Ski/Board Diary
2003-4
Ski/Board Diary
2003-4
This season I did something new, I got a season pass. Kirkwood was selling weekday passes during the summer for $199, so I figured this was the way to go. All I have to do is go 4 times, and I break even. So I'll be spending most of my days there this season. Our friends condo at Tahoe has been sold, so it looks like I'll be doing a lot of day trips. I'll try and get my friends to split the gas to get there, and they can also get a discounted ticket with my pass, so bring on the snow!
Today was my first day using the pass. Steve and Colleen joined me for a day trip. Even though it hadn't snowed in several days, it had been chilly and the packed snow quality was quite good. We stayed on the groomed runs on Cornice mostly, and did the Wall a few times too. I was quite stiff and sore after this day, but my legs still need to know that it's winter!
A few days of stormy weather promised us some nice snow today. Jason and I drove up for the day, and we were greeted with about a foot of fresh powder. It was snowing lightly in the morning, but it stopped by noon, and was cloudy later. Not much wind, so the upper runs were quite good, and I was able to find fresh tracks near the trees for the entire day. Powder is what it's all about!
After getting back from Kirkwood, Scabe made me an offer I couldn't refuse. He bought my lift ticket, meals, and drove up to the mountain. He hadn't been snowboarding in about 2 years, so he really wanted to go badly. There had been a couple warm days, so the snow was icy off the groomed runs, but the Lincoln chair had some good groomed stuff that we spent the most of the day on, until the Disney side softened up. It wasn't too crowded for a weekend, and we made the most of it on the mild day.
I was heading up to my dad's in Reno for Super Bowl weekend, so I stopped at Kirkwood along the way. It was a cold cloudy day, with a minimal flurry, and the wind was picking up during the day. The snow was pretty good, packed powder, and the groomed runs were nice. I had several good runs until I fell getting off the lift and smacked my butt and head. I was not the same after that, and as the day got colder and windier, I called it a day after lunch.
After enjoying the weekend at Dad's place, including one of the best Super Bowl games ever, I headed up to the mountain. Dad picked Carolina and they covered the spread so he was happy. My long-shot parlay bet failed. A storm was on the way, so I was going to return to Reno at the end of the day, assuming the roads were open. The snow was much like the Super Bowl game. In the beginning it was nothing special, but by the end of the day, it was fantastic. The only thing was how many cold and windy lift rides I could endure. After another run through the fresh powder (8" or so), I enjoyed it so much that I would take another lift ride. The wind was pretty cold, so I put on all my layers, and I was fine. The drive back over Carson Pass was quite the adventure, as they were doing avalanche control and the road was down to one lane in many spots. I was lucky to make it back down.
This was the day to be there! It snowed more overnight and continued during the day. The wind was lighter, so they opened all of the mountain. I knew this was going to be a good day when I got a parking spot right next to the lodge. There was another spot open next to me, and I met Moya, from South Lake Tahoe. We rode up the cornice lift together, and worked our way toward the back-side. She was very fun to ride with. We have a similar ability, and we both enjoyed going off the run into the powder in the trees. Her laughter of joy was great to share on this excellent day. The back-side of the mountain was all untracked when they opened it at 11:30, and we did several runs over there before Moya had to leave and I broke for lunch. I finished up with some good fresh stuff off 11, then headed home and to see the Sharks game.
What a great day! The storms earlier in the week dropped a bunch of new snow to play in. There was about 8-12" of new snow in the usual powder spots today, under sunny skies. Unfortunately, I spent it alone. I guess it's hard for people to take off on a weekday. I got my gas paid for though, as I friend sold a tire on eBay, and I delivered it to him at Kirkwood, so he paid me $40 gas money. My lift pass is already paid for, so I rode for free, just get up at 4:20 and go. The new snow was nice all over the mountain, and I took full advantage of it. When you're on your own, there's nobody to wait for.
Another nice day on ther mountain. It had snowed about 5 feet in the previous week, and the quality was good. The most recent storm was windy, so there was a bit of wind-packed crust on top in the exposed areas. The day started out clear and sunny, and got cloudy later. I took chair 4 and went all the way to the edge of the resort, and found some nice powder in the trees. Other than that, it was mostly packed powder conditions, just perfect for ripping it up.
Chris and I are spending a week up here in Tahoe. We did a time-share exchange to get this great condo at Summit Village, near the bottom of Stagecoach. We got our tickets from Albertson's for only $52. Spring has come early and rapid to California with temperatures in the 80s at the coast and in the 50s up here. There was very little ice and a good deal of soft snow, but not too slushy. We did pretty much the whole Nevada side and the upper 2 lifts on the CA side. This is just the first day of several, so now it's time to rest.
