Kirkwood, CA 4/21/01

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Anonymous

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Another cold, wet week in the Bay Area left snow on top of the Coast Range mountains. And, for the third Saturday in a row, I was off to Kirkwood. <BR> <BR>There were no waits at the pass this time, since the heaviest snows had quit by midnight or so. I *was* forced to put on chains around 4000ft, though, which made for a loud and slow ride up 88. Only half of that ride was on actual snow, and what snow I did drive on was perhaps 1/2" deep. Seeing how people still insisted on driving 65 on such a surface made me understand why they try to slow you down with chains. We saw only three vehicles off the road this time, and only one was actually wrecked. <BR> <BR>I could see "that look" on the stranded driver's face: "How could this happen? I have four-wheel drive, dammit!" <BR> <BR>We arrived at 9am to another day of boot-deep powder on top of two feet of cut-up powder from the day before. The full 40" of dumpage could be gauged by simply leaving the beaten path. Once again, Sentinel Bowl paid off big with lightly-tracked trees and gullies. Sadly, the California Sun arrived at 10am, and the Sierra Cement began to form at 10:05am. Within one lift ride's time, all east-facing aspects turned to bottomless, <BR>leg-disarticulating slop. I decided to climb up above the Cornice Express chair to find something steep, cold, and deep, and found a promising hole in the cornice that dropped you into a steep bowl above a few wooded chutes. A few pokes with my poles, a few deep breaths, and a short hop sent me through the opening. <BR> <BR>*Thump* <BR> <BR>Despite landing 45deg off the fall line on a 40deg slope, I was stuck fast in knee-deep snow. A wind/sun crust had formed in the consistency of stale brownies, and I found myself struggling to dig out my skis. I stepped and poled my way down a few hundred feet of vertical to the trees, where softer and smoother snow let me link turns down a Left Gully-like drainage back to "The Wall" chairlift. <BR> <BR>Note to self: buy mid-fats if you stay in California. <BR> <BR>OK, from now on, only north and west aspects will be skied! Many of these were quite good, with the steep gullies below The Wall providing lots of spring-skiing fun. The snow surface was still frightening, though. Steep aspects were coated in thick, sticky crud, and flat sections had thawed and refrozen into wet, hard, rutted tracks. What was odd is that this rutted surface would often crack, sending your ski tips into the cold powder trapped underneath. It wasn't an ice crust--there was no cracking or breaking--it was a 3-6" layer of that brownie-like layer. You could punch your hand down through it and find the previous night's powder, still ice cold and fluffy! <BR> <BR>Isn't this prime avalanche conditions? Hmm. Interesting how the top surface could have the look and feel of packed, scraped, moguled, and rutted hardpack, with this stuff lurking underneath. <BR> <BR>Ah well, not the best skiing surface, but the weather was perfect. With overpriced Tahoe cafeteria food being as bad as it is, we paid the extra $1 and had reebs and Satay Chicken skewers on the sundeck. And really, it *was* April 21st.
 
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