Author: Disco Cat

Alas, it warmed up a little and the tail end of the storm brought some less-than-ideal weather to Sugar Bowl over the weekend.

Saturday wasn’t too bad.  A little foggy and heavy, not the best visibility, but still some fun pow to be found from Friday’s storm.

Sunday was pretty awful.  Rain in the morning, heavy and slushy in the afternoon.  I’m pretty die-hard, but it was hard to stay stoked for these conditions and I left early.

Monday was sunny for a change, which was a welcome relief.  Like I said to someone on the chairlift, that’s Tahoe for you.  If it isn’t snowing, its warm spring weather.  We did get a freeze overnight, so it was a follow-the-sun day.  Unfortunately, the second shortest day  of the year doesn’t bring too much sun, but it was still nice to be out on a warm day enjoying the sunshine.  Crowds were out in force, the parting lot was full, but liftlines were barely there.

Looking ahead we have a little storm coming through Wednesday and Thursday as a small Christmas present.  After that there’s nothing on the horizon except crowds and traffic through the end of the year.  🙂

– J. Snow

 

Thursday was a rare break in the week’s series of small storms.  Visibility was better than it has been in a while.  I took some new pictures of the mountain this year and will upload them soon.

Friday was full on storm skiing with free refills!  I couldn’t believe how empty things were, it felt like there were only a dozen or two of us lapping Crow’s all morning.  I suppose it was still a pre-holiday weekday, and there’s no doubt that skiing in a storm can be brutal if you’re not geared up for it.

After a chance for a last little bit Saturday night, it looks like the storms clear out for Christmas week.  Like many passholders I’m blacked out from the 26th through the end of the year, so no on-snow reports after Thursday, unless someone else wants to write in and let us know how things are.  🙂

 

Alas, equipment trouble kept me off the slopes Monday and Tuesday.  Super excited to have made it back today!

Word is that Monday was super empty .  Tuesday was one of those sleeper miracle pow days where Sugar gets dumped on like twice as much as anywhere else (17″ on Tuesday morning!), but everybody said visibility was tough.

Today it snowed lightly all day, but without brutal winds or much accumulation.  A decent number  of people having fun out there, but still midweek so no lines and lots of fresh turns.  Fuller’s and Silver Belt are open now.  Had a ton of fun in the new terrain, as well as my old favorites Sugar Bowl and Strawberry.

Alas, Strawberry isn’t what it used to be since they took trees out and shoved a shitty groomer in the middle.  But hey, I’m not a hater, I do still like the new Crow’s chair.  And if you don’t, hey, do the hike with me while Crow’s chair is still closed this week.  🙂

Don’t forget to keep it safe out there!  Coverage is good, but it is still the early season, so things aren’t always as filled-in I expected.  Also, the snow came in suddenly and wet, so there’s lots of running water.  I had to do more than one sketchy stream crossing.

Looking ahead, Thursday looks to be mostly clear, and then another small storm is rolling in our way on Friday.

-JS

It was actually the second weekend Sugar Bowl was open, but with the midweek closure and a big storm, it sure felt like deja vu all over again.

Saturday had one of the biggest crowds that I’ve seen in a good while waiting for Disney to open .  To say there was a lot of pent-up excitement would be an understatement.  Still, by “biggest” I mean big for our little fishbowl — it was still just a few minutes even though it looked like a lot of people to this mid-week skier, and thinned out by mid-day.  The snow was solid but tons of fun to slice buttery turns through, and there was lots of it.  This was a weird storm that dumped lots of snow on us, but less on everyone else.  Sugar had two feet up top, other mountains in the west had between a foot and two, and some of the Eastern mountains had almost nothing (Mt. Rose reported an inch!).

Sunday was nice in the morning, and brought a surprise snow shower in the afternoon.  Conditions were generally good on and off-piste, high-traffic areas got scraped off as usual, but what are you going to do?  Crow’s chair didn’t open, but everything out there is open with a traverse back to Disney.  For those of you who are nostalgic for the old Crow’s experience, get on out there and get hiking!

Sugar is open for the season (7 days a week now), and there’s some small storms predicted for early in the week to fill things in.  Enjoy it while you can.  I know I will!

-J snow

It was great to hit the slopes again!  Last week’s storm left more on the mountain than I expected to see, and Lincoln was spinning.

The bad news was that overall, conditions were kind of iffy.  Saturday was heavy, wet snow reminiscent of a smoothie, and dense fog with very little visibility.  Sunday greeted us with a surprisingly hard freeze overnight.  Groomers softened up a bit during the day but also got scraped up quick.

Nevertheless I had a blast.  Met some new friends, saw some old buddies and kept it positive.  I was a bit bummed out after the rain last week, but coverage was actually really good for so early in the season.

Of course everyone is abuzz about the storm coming in on Thursday and Friday.  Temperature and snow levels are still wavering a bit, but it looks promising for Sugar Bowl.  Saturday could be a good one!

A little storm for us this Thursday.  No snow in town yet, but Sugar Bowl is getting a little dusting.

Sugar bowl sure looks nice with a fresh coat.

Another one still looks on track for Saturday , but it might be a bit too warm.  Keeping my skis crossed it stays cold enough to snow the whole storm.  A layer of our good old Sierra cement for a base would be perfect.

-JS

Looks like Sugar is serious about their opening date.  Snowmaking is underway!  Here’s some pictures from their web cams yesterday afternoon.

For those of you who aren’t satisfied unless its the real deal, it looks like we might be getting a decent storm in the Thursday night to Saturday range.  Keeping a close eye on this one and thinking positive!

 

Sugar Bowl has announced an opening date!  November 26th.  That’s right, just 15 short days away.

After a sunny week bicycling and worrying over the forecast, I was totally prepared for a December opening like last year, but it seems Sugar is stepping up their game.

See you soon!  -JS