Conditions Report
Report from January 16, 2023
Yesterday, we decided to go backcountry skiing in Tahoe after a huge amount of new snow.
Resorts around here have gotten 165″ of snow in since January 1, 2023…
We drove to a spot we know is too flat to avalanche but just steep enough to be fun.
The road to the zone was insane…
It got narrower and more deserted as we traveled deeper into the storm.
The storm was hammering and the road was unplowed and wild.
We loved it.
We only got stuck once.
After a vicious bout of shoveling, we started up.
Fortunately, there was a pack of smokey snowboarders in front of us who beat in the hours-old skin track.
The skin track was flat with a zillion switchbacks due to how deep the snow was.
We eventually got to the top and I put in a short skin track to get us to my favorite zone in this area.
It was real tough putting it in.
On the hike up I could tell the snow was dense and very upside down…
Once we clicked into our skis, we could barely ski.
It was too deep.
Too dense.
Too upsidedown.
We had to lean all the way back and butt-wiggle turn.
It wasn’t very fun…
Can you see all the “fake avalanches” in the video above?
This zone is pretty flat but the steeper shots in it had cracked and wrinkled and tried to avalanche but it was too flat so they just gave up…
We were able to put in a track and leapfrog each other just enough to get to the road without having to put our skins back on.
We were tired, weirded out, and shocked.
It was so bizarre…
RECENT REPORTS FROM TAHOE, UTAH, & BC:
- 1/18/23 – Lake Tahoe, CA Backcountry Report: Prolific Pow, Terrific Terrain, & The Largest Surface Hoar of My Life
- 1/15/23 – Palisades Tahoe, CA Report: Main Air Double in The Fingers, Backflips, and Soft Landings
- 1/14/23 – Palisades Tahoe, CA Report: 341″ of Snowfall Already This Season | Wet & Wild Supreme Cream Powder Day on KT-22
- 1/11/23 – Palisades Tahoe, CA Report: Backflips, Hard Falls, KT-22 Powder, & The Wolfpack…
- 1/10/23 – Palisades Tahoe, CA Report: Obnoxiously Fun Storm Skiing With Good Friends & Rarified Air
- 1/4/23 – Wasatch Mountains, UT Report: “The Hallway” & “Little Superior” in Deep, Exquisite Snow
- 12/29/23 – British Columbia, Canada Hut Trip Report – Day 7: Out of Control Powder Skiing & More Pillows on the Last Day
PHOTOS:
There’s no such problem on a snowboard, jus sayin!
That’s what she said.
Tahoe