Report from March 15 & 16, 2024

The past 2 days at Palisades Tahoe, CA, have been lovely.

After our big Northeast wind event that saw winds as high 150mph on the ridges on Thursday, the weather quieted down and warmed up.

Sunshine and temperatures in the 30s marked the day on Thursday.

On Thursday, I popped out in the morning and had some stellar chalky, wind-blown laps on KT-22 and Headwall.

The run of the morning was “The Portal” to “Dead Tree” to the groomer down to headwall.

Fast, chalky, flat (not moguled), and fun.

After a handful of laps with Fox and Connor, I headed home for lunch and a rest.

I came back out around 2pm and bounced around for 2 hours with Erica, Jen, Dan, Naomi, and more.

The Palisades have fish scales after the east winds. image: snowbrains

Headwall face was skiing well and we milked a few laps there.

Then it was back to KT for “Tom’s Tumble”, “Chute 75”, and a run off the back of The Nose that I think is called “Big Balls” that was the run of the day.

Long, flat, steep, and very responsive.

We took that one home with smiles in our pockets.

We ended up in Wildflour with our crew and Erica bought me a hot chocolate chip cookie that was pure bliss…

Today, Friday, I went backcountry skiing in the morning and the snow hadn’t quite turned to corn yet out there and it was still fun to be out with an all-star crew.

I got back to Palisades Tahoe at about 1pm and started chasing the crew of Brittany and Erica around.

The wind had fully stopped this morning and temperatures were in the 50s at the base.

Not quite full on spring skiing but pretty close.

We started up on Granite with a couple of laps and the groomer up there was $$$$.

We then came back down and found groomer on the far far skier’s right of the Resort Chair area holding completely untouched corduroy.

We cranked a couple of silky smooth laps there before returning to KT-22.

Aint’ no party like a Chamois party. image: snowbrains

We went back to that steep, smooth run off the back of The Nose and called it a day.

I met up with a very old friend who is basically my sister at Le Chamois and chatted with her and her friends while the party at Chami simply went off.

Now, don’t get me wrong, Chami has always been the best party spot at Palisades – especially on a sunny spring day – but lately, it’s been on another level.

It feels more like a concert than a bar.

People and dogs everywhere, dancing on tables, drinking straight out of their beer pitchers, music blasting, and everyone having an absolute blast.

We even got some Girl Scout cookies while at Chami!