Pineapple Express: Squaw Conditions Update

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Enjoying a damp and windy Funitel ride this morning
Enjoying a damp and windy Funitel ride this morning

For the past three weekends the trend for Squaw has been rain on Friday, snow Saturday, and powder Sunday.  This weekend is shaping up to be no exception, with an exceptionally rainy day today (with rain all the way to the top) and snow levels scheduled to drop over night.  This weekends atmospheric river has come with a good dose of wind too, shutting down all the upper mountain lifts for the day.  Interestingly enough, Red Dog and Far East both went on wind hold around mid morning while the Funitel continued to chug along (this is always an interesting and questionable anomaly).

Puddles are great.... if you 9 and wearing rain boots
Puddles are great…. if you’re 9 years old and wearing rain boots

Temperatures at the top of the Funitel were not even close to freezing, and a somewhat alarmingly sized puddle was starting to form in the area where you put your skis on.  A scouting ride up Exhibition revealed a number of rocks starting to appear in unfortunate places in the Fingers.  The off piste skiing was a challenge to say the least, as everything was thick, sticky, and wet.  However the groomers were actually skiing quite well, so long as you were okay with being soaked through after the walk from the parking lot to the lifts.

Forecast for the upper mountain at Squaw
Forecast for the upper mountain at Squaw

There is hope yet, tonight temperatures are slated to drop and we could see up to 10 inches of snow by the morning and it is supposed to continue snowing most of the day on Saturday.  It’s certainly nice to have precipitation back in California, however the colder variety would be nice for future events.  Stay tuned for more updates throughout the weekend.


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