tseeb
Well-known member
Tuesday 3/7/23
I should have been there Monday, but was still catching up after getting home from 2 1/2 week ski trip a week earlier. The Carson Spur avalanche zone on my short route to Kirkwood, did not re-open until Tues. at 5 PM after only being open 22 hrs during previous week. Heavenly is far for an early AM trip so I drove up Mon afternoon in 4 1/2 hrs with two short stops. No chain control, but a couple of delays for snow removal and chain control did go on later Monday evening. Heavenly said they would not open highest level in both CA and NV on Mon and not to expect much until 11, but got everthing open, most earlier than predicted, including Mott at 1240. They reported 3” new Mon and 4” Tues when more fell after they measured. My soon to hit 296K Pilot in driveway Tues AM.
I joined line for first (9 AM) tram about 820. Friend who used to often get first chair on Gunbarrel was 2nd in line. He’s moved to tram to take advantage of bench after breaking femur and pelvis when heel pulled out of ski the day after my wife’s crash last Jan. I took a quick lap on Ridge Run into Ridge Bowl before tightening boots.
Next time up Sky I went to NV and skied high entrance into Milky Way Bowl. The first couple of turns were deep, but snow quickly became inconsisent, maybe partially due to traverse tracks, but may have been wind-affected as it did not ski that deep. I took a lap on Dipper skiing deep new snow on Dipper Line into Dipper Bowl, where big hard bumps quickly found under new snow so I went to right to find smoother line. Exit track had hardly been set. I did 3-4 minute hike into Nova for some deeper totally untracked.
Next time up I skied across top of Milky Way Bowl coming down between it and ropeline to Killibrew. I went into Mott and got first tracks into the shorter steep lookers left leg of the Y. After me and a snowboarder skied it, all the new snow had sluffed.
Next Mott lap, I skied Widowmaker into ridge between it and Snake Eyes. Next time up Mott I exited via NV trail to North Bowl lift finding some untracked on sides of run. I skied deep almost untracked above East Peak Lodge then rode Comet skiing Ariel Woods. I rode Dipper and found very good snow in first treeline to right of Milky Way Bowl and found some great steep untracked in North 40 or Promise Land. I didn’t see sign there but did see signs for new runs something somewhat scatological Chute and Susie’s Saddle and some cliff bands.
View of Boundary Chutes in Killibrew Canyon from ridge on way to location of previous photos. Maybe I get over there today.
I again exited Mott via Nevada Trail to North Bowl left finding a lot of untracked to right of face above lift base. I skied Upper North Bowl and rode Olympic then skied Firebreak for first time since end of March 2019.
It was as good as remembered with lightly tracked powder for most of the over 3K vertical. I thought I’d gotten too low but found nice luge track that did not require any hiking, only a couple of skates, then climb over berm onto exit road. I ate my lunch on gondola that was on windhold early, then opened at 10 and went into too warm lodge at top to refill my water.
I took a warmup on Tamarack, skiing some of California Trail before catching some untracked cutting back toward lift. I exited Nevada to left of California Trail, probably went in too high as there were a lot of windlips and not many linked turns until I was halfway back to CA trail that I crossed at entrance to Maggies Canyon. A snowboarder asked me to show him the way out and I took him over a knoll with about a 50’ steep and deep untracked drop. He said it was best snow of the day. I rode Powder Bowl and Canyon skiing some lightly tracked between High Five and Ridge, then crossed Ridge Bowl and found more good snow to left of Waterfall, skiing some of old chair line. At top of Groove, I skied into Hogsback, finding very good lightly tracked to Roundabout. I dropped off corner into Pistol, crossed Gunbarrel and skied World Cup to bottom about 240.
