tseeb
Well-known member
After skiing Snowbird and Alta until 12:30 on Sat, then driving 580 miles to SLT, the 45 min from cabin to Kirkwood turnoff felt short. When line of cars entering valley stopped for crosswalk far ahead, I was concerned I was not going to stop in time on very slick road so I went very lightly into snowbank to avoid vehicle ahead of me. No damage or problem getting out although vehicle I'd passed on the right in passing lane going up Carson Pass got past me. Parking along road by Timber Creek was full so I took one in first row of lot there. I thought I saw on Kirkwood’s twitter feed very early on Sunday that chair 10 would be on windhold all day but can only find 7:05 AM tweet with “SW-W winds 45-65mph with gusts 60-90mph decreasing throughout day. Winds may impact lift operations.”
Tahoe was under high wind warning from Sat PM until 11 AM Sun, but it stopped earlier than expected after leaving a very little new snow overnight at South Lake Tahoe and Kirkwood. Overnight winds at top of Ward Peak at Alpine peaked at 815 and 830 AM with sustained 77 and 80 mph and gusts of 102 and 100 mph, respectively. Kirkwood opened all frontside lifts by 9, although employee I rode Timber Creek with said winds caused even that well-protected lift to run slow early. Backside lifts were open by 10.
I couldn’t find pass in usual place so I got in longish ticket line to make sure one I did find would work. Employee working line asked if I only needed a day ticket and when I told her I wasn’t sure if I had the right pass she grabbed a scanner and said I was good to go (without waiting in long slow line). Since there was not much of a liftline at 9:30, I took loose boots, then tighter boots warmup laps on Timber Creek. The new snow was not enough to fill the groomer grooves. I moved to Cornice for three laps where I found better surface on Zacharys than Sentinel so I repeated it.
Next I moved to The Wall for what turned out to be five laps. I'd never seen the Easy Way Down sign at base of Wall (only easy way is to exit before loading). I thought entry to main Wall run was worse the previous Sunday.
The SW winds had blown in a lot of windsifted snow and by finding where it landed, there were routes on The Wall that skied great. These included far lookers right of main run, the gully below it and gullies between main run and top of Reut. I also found very good snow in Notch Chute although bumps in choke forced my routing through it more than l like. Conestoga and Shotgun were also good. Windsift on Wall.
Looking into Notch Chute (or could be All The Way)
I finished my Wall laps with All The Way chute where found a steep, very shaded face to skiers right to avoid the worse than Notch choke that I will have to repeat. I quit at 1230 with just over 15K and was home by 430, suffering though some traffic from 99/120 (I needed to make a couple of stops just off 99 between Stockton and Manteca) until on 680. I didn't have phone out to catch three guys throwing around the windsift in the gully at upper right of this picture.
Trip summary
Nights away from home 7
Nights in sleeping bag 3 (two at cabin, one in back of SUV in Wendover). Nights at Iron Blosam 4
Days skied 8 - Kirkwood 2, Heavenly 1, Alta only 1, Snowbird only 1, Alta and Snowbird both 3
Averaged 20.5K vertical per day with two 27K days, 14K on limited visibility powder day and 13.3K on departure day in UT
Miles driven 1601. Least expensive gas Costco SLC $3.799 (3/8). Most expensive Arco Lathrop Rd/99 $5.259 (3/13 - did not need it to make it home, but cheapest gas at home is $4.99 and not very close/convenient).
Total spent on gas ~$310 includes ~$60 on 3/7 at Maverik station E of Carson that I don't yet see on credit card I use.
Tahoe was under high wind warning from Sat PM until 11 AM Sun, but it stopped earlier than expected after leaving a very little new snow overnight at South Lake Tahoe and Kirkwood. Overnight winds at top of Ward Peak at Alpine peaked at 815 and 830 AM with sustained 77 and 80 mph and gusts of 102 and 100 mph, respectively. Kirkwood opened all frontside lifts by 9, although employee I rode Timber Creek with said winds caused even that well-protected lift to run slow early. Backside lifts were open by 10.
I couldn’t find pass in usual place so I got in longish ticket line to make sure one I did find would work. Employee working line asked if I only needed a day ticket and when I told her I wasn’t sure if I had the right pass she grabbed a scanner and said I was good to go (without waiting in long slow line). Since there was not much of a liftline at 9:30, I took loose boots, then tighter boots warmup laps on Timber Creek. The new snow was not enough to fill the groomer grooves. I moved to Cornice for three laps where I found better surface on Zacharys than Sentinel so I repeated it.
Next I moved to The Wall for what turned out to be five laps. I'd never seen the Easy Way Down sign at base of Wall (only easy way is to exit before loading). I thought entry to main Wall run was worse the previous Sunday.
The SW winds had blown in a lot of windsifted snow and by finding where it landed, there were routes on The Wall that skied great. These included far lookers right of main run, the gully below it and gullies between main run and top of Reut. I also found very good snow in Notch Chute although bumps in choke forced my routing through it more than l like. Conestoga and Shotgun were also good. Windsift on Wall.
Looking into Notch Chute (or could be All The Way)
I finished my Wall laps with All The Way chute where found a steep, very shaded face to skiers right to avoid the worse than Notch choke that I will have to repeat. I quit at 1230 with just over 15K and was home by 430, suffering though some traffic from 99/120 (I needed to make a couple of stops just off 99 between Stockton and Manteca) until on 680. I didn't have phone out to catch three guys throwing around the windsift in the gully at upper right of this picture.
Trip summary
Nights away from home 7
Nights in sleeping bag 3 (two at cabin, one in back of SUV in Wendover). Nights at Iron Blosam 4
Days skied 8 - Kirkwood 2, Heavenly 1, Alta only 1, Snowbird only 1, Alta and Snowbird both 3
Averaged 20.5K vertical per day with two 27K days, 14K on limited visibility powder day and 13.3K on departure day in UT
Miles driven 1601. Least expensive gas Costco SLC $3.799 (3/8). Most expensive Arco Lathrop Rd/99 $5.259 (3/13 - did not need it to make it home, but cheapest gas at home is $4.99 and not very close/convenient).
Total spent on gas ~$310 includes ~$60 on 3/7 at Maverik station E of Carson that I don't yet see on credit card I use.
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