Kirkwood, CA January 21-22, 2026

[tseeb]

Kirkwood, CA January 21. I didn’t know until Tues evening when I was going as if my son wanted a ride, I would have driven him on Thurs. He had a remote interview on Wed. for a job at Stanford that he did not want to do from parking lot (or lodge). I arrived much earlier than planned as our dog woke us up three or four times in the night to be let out. After 3 AM wakeup, I got up and was out of the house by 4:30 and at Kirkwood at 8. Carson Spur on the way.

I parked next to Datsun 510 wagon that was lifted, had studded tires and Subaru AWD underneath. The guy driving it built it, has many others including 510 race cars and plans to build a 510 sedan using WRX drivetrain. Also a nice TR-6 next to it.

Friend who has house at Kirkwood that is leased this Winter, and his brother were staying at The Meadows and invited me over for a coffee so it was 930 before I got on Cornice lift a lap ahead of them. They like Sentinel more than Zachary’s and we also did bumped-out Olympic with me dropping into chute between it and Janek which was smoother and very good.

We met up with couple from Gardnerville who I later learned were Burning Man friends of friend’s brother. The girlfriend was getting back to skiing after almost a year off after ACL injury and still taking it easy. The guys all went to Backside that we rode 4x. Groomers were very good while ungroomed Hully Gully was firm on re-frozen sunny side. We exited via Thunder Saddle and two of group skied Two Man chute while friend’s brother and I skied main run. After a lap on the Reut we took two on The Wall where friend took this photo of big bowl behind it. You had to be careful the first couple of turns entering The Wall and the main run looked bumped out, but the wide face/gully (lower Headwaters) between it and Eagle Bowl was smooth, great snow. I got further right towards Norm’s Nose on 2nd lap and found excellent snow on smooth, very steep line.

We returned for a couple more laps on Sentinel from Cornice chair and one on ungroomed Monte Wolfe (friend followed by his un-helmeted brother)

with them quitting a little before me to head to 7800 for $4 beers and maybe dinner. I drove to So. Tahoe where nephew got me suite ticket for Harlem Globetrotters game at Tahoe Blue Event Center that was not very well attended so I sat closer to court on less full side. Nephew was in the rafter working the spotlights.

I'm going back to Kirkwood today where my son is supposed to be joining me. Then plan is Heavenly on Friday and for a couple of hours on Saturday. Garmin watch counted 21 lifts/22.5K and says I skied from 930 until almost 3. Following taken by friend Greg who they called the King of Selfies. Both were on The Reut. First one is the four of us on way to Backside at 11.

Next one includes Gardnerville friend's girlfriend and was taken at top of Buckboard about 1 PM.

 

[ChrisC]

I arrived much earlier than planned as our dog woke us up three or four times in the night to be let out. After 3 AM wakeup, I got up and was out of the house by 4:30 and at Kirkwood at 8. Carson Spur on the way.

I always chuckle at traffic complaints from Denver skiers on I-70 to the Front Range ski resorts, or Utah skiers driving up/down to Big or Little Cottonwood Canyons.

Bay Area skiers have been doing this for many decades when driving to Tahoe, leaving at very off-beat hours to avoid traffic. One can suggest departure times from 4 AM to 10/11 PM to go to Tahoe without much protest. Only 7-9-hour return journeys seem to generate any second-guessing or frustration.

 

[tseeb]

Kirkwood, CA January 22, 2026
I left our SLT cabin at 8 and turned into Kirkwood 45 minutes later and parked where cats cross road by Timber Creek base. My son was on his way from Santa Clara so I took a few laps on chair 7/Timber Creek/low intermediate hi-speed quad to be close when he arrived. When he got there I realized I had time for a lap on Cornice/chair 6/their only steep high-speed quad and skied Sentinel before meeting him. We located ticket shack and he bought $81 ticket (including $5 for re-usable card) using my pass discount. We moved to Cornice and met up with friend and his brother who I'd skied with on previous day and were staying at Kirkwood. We did 4 laps on Cornice; three were Sentinel and one Zachary’s before moving to The Reut where we met up with Dave from England who hosted my wife and I hiking in their Lake District the year before last and is in N America for two months.

We all skied The Reut once before moving to chair 2 on next time up to ski the Backside/chair 4/Sunrise. We did a couple of excellent groomer laps there; Elevator Shaft and near The Wave and were going to return to frontside via Thunder Saddle, but Greg hit tower 2 with his ski when stowing his poles and it dropped. He was going to ski down on one ski but realized when unloading that would not be a good idea. Liftee said he’d have someone pick it up, but I got to it much sooner and brought it up.

Then we moved to exit Backside via Thunder Saddle. I found very nice snow on the N side of gully on the way there, then went down some of Two Man Chute before cutting into One Man where I took these photos of my son. In the first one he is a little wild.

He looks more in control in the next one. (He's wearing T-shirt. I wore thin base layer, thicker middle layer and thin and not windproof jacket)

I thought the last one would be a throwaway as he went past, but it is the best.

Dave, Sean and I went into Monte Wolfe’s to drink some water and have some snacks while Greg and Hugh lapped The Reut. Volunteer took this of us five at top when we got back together.

We all took a few more laps on The Reut’s excellent groomers including Conestoga which had been groomed to the top vs. big bumps there on previous day before going up The Wall. The first couple of turns were trying, but I found excellent snow in lower Headwaters. I didn’t realize my son was nearby when I came down steep nose so we repeated it so he could take photos. These are couple of good ones he took of me.

And the best. Almost looks like I'm skiing powder. Or at least it's Winter snow.

I took some of him lower down, but he's in the shade and not in steeper area to lookers left that I tried to point him towards.

Sean also took a good selfie of us on Reut lift although I'm squinting without goggles or sunglasses.

We did another lap on Cornice skiing Olympic into my favorite chute just to the right that patroller told me is called shot 20. Instead on doing another lap on Cornice, we skied Home Run to Timber Creek and cooled down with an easy lap there quitting before 3:30 and being joined for tailgating by Dave who was parked nearby. My watch counted 25 lifts (more than usual on short hi-speed Timber Creek) and 23.4K.