3/15/04
Another beautiful sunny day with a little bit of wind on chair 4. I decided to go skiing today so that I can pace my different ski & board muscles. The corn is defintely in season, especially on the runs facing the morning sun, such as Zachary's and the runs off Chair 4. Some of the upper runs that didn't get as much sun were a bit icy, so it was a good day to ski.
3/16/04
Another sunny warm day in the 50's. We pretty much did the same program as yesterday, cornice, backside, lunch, cornice, etc. Chris has been taking a jump off a big rock near chair 4. His flights are real good, but the landings need some work. I was thinking today about how all the spots that I like after powder days because the snow stays so good are the icy spots for the same reason, less sun. Now I seek out the sunny runs because the corn snow on them is really fun and forgiving to carve up.
3/17/04
Aaah St. Patrick's day, and another beautiful sunny day on the mountain. We did the sam routine as before, start on Cornice lift, work our way over to 4, stay there a while, come back for lunch and then ski the Cornice lift and the wall. Everything is good. The we broke out the home made brew to celebrate. After that we took the BlueGo shuttle into town and join the celebration. There were plenty of drunk crazies out for the night, and it was fun. Some of the ladies were really enjoying the evening.
3/18/04
After last night's partying, we got a later start than usual. I found the perfect combination of skiing and riding on this nice spring day. I would ride in the morning, catching all the slopes that face the sun - Zachary's off chair 6, and then most of the runs off chair 4. The soft corn snow was much better to ride on a snowboard, no danger of crossing the tips, which happened to me yesterday. We'd stay over there until about 1, after Chris kept trying to land a jump off the big rock just under the lift. Then we'd have lunch, and I'd get the skis for some of the hard runs, such as Sentinel, Olympic, and the Wall. I would much rather be on skis for those hard, steep, or bumpy runs. I got a good body workout this way too. It was a little bit cooler with a breeze from the west. I knew that the 11 day heat wave at the coast was over. No more temps in the 80's down there. Up here it was still in the 50's, and real nice.
3/19/04
Today is our last day on the mountain for this trip. We had hoped that Terry would come up and bring us some more Heavenly tickets for Saturday, but he had to work. Oh well, you gotta do what you gotta do. What we gotta do is get up a bit earlier to hit it for a full day. It was sunny again, but a little cooler and breezy, still vest weather though. We did the same routine, snowboard in the morning, ski in the afternoon. The gully under chair 11 was a lot of fun, and the wall was newly groomed, and a nice speed run on skis. Saturday we head to Reno for the night, and then home on Sunday
It is fully spring now. I headed up for a quick couple of days. I got on the mountain a little after 10, and the snow already was quite soft on the face of chair 6. All the other runs I went on had soft snow too. I did chair 11, the wall, and olympic. None had any ice today, as it was a nice warm sunny day. Afterward I planned to go to Grover Hot Springs and soak in the hot water and camp there. Well the hot pool closed at 5, just as I arrived. I tried to find dinner in Markleville, but the cafe doesn't serve dinner on Mondays. I drove to Sorensen's on Hwy 88 and had a nice dinner. Then I decided not to drive back to the hot springs, so I pulled out along hwy 88 and slept in the back of the 4-runner. It was a cold night, I'm glad to have a down bag.
4/6/04
I waited for the sun to warm up a bit before I woke up on this chilly morning. It made some of the spots more icy today than yesterday. Sure the face of Zachary was soft in the morning sun, but Sentinel and Olympic were hard and icy. I didn't even try the wall. The runs off 11 were nice once they softened up a bit. The corn snow is really good for those carving turns. Then for the afternoon I broke out the skis for the hard icy fast runs down Sentinal. A few clouds in the afternoon kept the snow firmer up on top. The season is nearing the end, you can just feel it. I think I can make one more trip here before they close.
4/20/04
Winter is not completely dead on the mountain. It was a cloudy, chilly day. Storms from the past few days left about 10" of fresh snow on the mountain. The snow was kind of heavy, but still fun to carve through the untracked stuff. Terry, Chris and I celebrated the end of the season for Kirkwood quite well. We hiked up for a real nice untracked run into wagon wheel bowl. It did remind me of what an epic powder day would be like, even if this wasn't it. I definitely made my season pass pay off this year, with 15 days here at Kirkwood. That comes to about $14 per day.