tseeb
Well-known member
It has not snowed much for three weeks and rained a little late last week, then again on Sat. 1/15 all the way to the top of Squaw. Temperatures have been warm in CA, mid 50s in the Sierras, approaching 70 in the SF Bay Area and almost 80 in the San Luis Obispo area where I was last weekend. Last Sunday night, after watching the sunset from our hotel at Shell Beach, my wife and I took a walk on the beach where it was still warm.
On Wed 1/19, my first day skiing in 2011, it was not as warm as it had been and there was a cold wind from the east. Since I knew it was going to be firm, I did not leave San Jose until almost 9 am and got on the Funitel at 1 pm. I took a Mountain Run and went to Red Dog where my friends were skiing low down on the mountain to avoid the wind and cold. I was totally out of synch with them and tried to catch up by skiing Dog Leg, but was not catching up very fast. The snow was mostly fast and firm and scary fast and icy in a couple of spots. As long as you did not try to complete your turns, it was edge-able. If you came around too far, you were in danger of sliding out. On the run I should have caught them (now taking Champs Elysees to avoid the worst of the firm snow) they had moved to Squaw Creek. I met them at the top, where they said Squaw Creek was better, but they were done for the day. Squaw Creek was in very good shape, maybe due to low traffic after being groomed, except the very bottom was icy. 9 runs/12.6K vertical
Thursday, I started my day with the Funitel and since Emigrant and Siberia where not yet loading due to firm conditions, took a warm-up run on Gold Coast. Then I skied Siberia six times. The top, where it was groomed, was similar to previous day, edge-able if you did not come around too far. After a few slight turns and gaining a lot of speed, the top was over, and the rest of the run was in better shape. I moved to Emigrant, where the southeast facing groomed run was softening, even though temps were not much above freezing. Later my friend and I would ski the face of Emigrant from the top and it was mostly good. I skied Gold Coast a few times with my friend and his wife, where she liked the snow in a sunny gully. I (and they separately) took one run down Shirley Lake, where the north-facing runs had not softened plus the snow was not very consistent. After skiing the mountain run, where I found good snow on the left side of the valley, we ended the day with a couple of high-speed runs on Squaw Creek, where snow was fast and good. We avoided the icy bottom I found the previous day by turning down a steeper gully that was groomed, and nearly unskied. Returning to Squaw base via Dog Leg at nearly 4 pm, we found very firm snow and I came close to sliding out near the bottom. Note: Granite Chief , Silverado and east and north-facing steep Headwall runs were all closed due to icy conditions. 21 runs/22.6K vertical
On Friday, we met up at Gold Ranch casino, on I-80 near the CA/NV stateline for a $2.22 breakfast and a free spin to try to win a Alpine Meadows ticket. We both walked out with a little cash from the free play we won instead. At Squaw, we took the tram up since we were parked close to it and my friend’s wife had never ridden it. I left them and skied Shirley Lake once to warm up, then skied the groomed run on Solitude, which was in excellent shape, twice.
I skied down to Headwall, which I ended up taking six times. Four times, including once with my friend, I skied Sun Bowl, which had softened nicely. The entrance traverse was still in good shape. I avoided the bumps by going down the right side of the first half of the huge bowl and by going down the right side (2nd half of bowl). Since it is so long and consistently fairly steep, I really had to finish my turns to fight the strong pull of gravity. You could go very deep towards the catch line as the run-out gave more speed than was needed. Next, from Headwall, we twice skied down the icy Chicken Bowl, past Siberia, and then went up, rarely running mid-week, Broken Arrow. We skied southeast facing runs that I cannot remember skiing in the 70s when I last had Squaw pass or since on my infrequent, mostly late season, Squaw days. The bumps had softened, but the snow is starting to burn off and was a little past it's prime at 2 pm. Above Headwall base, intermediate Spring Bowl had very good snow.
