and we stopped at bottom of course to pickup Sierra Nevada and Jagermeister swag. The Wall chair had a much better view of course and more vertical so I rode it once solo, then again with my son. Snow on the Wall was excellent in many places and even the firm and very steep bumps just below the road at the top were skiable.
I returned to the car via Sentinel to check on the dog and ended up moving it closer to Mountain Village as I did not think there would be enough shade in PM where it was. After a break from skiing that was extended due to wife and I waiting for son to get done from Wall, we used Reut chair to move to Backside. Snow was good, but chair is still too slow for me to take more than a couple of runs. My wife and son exited via chair 3 while I took Thunder Saddle, which held good snow, but had more terrain than usual as it is not very filled in.
I went up Chair 2 and called my son and wife to see were they where. My wife answered and they were skiing down so I waited at top. They came up a chair apart and skied down as my wife had dropped her phone when she thought it was going into inside pocket. It was not on run and the tracking program my wife and I share showed it closer to Mountain Village. Whoever had it was not answering and did not turn it into Lost and Found. I tried to locate it using my phone by twice getting above them using Cornice chair, but location did not update often enough and eventually my phone died. I returned to car, charged phone, took off boots and moved to Timber Creek area where her phone showed. I dragged my beagle around lodge and rental return tents, but could never find it and was not sure if location of my wife's phone was moving or if that was only due to inaccuracy of program. Eventually I followed it out to parking lot where I asked a few people if they had found an iPhone before my phone died again. Only 18K due to late start, watching Banzai, moving vehicle, then trying to locate phone.
I picked up my wife and son at Mountain Village and we returned to Timber Creek parking where location was no longer updating we decided due to phone leaving area with data service as it still rang. We picked up the signal again on way back to Bay Area, but were a half hour behind. We could see they stopped in Lockeford and hoped it was for a long dinner. But signal started moving ahead of us until Sunol, where it stopped we hoped due to temp loss of data signal. But phone battery must have died as it never came back. It was a three year old iPhone 4 that cannot be put back in service in US and has now been remotely wiped, but we would have liked to have pulled up at finder's home and called 911 to see if police would help us recover it. Hopefully karma finds them instead.
Our excitement on way home was not over. Going up the Sunol Grade in empty Express Lane at 75-80, I noticed a few blinks of flashers a half mile up the hill in the fast lane although the heavy traffic seemed to be moving. Then we saw a car going backwards at about 20 mph move from fast lane into our lane. I was lucky there was a shoulder so I could avoid wrong way vehicle as shoulder ended before the top of the hill. There were vehicles stopped on right shoulder, possible due to accident, but we never learned more and were all left wondering WTF.
Only a few iPhone pictures as I did not get camera in my pocket. Another beautiful spring day. That is Notch Chute above the course in a couple of the pictures.
Kirkwood was hosting Daron Rahlves Banzai tour and we went up Reut chair which had a partial view of the course that started just below and lookers right of the Wall. Sat. was timed qualifying. Sun. it was four at a time skier and boarder-cross for over 1,000 vertical feet. Near the top of the Reut was a road crossing where we saw one skier launch a 90 foot jump and one boarder take out one of the Alaska Airlines banners. Snow was very good on Wagon Wheel run and we stopped at bottom of course to pickup Sierra Nevada and Jagermeister swag. The Wall chair had a much better view of course and more vertical so I rode it once solo, then again with my son. Snow on the Wall was excellent in many places and even the firm and very steep bumps just below the road at the top were skiable.
I returned to the car via Sentinel to check on the dog and ended up moving it closer to Mountain Village as I did not think there would be enough shade in PM where it was. After a break from skiing that was extended due to wife and I waiting for son to get done from Wall, we used Reut chair to move to Backside. Snow was good, but chair is still too slow for me to take more than a couple of runs. My wife and son exited via chair 3 while I took Thunder Saddle, which held good snow, but had more terrain than usual as it is not very filled in.
I went up Chair 2 and called my son and wife to see were they where. My wife answered and they were skiing down so I waited at top. They came up a chair apart and skied down as my wife had dropped her phone when she thought it was going into inside pocket. It was not on run and the tracking program my wife and I share showed it closer to Mountain Village. Whoever had it was not answering and did not turn it into Lost and Found. I tried to locate it using my phone by twice getting above them using Cornice chair, but location did not update often enough and eventually my phone died. I returned to car, charged phone, took off boots and moved to Timber Creek area where her phone showed. I dragged my beagle around lodge and rental return tents, but could never find it and was not sure if location of my wife's phone was moving or if that was only due to inaccuracy of program. Eventually I followed it out to parking lot where I asked a few people if they had found an iPhone before my phone died again. Only 18K due to late start, watching Banzai, moving vehicle, then trying to locate phone.
I picked up my wife and son at Mountain Village and we returned to Timber Creek parking where location was no longer updating we decided due to phone leaving area with data service as it still rang. We picked up the signal again on way back to Bay Area, but were a half hour behind. We could see they stopped in Lockeford and hoped it was for a long dinner. But signal started moving ahead of us until Sunol, where it stopped we hoped due to temp loss of data signal. But phone battery must have died as it never came back. It was a three year old iPhone 4 that cannot be put back in service in US and has now been remotely wiped, but we would have liked to have pulled up at finder's home and called 911 to see if police would help us recover it. Hopefully karma finds them instead.
Our excitement on way home was not over. Going up the Sunol Grade in empty Express Lane at 75-80, I noticed a few blinks of flashers a half mile up the hill in the fast lane although the heavy traffic seemed to be moving. Then we saw a car going backwards at about 20 mph move from fast lane into our lane. I was lucky there was a shoulder so I could avoid wrong way vehicle as shoulder ended before the top of the hill. There were vehicles stopped on right shoulder, possible due to accident, but we never learned more and were all left wondering WTF.
Only a few iPhone pictures as I did not get camera in my pocket. Another beautiful spring day. That is Notch Chute above the course in a couple of the pictures.
