Those of you who park in the upper Judah lot almost certainly have met this sweet black guy. Well, if you seem him today, give him extra pets, because this handsome man turns 12 today!
Happy Birthday Reese Dawg!
Shop (like a) local: Donner Summit Avalanche Dogs
Should we talk about Disco running into our new CEO at the Belt Room? Last pow day of the year? The corn harvest?
Nope, not today! Today we’re going to remind you to support our patrol’s Avy Dogs! Get your merch from patrol at the top of Disney.
In addition to a bunch of T-shirt designs (my favorite is the black one with the dynamite!), there’s also goggle covers, hats, and buffs with each of our adorable patrol dogs. Are you on Team Buster, Team Nova or Team Graupel?
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:
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!!
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.
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…
Mondays
Managed to arrive just as Dis opened. What do you know, we can get snow without insane wind transport.. who knew?! Every line in Dis was lovely, gates opened early, lapped freshies in South Dis while too many people waited in line at Lincoln… wow!
Ran into a highly branded Mr. OpenSnow on skis at Hard Drinkin’ Lincoln just as it opened. Guessing it was CEO Joel Gratz, as our local homey BA is a boarder. 😉
Also managed to run into most of the Unofficial Ski Team during the rest of the epic afternoon.. Finn definitely launched it big in Steielhang! I got freshies down Carl’s Nose & Coinslot (formerly cliff) rollover, hell yeah! ’58s with Will & A, Fourth Sister with Christa & Mean Dean. F**** yeah!
Rare pic from second sister cave 1.45ish as it started to dump again
In like a Leopard
Winds were howling when I made it up to Sugar for the first time post-blizzard.
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!
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. 😉
Hype train incoming! And, how to watch the weather
Hype is in full effect, storms are coming in next week!
Let’s have a quick talk about the best sites where you can obsess about the weather.
Number one these days is of course our good friend KCASODAS9, the Soda Springs point forecast. In addition to counting the feet I also like to check on the daily graphs for temperature and wind to help me plan my layers and whether Reese needs his coat, hehe.
The good ol’ Tahoe Daily Snow is also worth a read if you’re willing to pony up a few bucks for a subscription. Unfortunately, these days you can’t even read the daily snow without subscribing. I enjoy BA’s prose and how stoked he gets about storms, though I admit the super geeky weather model discussion is mostly beyond me.
And last but not least, shout out to the Sierra Avalanche Center! Always check their daily advisory before heading out the boundary.
Shop (like a) local: Mountain Lotus Provisions
I ski most days, but I especially enjoy a sunny, empty Monday. Pulling into the mostly-empty lot after the weekend crowd has left is a special treat.
This winter, I’ve been enjoying another Monday indulgence and letting someone else do the cooking one day a week. Mountain Lotus Provisions is a new food truck in Truckee, with a homebase at Mountain Lotus Yoga. Over the winter they’ve been doing an order-ahead Meatless Monday supper club with a new menu each week. Everything has been super-delicious and I’ve enjoyed the journey of checking out different regional cuisines. Even you omnivores should give it a try. Yum.
(As always, this is 100% my unsolicited personal opinion, not an ad, just supporting local.)