tseeb
Well-known member
Diamond Peak, NV 4/2/2016
I gave my wife the choice of leaving home at 5-6 AM and skiing Kirkwood or leaving at 8 AM and driving further to Diamond Peak to watch some of the Dummy Downhill, then skiing 2-4 PM as part of the Last Tracks wine tasting from 4-6 PM. She really enjoyed our previous Last Tracks (see viewtopic.php?f=3&t=11368&p=71395 ) so that is where we went. We had to park about 1/2 mile below the lodge and after walking up saw the last 10 or 12 entrants in Dummy Downhill which was entertaining. There are pictures of most of the entries on their Facebook page.
The $32 Last Tracks ticket includes skiing from 2-4 PM, which are not the two best hours at Diamond Peak, located in the warm NW corner of Lake Tahoe and may even face more W than Heavenly. This is especially true on an April day when the temperature range was 60/37 - South Lake Tahoe reported the same high with a low of 28. We rode Lakeview chair and had to push a couple of places to get down Freeway to Crystal Express lift. The W-facing Crystal Ridge, with incredible views of Lake Tahoe, was slushy.
After turning down more N-facing, black diamond Diamondback, the snow was much better, but getting past the base of the chair to the lodge, where my wife need to make a comfort stop was very slushy and crowded with beginners.
While she was in lodge, I made two laps on N-facing runs where snow was good under top of Lakeview chair, but you had to cross a sticky exposed area to get to the bottom. My wife did not want to come out again so I returned to Crystal Express, where I skied the Thunder entrance to Thunder and Lightning. While there were signs warning of thin snow, it was thin enough that I tried to bail to Lightning, but could not due to bare ground blocking my path so I had to pick my way through. View attachment 7The rest of the run was OK and I repeated it using the Lightning entrance. I also repeated Diamondback, then skied further down Crystal Ridge and skied N-facing Luggis where snow was good on left side that was getting some shade. I skied to the bottom and rode up Lakeview chair before 4 to join Last Tracks.
The run down after 2 hours of wine tasting and heavy appetizers was interesting. My wife and I were some of the first of the 75 attendees ready to go and the patroller said we could so we had freshly groomed corduroy that skied well, even though temp was probably still above 50. My watch counted 10 runs and 10,850'. My watch counted 10 runs and 10,850'.
Northstar, CA 4/3/2016
All groomers and skied with my wife all day (except she sat out one run before lunch) until we separated on last run and I got an extra lap on Backside looking for her. Friend that I stayed with joined us after an hour or two. My wife and I got to Lookout Mountain where snow was very good on runs to looker left, but Martis Creek lift had a couple of long stoppages that drove us away.
Northstar had passholder appreciation party at the top from 1-3 where they gave away a decent lunch and non-alcoholic drink to passholders willing to brave the long lines to get in and get food. They also had music and a raffle at 2:30 that we returned after skiing a Backside run to not hear our numbers called. The other highlight of my day was that my season vertical was over 1 million and 15 thousand feet, my first year over a million. EpicMix counted 15 lifts and 24K after I added one missing lift.
Squaw Valley (now Palisades), CA (edited out NV that was here) 4/4/2016
I used the first of my this year's two MCP Squalpine days at Squaw yesterday. My wife skied on a ticket that she received for spending $100 at a local ski shop's Snowfest. I think Squaw was charging $129. We rode the Funitel and skied three laps on SE-facing Gold Coast lift where snow was softening quickly from the sun, especially on the 'steeper' pitch that I repeated. My wife took a few more runs there while I moved to Siberia where it was entertaining to watch skiers with barely intermediate skills try to handle steeper firm groomers to looker's left. I found good snow on both groomers and more good snow and some interesting terrain the rest of the way down. I rejoined my wife near top of Gold Coast and we took one lap on Shirley Lake, where steep pitch at bottom was still firm. We then skied Upper Oregon Trail to Silverado. I was hoping for Lower Oregon Trail or Smoothie, but both of these Spring runs I have never done before require Silverado to be running and it was not.
We skied to below top of tram and rode short lift to High Camp to use facilities and try to catch start of Giants home opener, but did not find any TVs. We then skied down to Big Blue, which I sent my wife up it to get to Shirley Lake while I skied already slushy mountain run to base. I went up KT and skied Saddle, with a couple of short alternates, then went up Headwall and skied the Face before cutting over to Siberia where I took two laps on the steep face looker's right of the chair, then down excellent groomed, but hardly skied Race Course. I met my wife in the bar at 1 where we saw a couple of innings of Giants victory before she joined me for a couple of laps on Siberia. She got too low to get to the Funitel to download so I left her to ride Gold Coast to get there without walking while I finished with a couple of laps on Headwall. I had not seen anyone skiing North Bowl, but while going up lift, I saw ski patrol turning the signs from closed to firm so I went down a line I had been eyeing from the bar. The snow was still firm, but edge-able after 2 pm. I finished my day with an 'easy entrance' to The Slot followed by Classic Chute at closer to 3 pm. I had to stop in Classic Chute to let the wet sluff I was setting off go down without taking me out. I could have skied more steeps until closing if I didn't have to save some energy for the drive home after. 24 lifts/23K
I gave my wife the choice of leaving home at 5-6 AM and skiing Kirkwood or leaving at 8 AM and driving further to Diamond Peak to watch some of the Dummy Downhill, then skiing 2-4 PM as part of the Last Tracks wine tasting from 4-6 PM. She really enjoyed our previous Last Tracks (see viewtopic.php?f=3&t=11368&p=71395 ) so that is where we went. We had to park about 1/2 mile below the lodge and after walking up saw the last 10 or 12 entrants in Dummy Downhill which was entertaining. There are pictures of most of the entries on their Facebook page.
