California/Nevada 2018-19 Tahoe Ski Resorts/Conditions/Meetups Thread....

[Pumba]

Skied with mister Tom, @Near Nyquist, today at Alpine. The snow was in his words “weird ass sh*t”....it was a character building day. The snow that fell during the day was very wet. Hopefully whatever falls tonight is enough to cover the ugly frozen slush beneath. I found some black crows atris birdies to try out at Squaw tomorrow!

FYI all skis and outerwear are now 40% off at granite chief. They have a lot of good inventory, including a bunch of stocklis.

 

[CalG]

That's because they are illegal in most Eastern states, or at least were when we lived there. Can you imagine the state of Boston streets (which are already a sorry sight) after a few snowstorms if you allow people to put chains on their cars?? I think chains are a feature of the mountainous areas where you have a combination of massive snowfall and steep grades (and a bunch of vehicles coming up from urban areas that do not see snow...)

Only requirement here in S.Vt during snow and iceing conditions is "Steep Grade Ahead, All Trucks Must Chain UP!" that is announced via a portable roadside illuminated warning reader board.

 

[Jed Peters]

Rode the chairlift with Travis Ganong today.

Told him I was so much better than he is.

 

[dbostedo]

Rode the chairlift with Travis Ganong today.

Told him I was so much better than he is.

500 points to you, sir!!

 

[Philpug]

I cleaned the garage out and received over 115lb of gear (mostly bindings) from Salomon N.A.

 

[Jed Peters]

I cleaned the garage out and received over 115lb of gear (mostly bindings) from Salomon N.A.

You missed out. The skiing was extra crappy today.

 

[Philpug]

You missed out. The skiing was extra crappy today.

Damn..not just crappy but...extra crappy? My loss.

 

[Pumba]

Rode the chairlift with Travis Ganong today.

Told him I was so much better than he is.

Were you at squaw? I’m going to look up pictures of him now so that I can spot him in case he’s there tomorrow.

 

[dbostedo]

Were you at squaw? I’m going to look up pictures of him now so that I can spot him in case he’s there tomorrow.

You, too, could earn 500 points!

 

[Philpug]

The amount of time that @dbostedo has been lurking in this threar, I am thinking he needs to come out to Tahoe this Spring.

 

[Pequenita]

yea freeze thaw cycle and black ice is no joke in the morning, esp with some frost hoar. Even more dangerous than winter snow that didnt melt. That being said, if it makes you feel better potentially would have had the same outcome even with snows, rubber on ice is rubber on ice.

It was a powder day, actually, so I’m not sure what I slid on...but I was going like 5 mph.

 

[dbostedo]

The amount of time that @dbostedo has been lurking in this threar, I am thinking he needs to come out to Tahoe this Spring.

I would LOVE to get out there again. But I've got quite a bit of work travel and vacation travel the next couple of months. I should get a few more days skiing in New England and Colorado though!

 

[Fofo]

Not to blow my own horn, but here is some fairly detailed skiing info on Squaw:
www.squawguide.com.

Thank you for this! I ski more often at Mammoth, but I've been to Squaw a couple of times before and I'll be going back this weekend and this really helps! I'll be trying some of the suggestions in your guide.

If anyone wants to say hi, I'll be wearing a black and blue jacket, dark red pants and small yellow backpack. I may split one day in Squaw and one day in Alpine Meadows (I've never been there and I would like to check it out).

Also, I saw the comments about chains and chain control points. You can check a page like http://quickmap.dot.ca.gov/ to find out where the chain controls are, and what level of chain control it is. If you've never used this site, go to the "Options" drop down menu, then "Road Conditions" and select which options you want displayed. You can even see where the snow plows are. I also like to check the cameras to see how the roads are (the cameras are under the "Facilities" menu).

Chain controls are often R-1, which means that for passenger cars, as long as you have M+S tires on your car and you have chains with you (not necessarily installed, just with you in the car) you'll be OK. Even at R-2 if you have 4WD or AWD with M+S tires you are still not required to install chains, just carry them with you. This works for your standard passenger car or SUV, but here's the full description, since it's different if you are towing, your vehicle is over 6000 lb, etc: Chain Controls.

However, as was mentioned, even if you have 4WD with snow tires, if you feel that you'll be better off with chains, go ahead and put them on. Stay safe!

 

[John Webb]

even my record is screwed up because i have day passes and 4pack and and mtn collective passes from precious seasons combined with this years Ikon .

Lol i’ve A similar menagerie plus Powder Alliance &
Tahoe 6 packs. Last time I hit SugarBowl I showed an expired Diamond Peak pass that somehow put me in their computer where a valid 3 day pass came up! Correct pass was in another pocket!

