In like a leopard…

Yup, the beginning of March has brought with it a proper Tahoe storm, the kind measured in feet.  Looks like blizzard conditions might quiet down a little Sunday and allow us to get out there and play?  I’ll be there with my pow tails on.

Sleeper pow day

Wow.  What a great powder day!  Not totally bottomless, but more than enough.  I wasn’t complaining about the occasional scratchy sound from my tails.

Not sure why no one showed up.  Even for the Bowl, it was empty.  And half of the regulars never made it to Crow’s… open weekdays this season!  I found an orange circle that said “Powder shot” and it was all mine.  🙂

Beacon park is open!

Woo!  The best park at Sugar is now open!

Not beacon park

Beacon park is located at the bottom of Overland.  You need a beacon to play.  😉

So here we are…

(Today’s song pairing: Nightmares on Wax – So here we are)

False spring, sleeper pow days, Palisades reopening (and staying open!), Peak Snow, real spring, Team Unoff representing at the Uphiller &  Banked Slalom (Disco on the same gear for both, hehe)… just wow.

Oh!  And Old 40 reopened yesterday.  I missed you, Old 40!

View from the top of West Palisade on reopening day:

West Palisade
Send-ier than it looks 😉

Just starting to see the top of the trail maps peek out again at Dis and Tree… hard to believe there’s less than two weeks of lift-served skiing left.  Corn harvest is a go!

Closing day cave party will be on Sunday the 30th!

Palisades

On a sleeper Thursday morning,  for the first time since 2019, the Palisades opened!!

First palisade
Folks dropping first palisade!

A couple weeks back I recall a stranger on the chair wondering if the Palisades could open “without Darren Rahlves leading the charge”.  Haha!  OF COURSE our patrol can open the Palisades!

Not too many folks on the mountain but Team Unoff was representing!   I’ve dropped Middle Palisade and West Palisade before, but First Palisade was new for me.

First Palisade
Looking down First Palisade!

And just like that, the next storm moved in Thursday afternoon, visibility went in the toilet and the magical morning was over.   I don’t know what the state of things will be post-cement, but I’d bet this wasn’t a one-and-done situation.  The Palisades will hopefully be open again this amazing season…

In like a Leopard

Winds were howling when I made it up to Sugar for the first time post-blizzard.

Mt. Disney
Look at that snow transport!

On Wednesday,  an attempt was made to operate Dis, but the wind didn’t cooperate.  Consolation prize instead was Jerome.  With barely anyone at the mountain, there were lots of fresh tracks to be had.

Thursday morning had some of the longest lines of the season on Disney.  Snow conditions were mostly wind-affected and questionable.  Lots of folks left eventually.  Heard someone doubting whether Lincoln would open.  Ha!  You must be thinking of some other mountain, my friend.  Of COURSE Lincoln opened in the afternoon, and all the gates as well (except Lincoln East Face?).  Somehow, a night and day difference from Disney’s conditions, much better snow!

Roller Pass
Freshies in Roller!

Aand… more feet on the way this weekend!  Because 539″ isn’t enough, haha.

“Not as idiot-proof as I expected”

Overheard outside Village lodge as I was warming up after my first few laps.  🙂

It was a great day and a challenging day.  Definitely found some great deep stashes of light, blower pow pow.  Not our usual Tahoe cement today for sure!  But also wind, blowing snow, tough visibility, scoured-off aspects, not yet unlimited depth (maybe later in the afternoon), and cold and windy AF, yow!

Wow, we’re so incredibly blessed with an amazing Patrol and Ops team here at Sugar.  I loaded Dis a few minutes after 9.  Was on Lincoln and at the top of the mountain before midday.   Other unmentioned unofficial folks struggled to get a little bit up their lower mountains.

Hopefully I-80 is open and I can get there Friday.  Saturday is going to be prime.  All the lollipops should flip to green!

Get after it!

DC

Last day of Juneuary!

Or, as BA over at Opensnow put it, “The Mid-Winter Lull is Over”.  Time to bundle up and crush some pow!

Today was beautiful and sunny with spring-like conditions. A classic Tahoe Juneuary day, and our last one of the year. Next time we have a nice sunny day it’ll be real spring!  I thought things would be over-the-top busy but it was way emptier than I thought.  No road/tubing/overflow parking even.

I was lucky enough to find some friends and explore a new (to me) backcountry zone off the back of Crow’s.  I’m pleased to report the corn harvest was successful! Creamy and perfect. Thanks Mean Dean, Christa, Kern and posse!

And I found some bonus spelunkers in Dis cave.  😉

Sastrugi-B-Gone

All the sastrugi blanketing the off-piste has been erased.  Sunday storm skiing for the win!

Sastrugi?  What were those?  New vocabulary word for me this year too.  The weird wind-scallops that have been everywhere off-piste the last couple weeks.  The storm has fixed all that and left us with a normal ol’ pow blanketing everywhere.

See you Monday for some sunny Silver Belt, Sisters and J-Bowl action!

Shop (like a) Local: Praxis Skis

I could remind you that the lines this weekend weren’t just tolerable, they were barely there.  I could be stoked to tell you that there were more people out representing Team Leopard than I’ve ever seen before (woo!).  I could mention that mid-week skiing has been empty, sunny and fun.

But we don’t have time for any of that, because it’s time for a new regular feature highlighting local businesses right here in Tahoe.  Whether you’ve been here for decades or you’re just visiting, I hope to introduce local businesses you may not have heard of and should consider patronizing.

Picture of Praxis MVP 109 skis
Praxis MVP 109s at Dis Cave. Castle Peak in background.

What does DIsco ski on when he’s dropping the sisters, breaking trail and touring up to Lunch Rock?  Praxis, manufactured right here in North Lake.  I’m rocking the MVP 109.  For me personally it is the perfect one-quiver Tahoe ski.  Groomer day?  Check.  Pow day?  Check.  Backcountry day?  Check.  Light enough to skin with, stable enough to charge groomers, fat enough underfoot for pow days and happy to be playful and surf-y instead of hard-charging when I’m in the mood for that.  Folks also love the more big-mountain GPO as well, with its well-known octopus graphics.

We’re blessed here in Tahoe with multiple brands of skis and boards manufacturing locally.  We’ll feature some others in future posts.  Support local with your next gear purchase!

Dishonorable mention: RMU.  Nice bar and patio in downtown Truckee, but their skis aren’t made in Tahoe, the Rockies, or even in North America.  That’s not “underground.”

Disclaimer:  Not a paid endorsement of any kind, I doubt Keith even knows who I am.  Didn’t pay full MSRP for my Praxis pair (got them on sale), but I did pay the same price as any other Jerry off the street would have.