Sierra at Tahoe, CA 3/27/2019

tseeb

Well-known member
I skied from a little after 11 to a little after 3 today using a free Tue-Thu ticket from ski show in San Jose.Sierra reported 3" new and another 3" or more fell during the day. It was white, but it was wet. I debated between Kirkwood and Sierra as choice was between slightly higher elevation (7800' vs 7300' base) and higher winds. When I reached decision point on my drive, Kirkwood was only showing lifts 1,5,6 and 7 and predicting winds up to 105 mph. They opened chairs 10 and 11, but closed everything at 3 pm due to lightning. Alpine and Squaw also were limited due to lightning.

Sierra did not want you to ride single on their highest lift, but winds did not seem that bad. I took a few runs on Grandview chair before going into lodge at top about noon to warm up and re-adjust boots. When I came out, I took Eastabout and then gate 2 into their side country. The top was good, but I followed track that led to very steep area that is probably cliffs in a normal season.
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A guy followed me through it and then we warmed up on the two short uphills on the way out.

He shared with me a couple of good powder stashes he'd been skiing, then went in for a break as he was there at opening. I went to the West Bowl chair via the Backside and Short Stuff lift for a couple of laps as it had stopped snowing and found a lot of untracked places to make turns. I took one more lap on top/Grandview chair before quitting, skiing some untracked I'd spotted next to Preachers Passion. After changing out of ski boots and having some pizza at the car, I went into Pub for Happy Hours where good selection of beers was $6.50 and chili or soup was $4 (Happy Hour prices.)

It started snowing heavily while I was there and continued in So. Tahoe where temp dropped from 41 to 34 degress. My drive to cabin was under 18 miles and about 30 mins even though I followed a new Mercedes SUV down from pass who could not keep up with snowplow. I'm considering dropping my limited $589 Vail Tahoe Local pass for an umlimited $369 Sierra pass that included Powder Alliance benefits.
 
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