Report from February 10, 2024

We rolled the dice in Lake Tahoe, CA today.

Fox had a plan to go ski a sun-soaked aspect on bluebird day with 60mph east winds.

It was clearly a bad plan leading directly to lousy snow in a gorgeous area.

I knew the snow wouldn’t be good but knew the views would be so I didn’t chirp back.

I kept my mouth shut, my head down, and did as I was told.

Things started off crusty and cold (19ºF) but the sunrise was world-class.

As we ascended, the wind picked up and the snow got softer.

The snow got spongey.

The wind was buffeting the snow around a touch and things were looking up.

At the top of our first chute, we could hardly believe that it was still fresh…

There were some old ghost tracks that the wind had all but erased.

The snow looked bad and was bad at the top of the chute.

Coral reef.

We decided to go for it anyway on the off chance that the snow improved in the chute.

It did!

Fox went first and all I saw from the hips down was cold smoke.

I pointed into the chute with confidence and couldn’t believe how well my skis were turning in the wind-buffered snow.

The chute was insanely fun and the views were eye-popping.

Down lower in the chute a thin crust appeared but as long as you were hauling ass and committing to each turn, it was still fun skiing.

We couldn’t believe our luck.

And there was no one around…

So we went back up full of stoke and happiness.

Love was damn near coming outta my eyeballs like laser beams!

I felt high…

We chose another bigger, longer, more wide-open chute and charged.

This one was even more fun than the first with the wind-buff to crust snow transition that skied great.

We coasted to the car on a cloud.

Nothing but good vibes, laughs, and high-fives all the way home.

What a place this is!

A special shout out to Ash, Jason, Jasper, and Brenden whom we met on the trail and who slathered us in good energy and smiles.

Thanks, California!

Photos in Chronological Order