Conditions Report
All good things must come to an end. While Squaw might be able to eke out another weekend, we’re now down to only Gold Coast, and it looks like last weekend might have been the end to the legendary 2017 season.
The snow was slushy and fun. Gold Coast was the only lift that was spinning, and accessed a strip of snow connecting the top station to the bottom. The epic July 4th terrain park had been nobly sacrificed to ensure good coverage on the run, and the traverse to the top of Shirley had melted out (so no more Shirley this season?).
Moguls were even forming on Gold Coast by the time I left around 10:30.
National on the Palisaides was open, and was definitely the best skiing available.
National still has a deep snowpack, and was steep and fun per usual. You could get almost all the way to Gold Coast without crossing dirt.
If you don’t mind hiking a bit and are looking for some Squaw turns, it’s looking possible that National will still be skiable in August.
Was the snow phenomenal? Well… no, but there’s no such thing as a bad day of skiing, especially in July. Everyone out there was stoked on the California sun and that we could get in just one more weekend.
This was entirely predictable, both for Squaw’s relatively low elevation and sunny exposure, as well as Squaw’s track record in running lifts.
Siberia could have been extended longer by maintaining a small exit strip to the top of the still deep bowl as Mammoth does routinely in late season from chairs 1, 2 and 3.
Mammoth as of today July 18 still has snow to Main Lodge via Broadway and St. Anton, 2,100 vertical. Plus some real steeps on Climax and the Drop Outs.
Squaw has not been worth skiing vs. Mammoth for over a month since Siberia closed IMHO. I had a good day at Squaw on June 2, but half of that day was on Granite Chief, which closed June 4.
Squaw is staying open year round. I heard it from Andy Drumpf and he would NEVER lie.