The $32 Last Tracks ticket includes skiing from 2-4 PM, which are not the two best hours at Diamond Peak, located in the warm NW corner of Lake Tahoe and may even face more W than Heavenly. This is especially true on an April day when the temperature range was 60/37 - South Lake Tahoe reported the same high with a low of 28. We rode Lakeview chair and had to push a couple of places to get down Freeway to Crystal Express lift. The W-facing Crystal Ridge, with incredible views of Lake Tahoe, was slushy.
While she was in lodge, I made two laps on N-facing runs where snow was good under top of Lakeview chair, but you had to cross a sticky exposed area to get to the bottom. My wife did not want to come out again so I returned to Crystal Express, where I skied the Thunder entrance to Thunder and Lightning. While there were signs warning of thin snow, it was thin enough that I tried to bail to Lightning, but could not due to bare ground blocking my path so I had to pick my way through. View attachment 7The rest of the run was OK and I repeated it using the Lightning entrance. I also repeated Diamondback, then skied further down Crystal Ridge and skied N-facing Luggis where snow was good on left side that was getting some shade. I skied to the bottom and rode up Lakeview chair before 4 to join Last Tracks.
Northstar, CA 4/3/2016
All groomers and skied with my wife all day (except she sat out one run before lunch) until we separated on last run and I got an extra lap on Backside looking for her. Friend that I stayed with joined us after an hour or two. My wife and I got to Lookout Mountain where snow was very good on runs to looker left, but Martis Creek lift had a couple of long stoppages that drove us away.
Northstar had passholder appreciation party at the top from 1-3 where they gave away a decent lunch and non-alcoholic drink to passholders willing to brave the long lines to get in and get food. They also had music and a raffle at 2:30 that we returned after skiing a Backside run to not hear our numbers called. The other highlight of my day was that my season vertical was over 1 million and 15 thousand feet, my first year over a million. EpicMix counted 15 lifts and 24K after I added one missing lift.
Squaw Valley (now Palisades), CA (edited out NV that was here) 4/4/2016
I used the first of my this year's two MCP Squalpine days at Squaw yesterday. My wife skied on a ticket that she received for spending $100 at a local ski shop's Snowfest. I think Squaw was charging $129. We rode the Funitel and skied three laps on SE-facing Gold Coast lift where snow was softening quickly from the sun, especially on the 'steeper' pitch that I repeated. My wife took a few more runs there while I moved to Siberia where it was entertaining to watch skiers with barely intermediate skills try to handle steeper firm groomers to looker's left. I found good snow on both groomers and more good snow and some interesting terrain the rest of the way down. I rejoined my wife near top of Gold Coast and we took one lap on Shirley Lake, where steep pitch at bottom was still firm. We then skied Upper Oregon Trail to Silverado. I was hoping for Lower Oregon Trail or Smoothie, but both of these Spring runs I have never done before require Silverado to be running and it was not.
We skied to below top of tram and rode short lift to High Camp to use facilities and try to catch start of Giants home opener, but did not find any TVs. We then skied down to Big Blue, which I sent my wife up it to get to Shirley Lake while I skied already slushy mountain run to base. I went up KT and skied Saddle, with a couple of short alternates, then went up Headwall and skied the Face before cutting over to Siberia where I took two laps on the steep face looker's right of the chair, then down excellent groomed, but hardly skied Race Course. I met my wife in the bar at 1 where we saw a couple of innings of Giants victory before she joined me for a couple of laps on Siberia. She got too low to get to the Funitel to download so I left her to ride Gold Coast to get there without walking while I finished with a couple of laps on Headwall. I had not seen anyone skiing North Bowl, but while going up lift, I saw ski patrol turning the signs from closed to firm so I went down a line I had been eyeing from the bar. The snow was still firm, but edge-able after 2 pm. I finished my day with an 'easy entrance' to The Slot followed by Classic Chute at closer to 3 pm. I had to stop in Classic Chute to let the wet sluff I was setting off go down without taking me out. I could have skied more steeps until closing if I didn't have to save some energy for the drive home after. 24 lifts/23K
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