SkiTracks had stopped recording on my gondola run as battery dropped to 1%. I recharged it on the ride to 75%, but not sure how much its 22.5K missed. I also have to question its 10,156 max altitude recorded when top of Monument Peak, higher that any lift, is 10,067. EpicMix counted 16 lifts, but missed 5. When I added those back, I got 23K which seems a little low, but I’ll take it. I shoveled at cabin for 2 hours, mostly roof as I don’t want the 4’ feet of snow on it getting saturated with r--n from warm storm later in week. I knocked the icicles off above bedroom window except the big one which I’ll try to break with a hammer and big screwdriver before it falls on its own and possibly breaks windows. I’m returning to Heavenly Wed and will try to get to Kirkwood, where 10’ new is predicted over next 10 days, on my way home on Thurs.
I should have been there Monday, but was still catching up after getting home from 2 1/2 week ski trip a week earlier. The Carson Spur avalanche zone on my short route to Kirkwood, did not re-open until Tues. at 5 PM after only being open 22 hrs during previous week. Heavenly is far for an early AM trip so I drove up Mon afternoon in 4 1/2 hrs with two short stops. No chain control, but a couple of delays for snow removal and chain control did go on later Monday evening. Heavenly said they would not open highest level in both CA and NV on Mon and not to expect much until 11, but got everthing open, most earlier than predicted, including Mott at 1240. They reported 3” new Mon and 4” Tues when more fell after they measured. My soon to hit 296K Pilot in driveway Tues AM.
I joined line for first (9 AM) tram about 820. Friend who used to often get first chair on Gunbarrel was 2nd in line. He’s moved to tram to take advantage of bench after breaking femur and pelvis when heel pulled out of ski the day after my wife’s crash last Jan. I took a quick lap on Ridge Run into Ridge Bowl before tightening boots.
Next time up I skied across top of Milky Way Bowl coming down between it and ropeline to Killibrew. I went into Mott and got first tracks into the shorter steep lookers left leg of the Y. After me and a snowboarder skied it, all the new snow had sluffed.
Next Mott lap, I skied Widowmaker into ridge between it and Snake Eyes. Next time up Mott I exited via NV trail to North Bowl lift finding some untracked on sides of run. I skied deep almost untracked above East Peak Lodge then rode Comet skiing Ariel Woods. I rode Dipper and found very good snow in first treeline to right of Milky Way Bowl and found some great steep untracked in North 40 or Promise Land. I didn’t see sign there but did see signs for new runs something somewhat scatological Chute and Susie’s Saddle and some cliff bands.
View of Boundary Chutes in Killibrew Canyon from ridge on way to location of previous photos. Maybe I get over there today.
I took a warmup on Tamarack, skiing some of California Trail before catching some untracked cutting back toward lift. I exited Nevada to left of California Trail, probably went in too high as there were a lot of windlips and not many linked turns until I was halfway back to CA trail that I crossed at entrance to Maggies Canyon. A snowboarder asked me to show him the way out and I took him over a knoll with about a 50’ steep and deep untracked drop. He said it was best snow of the day. I rode Powder Bowl and Canyon skiing some lightly tracked between High Five and Ridge, then crossed Ridge Bowl and found more good snow to left of Waterfall, skiing some of old chair line. At top of Groove, I skied into Hogsback, finding very good lightly tracked to Roundabout. I dropped off corner into Pistol, crossed Gunbarrel and skied World Cup to bottom about 240.
SkiTracks had stopped recording on my gondola run as battery dropped to 1%. I recharged it on the ride to 75%, but not sure how much its 22.5K missed. I also have to question its 10,156 max altitude recorded when top of Monument Peak, higher that any lift, is 10,067. EpicMix counted 16 lifts, but missed 5. When I added those back, I got 23K which seems a little low, but I’ll take it. I shoveled at cabin for 2 hours, mostly roof as I don’t want the 4’ feet of snow on it getting saturated with r--n from warm storm later in week. I knocked the icicles off above bedroom window except the big one which I’ll try to break with a hammer and big screwdriver before it falls on its own and possibly breaks windows. I’m returning to Heavenly Wed and will try to get to Kirkwood, where 10’ new is predicted over next 10 days, on my way home on Thurs.
. Concur, this TR is a solidly good ski day at Heavenly.