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A new park!

A terrain park?  Nope!  A beacon park!!  How cool is that?  F&*#( YEAH!   Let’s get practicing our backcountry rescue skills, friends!

The beacon park is between Disney and the bottom remnants of old Crow’s.  Just keep an eye out for the control box on your left at the end of the bottom Disney traverse.  Open it up, turn on one of the eight practice beacons, and get searching!

Beacon park had a rough start this season, with a relocation and then hit-or-miss whether the box would be out on any given day.   But patrol has the control box out every single day now, so let’s get probing!  Thanks patrol, you rock.

-DC

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Springtime sun

Well, official spring brought springtime weather for sure!  Hope you’ve been enjoying the sunshine as much as I have!  Only two weeks of lift service left, make the most of it!

Trivia:

Goofy starred in the “Art of Skiing”, made by Disney in 1941.  The movie was about Goofy learning how to ski at Sugar Bowl.  This was the first time that a cartoon used a Goofy “Holler”, which was a stock sound effect that Goofy bade.  The holler was originally recorded by yodeler and Sugar Bowl founder, Hannes Schroll.

Next question:

What was the name of the crazy, Polynesian-themed race that took place during the 60s and 70s at Sugar Bowl?

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March refresh, pass sales and a closing date?

Well this has sure been a nice little refresh cycle.  I was just thinking that things were looking a bit thin out there and then BAM, how about a few small storms and empty midweek pow days?  YES PLEASE!

It’s the last day to renew your season pass, and it looks like everything is 99% sold out — hope you’ve got yours!  Now that passes are sold out, I bet our unofficial closing date of April 11th will become official shortly.  That’s just 23 days of lift-served skiing left at the Bowl this season, so get out there and get after it!

Trivia: William Wurster designed the Village Lodge.  The lodge was designed for the snow to slide off the back side.

This week’s question: What cartoon actor played the starring role in the film “Art of Skiing” made in 1941 by the Walt Disney company?

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POW DAY!

Winter returns with a sleeper Tuesday pow day!   Hit the freshies in Roller with Mean Dean all morning, then skinned up to J Bowl in the afternoon.  What a day!

Trivia.. last week’s answer: It cost $2.00 to ride Disney in 1939.  The lift was also open to non-skiers for $0.25 a ride.  Wow!

This week’s question: Before becoming the Dean of Architecture at the University of California, Berkeley, what Sugar Bowl landmark did William Wurster design?

– D. Cat

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Sun & Fun at the Bowl

Sun and more sun this week at the bowl!  Saw a mono-skier and a baller with a pair of original Line skiboards (“snowblades”).  And Mr. Neon too.  Keep up the good work, Sugar Bowl freaks!

Trivia.. last week’s answer:  a gondola was built in 1953!  The Magic Carpet was the first aerial tramway on the west coast and the second of its kind to be used at a ski resort in North America.    It had a capacity of 280 skiers per hour.   Boarders weren’t allowed because they didn’t exist yet.  🙂

This week’s question: How much did it cost a skier to ride the Mt. Disney chairlift in 1939?

– Disco Cat

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Ski Skate Week + trivia

It’s ski skate week, the mountain is covered in kids!  I didn’t expect that in February immediate following a holiday weekend.  Huh!

Trivia… last week’s answer: Ski instructors  made $100 a month in 1940, PLUS housing.  Wow.  Tahoe’s employee housing shortage could learn a lesson or two from the 40s, who knew?

This week’s question: What was the “Magic Carpet” that was built in the summer of 1953 at Sugar Bowl?

Watch out for cats!  – Disco

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Trivia Tuesday

Last question’s answer: True!  Sugar bowl was the first (US? North American?) resort to offer slope-side accommodations.

This week’s question: How much was a ski instructor paid per month during the 1940-41 season?

– Disco

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Deep!

It wasn’t as busy as I thought on Friday after all.  Some lines in the morning but it cleared out quick.  Lots of folks getting stuck in the deep, deep snow, hehe.  Patrol cleared and opened Sisters and Sugar Bowl, because they rock.  Thanks to WillSkis for breaking trail and helping me make bad cliff area decisions, hell yeah.  🙂

Okay, Saturday is DEFINITELY going to be a zoo.  Crow’s is on the schedule though, and hoping for a skin up J bowl too!

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Stormy Wednesday

I don’t need to check, I’m sure Squawpine didn’t run anything close to the top.  Mt. Rose was straight up closed.

Here at Sugar Bowl, those of us who braved the “blizzard”-in-progress were treated to Disney, Judah and Lincoln!  Kudos to Sugar patrol and ops who still know how to open in a storm!  Best in Tahoe.

Winds weren’t too bad in the end, visibility was decent, no crowds or lines, couldn’t ask for a better storm day of freshies and free refills!  Things didn’t get too “blizzardy” until the afternoon.  Tomorrow could be a bit tougher if the forecast holds, heavy snow all day.  Friday is going to be a zoo.

p.s. Trivia!  Last week’s answer: False.  Miners from Nevada City were hired to do the drilling for the steel towers.  All the concrete was hand-mixed and poured on-site.

This week’s question: Ski Magazine once called Sugar Bowl the “Rools Royce of California Skiing.”  True or False?

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Feet not Inches

A little dust on crust teaser Saturday… but hell yeah, we finally have a real Tahoe storm on the way!  Five feet to start, incoming Tuesday night.  Ten snowflakes in the forecast with more feet on the way.

I’ve got my powder tails ready!  Storm skiing, here I come!

– Disco Leopard