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!

A pow day, a wind day and a crowded weekend…

Yay!  A legit bluebird day Thursday before the winds came and moved it all over the place.  Note to the official SB reporters, “bluebird” isn’t just every beautiful sunny day, it requires both sun AND fresh pow.  😉

And wow, I was not prepared for the crowds this weekend.  Rolled in at a leisurely 10am and the lots were full, had to park on the Judah access road.  Still, it was a short walk, and while there was a zoo of people everywhere, the lines were never more than a few minutes.  I heard at some point they were turning people away, which seemed strange since the Judah overflow lot wasn’t used.  When I came back to play with Reese early afternoon , it was easy to move to a closer spot in the upper Judah lot.  Props to Sugar for for not overselling like some Other Mountains.  Heard horror stories of closed lots, gridlocked traffic and huge lines.

Speaking of the busy weekend,  I have a couple posts brewing soon that are a little bit of a departure from just telling y’all how much of a blast I’m having getting after it.

And, looking ahead, for a hot minute there were ten suns in the forecast, but there’s already some snow headed our way.  Nothing huge yet, but it’s nice to see the things are staying active and not setting up for an extended Juneuary like last year.

Mid-week storm skiing and a change in the weather

We’ve been getting some great, empty storm-skiing days for sure.  I was blacked out for the weekend and back for great conditions Monday.  Got super lucky with my timing and hit South Dis and Crow’s when the gates flipped and laid down some fresh tracks top to bottom.  Yum.

Big change to the weather pattern starting today.  Time to get to work on your goggle tan.

All aboard the storm train!

Today felt more like a “normal” wind-affected pow day than earlier in the week.  Weird wind lips and ice?  All gone.  Just some normal wind-packed pow contoured in the places you expect.  Nicer in the sheltered aspects where you could find it.  Great fresh laps in Crow’s today for me.  Had Mistake Meadow all to myself!

It keeps snowing and the forecast keeps sending more our way.  What a great early season!

Not the pow day you were looking for…

Woah.  Let’s be honest, that was one of the weirdest, most variable pow days I’ve ridden in the decade plus I’ve had the honor of riding here at Sugar.

Weird wind-scalloped, wind affected snow?  Check.  Scoured-off, icy aspects with no warning?  Check.  Giant wind lips and cornices in places you’ve never seen them before?  Check.  Avy chowder of all sizes?  Oh yeah.  Actual pow turns?  Yup, check, but it took a few runs to find some nice, sheltered turns in the trees halfway down the mountain.

I’m a life-long, confident skier and Sugar definitely kicked my ass and threw me a bit today.  Saw more than my fair share of egos hurt and bruises, myself included.

Wouldn’t be anywhere else though, of course.  See you tomorrow.  🙂