Report from December 14, 2024

We got out into the Tahoe backcountry early today in a driving blizzard.

The Sierra Avalanche Center called for HIGH avalanche danger, with human-triggered avalanches likely.

This pushed us into low-angle, non-exposed terrain.

So, we went for a lovely walk in about 2 feet of new snow.

Geoff, Jamie, and I cruised around, set skin tracks, and chatted about life.

The snow let up while we were hiking, then turned back on again as we topped out.

The snowpack seemed relatively stable except for the top 4-6″, which was a dense, reactive storm slab.

We skied a mellow tree run up top, then skirted a steep section.

Geoff decided to poke around near the steeper section and triggered a small avalanche (D1.5) 4-6″ deep and propagated a long way in each direction.

We stayed in the mellow.

Back at the car (we’d had to dig a car-sized parking spot in a snowbank), we found the vehicle plowed in and got to digging.

Once free, we cruised back to the real world.

I rested a bit, suited up, and charged out the door, fired up for some stormy Red Dog laps at Palisades Tahoe when they closed the chair right in my face at about 2:15 pm.

Doh!

Probably for the best.