We went to the cars and took a break. My friend and his wife headed back toward Reno while I went up Red Dog and skied Squaw Creek, where snow has been staying good, twice. The second time up the chair, there was a 10 minute stoppage (after at least a 5 minute one late in the day on much colder Wed) so I did not get off until almost 4 pm. I took Champs Elysees to Exhibition which was very firm, but edgeable. 16 runs/20K vertical
On Wed 1/19, my first day skiing in 2011, it was not as warm as it had been and there was a cold wind from the east. Since I knew it was going to be firm, I did not leave San Jose until almost 9 am and got on the Funitel at 1 pm. I took a Mountain Run and went to Red Dog where my friends were skiing low down on the mountain to avoid the wind and cold. I was totally out of synch with them and tried to catch up by skiing Dog Leg, but was not catching up very fast. The snow was mostly fast and firm and scary fast and icy in a couple of spots. As long as you did not try to complete your turns, it was edge-able. If you came around too far, you were in danger of sliding out. On the run I should have caught them (now taking Champs Elysees to avoid the worst of the firm snow) they had moved to Squaw Creek. I met them at the top, where they said Squaw Creek was better, but they were done for the day. Squaw Creek was in very good shape, maybe due to low traffic after being groomed, except the very bottom was icy. 9 runs/12.6K vertical
Thursday, I started my day with the Funitel and since Emigrant and Siberia where not yet loading due to firm conditions, took a warm-up run on Gold Coast. Then I skied Siberia six times. The top, where it was groomed, was similar to previous day, edge-able if you did not come around too far. After a few slight turns and gaining a lot of speed, the top was over, and the rest of the run was in better shape. I moved to Emigrant, where the southeast facing groomed run was softening, even though temps were not much above freezing. Later my friend and I would ski the face of Emigrant from the top and it was mostly good. I skied Gold Coast a few times with my friend and his wife, where she liked the snow in a sunny gully. I (and they separately) took one run down Shirley Lake, where the north-facing runs had not softened plus the snow was not very consistent. After skiing the mountain run, where I found good snow on the left side of the valley, we ended the day with a couple of high-speed runs on Squaw Creek, where snow was fast and good. We avoided the icy bottom I found the previous day by turning down a steeper gully that was groomed, and nearly unskied. Returning to Squaw base via Dog Leg at nearly 4 pm, we found very firm snow and I came close to sliding out near the bottom. Note: Granite Chief , Silverado and east and north-facing steep Headwall runs were all closed due to icy conditions. 21 runs/22.6K vertical
On Friday, we met up at Gold Ranch casino, on I-80 near the CA/NV stateline for a $2.22 breakfast and a free spin to try to win a Alpine Meadows ticket. We both walked out with a little cash from the free play we won instead. At Squaw, we took the tram up since we were parked close to it and my friend’s wife had never ridden it. I left them and skied Shirley Lake once to warm up, then skied the groomed run on Solitude, which was in excellent shape, twice.
I skied down to Headwall, which I ended up taking six times. Four times, including once with my friend, I skied Sun Bowl, which had softened nicely. The entrance traverse was still in good shape. I avoided the bumps by going down the right side of the first half of the huge bowl and by going down the right side (2nd half of bowl). Since it is so long and consistently fairly steep, I really had to finish my turns to fight the strong pull of gravity. You could go very deep towards the catch line as the run-out gave more speed than was needed. Next, from Headwall, we twice skied down the icy Chicken Bowl, past Siberia, and then went up, rarely running mid-week, Broken Arrow. We skied southeast facing runs that I cannot remember skiing in the 70s when I last had Squaw pass or since on my infrequent, mostly late season, Squaw days. The bumps had softened, but the snow is starting to burn off and was a little past it's prime at 2 pm. Above Headwall base, intermediate Spring Bowl had very good snow.
We went to the cars and took a break. My friend and his wife headed back toward Reno while I went up Red Dog and skied Squaw Creek, where snow has been staying good, twice. The second time up the chair, there was a 10 minute stoppage (after at least a 5 minute one late in the day on much colder Wed) so I did not get off until almost 4 pm. I took Champs Elysees to Exhibition which was very firm, but edgeable. 16 runs/20K vertical
