tseeb
Well-known member
Conditions for the only Vail-owned Tahoe ski area open did not compare to Admin's report from the same day at Alta. This was my only daytrip from the Bay Area this year. We arrived before 9:30 and EpicMix showed me getting on Cornice chair at 9:45. When I got to the chair for my second run, and more or less ran into ticket scanner who jumped from one side of the maze to other when I was was too close and moving, we discovered my pass was missing. I had unzipped pass pocket to remove ski watch and neglected to re-zip it and pass must have blown out on first run. Ticket scanner said it was his fault I ran into him and let me go up to ski down and look for my pass. The snow was soft enough that a lot of it was being pushed around and I could not find my pass. They would not let me go up again without a pass so I had to return to the car, get my ID , then I got a free replacement pass without much delay. Later, a ticket scanner told me my pass was found and turned into the office, but it was not there when I checked at the end of the day.
I had gotten separated from my friend and tried to ski close to the the lift a couple of runs as we had agreed to meet again on Cornice. While the groomed, east-facing Zachary run was soft enough, the shadier liftline was too firm and bumpy to ski the middle part of the lift. Eventually I took a run on Sentinel, also groomed and a little firmer since it faces NE. Then I took couple of runs to the left at the top of the lift, skiing along the cornice and hiking with skis on towards False Peak. Snow in the chute to the left of the False Peak Chute sign was excellent and the natural half-pipe Drain was also still in good shape and fun. Finally before noon, the liftline had softened so I skied it and my friend spotted me from the chair near the bottom. We did not get together until the next time up, then I skied east-facing Monte Wolf, where the shadier side of one of the gullies held good snow that I skied about three times during the day. Together, we went up The Reut three times, but the north-facing runs to the east of the chair had not been groomed for a while and, while snow was smooth, it was too soft. We skied the run under the chair twice, but I found the transition from fast and steep to much flatter and sticky too abrupt and went to the car to have lunch, a beer and rub on some wax. While my friend held the spot, I was able to move my car to within three cars of the chair.
After a long lunch break, I went up Cornice four more times, twice hiking with skis on toward False Peak and skiing shadier area where snow had softened. Then I took my skis off and hiked past False Peak and traversed to Notch Chute. Snow was not as good as expected. The left and shadier side was very good, but the sunnier right side was not compacted enough and too soft. I once had to stop in the middle of the chute when my tips got stuck in the soft snow before I could turn. Since I was starting to stick again on the flats, I returned to the car, waxed and loaded a beer and an apple in one pocket and added my flask and a water bottle to the phone, pass and keys in the other pocket. I was skiing in shorts since lunch as it was too warm to put shell pants back on. Kirkwood security was searching backpacks, but did not seem to care about bulging pockets. I have to wonder, if they can really ban alcohol from the top on last day of the year?
I skied Cornice twice more, hurrying my second run as I wanted to be at the top when they shut down lifts at 4 pm. I could have gotten one more ride on Cornice, but maybe it was better I did not as the last 50 of so chairs got pelted with snowballs. I stuck around for about 15 minutes and while they were a lot of costumes and some celebrating, I only saw two other people with beers. I headed for Sentinel for my last run. There were still people jumping off Jim's at 4:25 pm. While I found there is an easier entrance than the mandatory 15-20 feet of air over rocks (that I have done before), I left it to the 20 year-olds as I need to be in one piece to ski next Friday at Alpine, then go to Oregon. I finished the day with 18 runs on Cornice, three on the Reut for a total of over 26.5K. More pictures will added when I have more time.
I had gotten separated from my friend and tried to ski close to the the lift a couple of runs as we had agreed to meet again on Cornice. While the groomed, east-facing Zachary run was soft enough, the shadier liftline was too firm and bumpy to ski the middle part of the lift. Eventually I took a run on Sentinel, also groomed and a little firmer since it faces NE. Then I took couple of runs to the left at the top of the lift, skiing along the cornice and hiking with skis on towards False Peak. Snow in the chute to the left of the False Peak Chute sign was excellent and the natural half-pipe Drain was also still in good shape and fun. Finally before noon, the liftline had softened so I skied it and my friend spotted me from the chair near the bottom. We did not get together until the next time up, then I skied east-facing Monte Wolf, where the shadier side of one of the gullies held good snow that I skied about three times during the day. Together, we went up The Reut three times, but the north-facing runs to the east of the chair had not been groomed for a while and, while snow was smooth, it was too soft. We skied the run under the chair twice, but I found the transition from fast and steep to much flatter and sticky too abrupt and went to the car to have lunch, a beer and rub on some wax. While my friend held the spot, I was able to move my car to within three cars of the chair.
After a long lunch break, I went up Cornice four more times, twice hiking with skis on toward False Peak and skiing shadier area where snow had softened. Then I took my skis off and hiked past False Peak and traversed to Notch Chute. Snow was not as good as expected. The left and shadier side was very good, but the sunnier right side was not compacted enough and too soft. I once had to stop in the middle of the chute when my tips got stuck in the soft snow before I could turn. Since I was starting to stick again on the flats, I returned to the car, waxed and loaded a beer and an apple in one pocket and added my flask and a water bottle to the phone, pass and keys in the other pocket. I was skiing in shorts since lunch as it was too warm to put shell pants back on. Kirkwood security was searching backpacks, but did not seem to care about bulging pockets. I have to wonder, if they can really ban alcohol from the top on last day of the year?
I skied Cornice twice more, hurrying my second run as I wanted to be at the top when they shut down lifts at 4 pm. I could have gotten one more ride on Cornice, but maybe it was better I did not as the last 50 of so chairs got pelted with snowballs. I stuck around for about 15 minutes and while they were a lot of costumes and some celebrating, I only saw two other people with beers. I headed for Sentinel for my last run. There were still people jumping off Jim's at 4:25 pm. While I found there is an easier entrance than the mandatory 15-20 feet of air over rocks (that I have done before), I left it to the 20 year-olds as I need to be in one piece to ski next Friday at Alpine, then go to Oregon. I finished the day with 18 runs on Cornice, three on the Reut for a total of over 26.5K. More pictures will added when I have more time.
