Heavenly, CA and NV January 23-24, 2026

[tseeb]

Friday, January 23, 2026 We didn't start until 910 as it took a while to get my son up, then he had to pack as he quit skiing and left to return home after about 4 hours. He made breakfast burritos with leftover from night before carne picada and scrambled eggs. And he took a two-mile so he wouldn't have to later.

Skiing and the views were Heavenly.

Although some of us are getting old. Photo credit to Sean who thought we should move sign into sun. This is near top of California trail.

We skied a lot of groomers. Ungroomed included the N-facing part of Milky Way Bowl that I skied 3x. Twice was coming from CA and once was from Dipper chair. I tried to repay Sean for the photos he took of me at Kirkwood on previous day. Taken in Milky Way Bowl when we moved to NV at 10:10.

Other ungroomed included Boulder Chute that I skied with Sean and The Y in Mott Canyon that I skied after he left. I ended my day with a high entrance into Gunbarrel then skied East Bowl and World Cup finishing just before 4 with 24 lifts and 33.4K which brought my average day vertical for season back to 25K. I could have taken another lap on Gunbarrel chair as I saw others racing to do and gotten 35K but it was getting icy and easier alternative would be too busy.

Coming from CA I easily got into Mott Canyon Gate A. I stayed high on ridge between Mott and Killibrew (gate was closed going to SE-facing Under the Gun in Killibrew) and worked my way down almost to Rocky Point sign. I looked down into the Y but entered a little further down as I didn't want to sideslip into chute.

Looking up at where I didn't enter and then looking down (maybe is more across than down) from same place.

Further down The Y that had excellent snow I hit a rock in middle of chute. I looked up to see what I hit then saw it was a small rock that was sliding down.

I threw it into hole under a tree on side of chute.

Skied a lot of the day with Dave from England who hosted us hiking in their Lake District Autumn before last, is in US until Feb. 28 and was planning to take Saturday off. Photos of him on Comet run.

Friend who had been skiing at Kirkwood since Tues came over and skied Heavenly with me for a few hours on Sat before I quit return home and he went back to Kirkwood where his son will be. We made a quick trip to Ace hardware, catching them just before they closed, then had a long stop at the Libation Lounge before hitting Target for tortillas to make dinner burritos with rest of the carne and ice cream for dessert. Garmin map of my day.

(to be continued)

 

[Tony Crocker]

brought my average day vertical for season back to 25K.

Tseeb has always averaged more vertical per day that I have (lifetime 19.4K), and the gap is growing in recent seasons. I'm curious about how many lifetime days over 40K. I have nine, and it would take very rare circumstances for me to do that again.

 

[tseeb]

I don't have as complete records as @Tony Crocker but probably didn't have 40K+ days before I started tracking in 2003-04. I have the following:
Bachelor 2/18/15 45.6K on my way to first time at Mustang with Shigella after spending night in SUV at Sunriver Brewing parking lot
Heavenly 4/5/17 41K Notes includes 1st time Fulstone Canyon. Stateline Chute and 5x more in Mott so probably could have gotten more
Northstar 2/2/22 Exactly 40K
Schweitzer 2/14/23 40.8K in 6 hrs 10 min

I wouldn't trust numbers from current Epic app that I am not running (and I really don't like being held up in liftline by people with their pass loaded on their phone). Friend and his brother who skied Kirkwood with us on Wed and Thurs claimed 25 runs, 30K and 24 1/2 miles on Thurs, data that I think they got from the app. My watch counted 25 runs, 23.4K and 26.06 miles. I started and ended about 30 minutes before and after them and skied a lot of low intermediate, but high-speed Timber Creek while waiting for my son to arrive. They did 2 or 3 laps on steep, but low-speed and 890 vertical Reut chair while my son and Dave from England and I took a break at lodge near base of chair to re-hydrate. And somebody on FB responded to question in Tahoe Epic Pass Holder which had better current conditions: Heavenly, Kirkwood or Northstar with "Northstar has great grooming and conditions. Did 134 miles and 113,000 vertical feet there between Tuesday and Thursday this week." Not sure if he meant two days or three. While possible in two days, it would require lapping Backside 30 times plus skiing from top to base once. And the correct answer, unless wind is closing lifts, is always Kirkwood.

 

[tseeb]

Heavenly, NV and CA Saturday January 24, 2026
I think Heavenly was the only place with unpredicted new snow. Snowline was ~8K and it was only ~0.5 inch, maybe a little deeper in Milky Way Bowl on the right side of Big Dipper along trees that blocked the Evil East Wind. Very cold up high. High in South Lake Tahoe was 37. I loaded slow and prone to stopping Boulder chair about 5 minutes before 9 AM scheduled opening. Parking there is free and available vs. paid on weekends CA bases and prone to filling early Stagecoach. We skied to CA, which was more out of the wind than NV, for a couple of runs and rode Sky chair 3x. My friend Greg in front of same logo sign that I posted photo of my son and I on previous day. No Lakeview @945.

Partially hidden North Bowl run and snowline on peak behind it. I skied it my last run. Some was good, there were obstacles and some was firm.

Top of North Bowl chair with clouds blowing over and blocking view of Dipper @1107. I also went up Olympic chair once and found good snow.

Top of Upper North Bowl run with snow in trees. Note that N and W sides of Lake were clear.

I quit at 1135 with 14.2K lowering my season average to 24.2, but I had 10 days in January, all mid-week except this day. Instead of Be Kind, they should say be aware as many chairs on Boulder went up empty, high-speed quads often had 2 people (only lines more than a minute or two were on Sky) and I had a couple of people pass me way too closely. My car is in back of front row behind the tan SUV under sign.