 

[Pumba]

Skied at squaw today. Might have been my last day in Tahoe this season

No Travis Ganong sighting. Snow was generally better than alpine yesterday, but still hit a lot of ugly crusty stuff. I demoed the black crows Atris birdie and loved them!!! First wide ski I’ve tried that felt super playful, light, relatively nimble, and also very good on west-coast-icy groomers... I’m hoping to
Find a deal on them this summer. I did a couple laps on Shirley, granite, headwall, kt, and one on red dog. The best snow was spring corn on red dog and mountain run. Lol. Squaw is so vast and kind of intimidating. I’ve slowly been getting to know it over the last couple seasons and after today, I’m thinking headwall and kt are my fave places. I finally reached my goal of figuring out how to get to heidis glades via a long traverse off of kt. That was fun. Fyi, there are some really nasty weird frozen bumps on what I think is red dog ridge. Despite the ugliness, I actually enjoyed that section! Praying I can make a return trip late this season to ski with you all!!!

....Off to the New England gathering next weekend in Vermont. Forecast is for rain....hopefully skiing in the “crappy” Tahoe conditions of the last couple days is enough to prepare me for it....I laughed when @Near Nyquist described outer limits as a “sheet of ice” yesterday....umm, that’s east coast packed powder, mister Tom...and it’s absolutely lovely, ya hearrrrr!?!

Til next time, ya spoiled bastads

 

[Mendieta]

@Pumba : any chance you can stop at Sugsr Bowl today? Heading there (gas stop).

Yours,
Spoile D. Bastardo Jr

 

[aubergine]

Not sure if this has been mentioned already, but for those staying in Town of Truckee tax paying properties for a couple of nights there is this promotion running

https://www.truckee.com/100-cash-lodging-promo/

I registered for it, for a trip in April.

Hope there is still some snow left by then!

 

[dbostedo]

Hope there is still some snow left by then!

Should have been a winky face after this I presume? Tahoe has snow to last to July probably (weather dependent).

 

[Alexzn]

Skied at squaw today. Might have been my last day in Tahoe this season

No Travis Ganong sighting. Snow was generally better than alpine yesterday, but still hit a lot of ugly crusty stuff. I demoed the black crows Atris birdie and loved them!!! First wide ski I’ve tried that felt super playful, light, relatively nimble, and also very good on west-coast-icy groomers... I’m hoping to
Find a deal on them this summer. I did a couple laps on Shirley, granite, headwall, kt, and one on red dog. The best snow was spring corn on red dog and mountain run. Lol. Squaw is so vast and kind of intimidating. I’ve slowly been getting to know it over the last couple seasons and after today, I’m thinking headwall and kt are my fave places. I finally reached my goal of figuring out how to get to heidis glades via a long traverse off of kt. That was fun. Fyi, there are some really nasty weird frozen bumps on what I think is red dog ridge. Despite the ugliness, I actually enjoyed that section! Praying I can make a return trip late this season to ski with you all!!!

....Off to the New England gathering next weekend in Vermont. Forecast is for rain....hopefully skiing in the “crappy” Tahoe conditions of the last couple days is enough to prepare me for it....I laughed when @Near Nyquist described outer limits as a “sheet of ice” yesterday....umm, that’s east coast packed powder, mister Tom...and it’s absolutely lovely, ya hearrrrr!?!

Til next time, ya spoiled bastads

Glad you enjoyed it. For the purpose of having proper toponyms, the "Heidi trees" are the proper Red Dog Ridge, the one you refer to is the ridge above the East Face/Three Trees area. These are usually some of the nastiest bumps at Squaw (rivaled only those by the Slot entrance), a good way to avoid them is to get on the face below it, cut sharp right, and ski almost along the ridge line, you get to the same saddle with a lot less trouble.

 

[Eleeski]

Glad you enjoyed it. For the purpose of having proper toponyms, the "Heidi trees" are the proper Red Dog Ridge, the one you refer to is the ridge above the East Face/Three Trees area. These are usually some of the nastiest bumps at Squaw (rivaled only those by the Slot entrance), a good way to avoid them is to get on the face below it, cut sharp right, and ski almost along the ridge line, you get to the same saddle with a lot less trouble.

If they are soft those can be some of the most fun bumps on the mountain! Sometimes they are windblown and miserably icy when the rest of the run is fun but worthy of a look. @Alexzn 's detour is OK but the traverse tracks screw up East Face's nice lines. The bump lines in the Olympic Lady gully are the best! Ski all the way over to Heidi's and you miss that. Everyone goes that way so the steep extension of the gully is often untracked to drop you off at the soft bump gulley. Olympic Lady is the best!

@Pumba glad you enjoyed your time in Tahoe. "I'm so much more of a spoiled bastad than you!" GNAR.

Eric