Avalanche
Industry News
68″ of new snow at Squaw Valley last week changed everything. The upper mountain looks like mid-winter on a good year, ie things are filled in and ready to roll.
Squaw will open Granite Chief today for the first time all season before opening KT-22 and Headwall for the first time all season on Saturday.
More good news, skiers & riders! New by Saturday:
KT-22 AND Headwall are scheduled PLUS 27 features including 7 small to medium jumps in Gold Coast Park!!! – Squaw Valley
Why wait until Saturday? To entice tourists to drive up the hill to Squaw, of course. After all, this is a holiday weekend coming up.
As a local, how does this feel to wait all season for snow just to have Squaw keep it closed to you for no reason other than saving it for the weekend holiday crowd?
Regardless, it’s sweet that Squaw will be opening KT and Headwall. It’s gonna be a great weekend.
There were a lot of big avalanches at Squaw yesterday. We’ve tried to show pictures of the ones off Headwall and KT-22 in this post. Heads up and be safe and watch out for hard avy debris.
Alpine will be opening new terrain as well this week:
Today was awesome and it’s only getting better!! Scott Chair is on the schedule tomorrow & Lakeview is scheduled for Friday, conditions permitting. – Alpine Meadows
On the schedule today, 10:00, see ya there, yippee.
Everybody, please, just settle down and “breathe”. We are doing are best and as you know it has been a most challenging winter.
Did you hear I went skydiving with JT Holmes and Timy Dutton and Eddie Vedder from Pearl Jam wrote a song for me? I’m so rad.
This article is disappointing in some regards, “Snowbrains.” Lets look at a couple things here. First off, the amount of preparation to get KT open is simply not an over night thing. They weren’t even able to start cutting the road to the top of KT until yesterday. They were still working on it today. KT can’t spin without the Saddle cut. Same issue goes with Headwall. With no snow before this last storm, and the freezing level spending a good amount of time at or above 8,000 ft, they are having to harvest a fair amount of snow just to build the ramp at the load. Which by the way, sits at approx. 6,800′. Then there is the staffing and labor issues. Second point, staffing. With a limited season and many locals from Patrollers to Lifties have had little to NO work, forcing many of us to find alternatives. The resources that HAVE been available have been put into opening Siberria and Granite today, including Granite Peak and Palisades. Not to mention the re-opening of Shirley yesterday and Solitude. Oh yeah, they gave us Tower 16 as well. Personally, I’ve been stoked on what we’ve had this week, and don’t need to be a fat fucking pig about it like the pointed questions in this article suggest. As for Jaded Local above.. are you retarded? If they had left it alone we wouldn’t have gotten anything. With the slides that DID happen, there is no way frame a safety standpoint the resort could have opened with slides crossing Mtn Run from the west Face, Siberia Lift line from North Bowl, and Shirley from the Funnel. Don’t go down the road of negativity Bullshit like Unofficial did Snowbrains. You’ve done great so far and to log in and see dip shits like “Jaded Local” and “S.Narky” is pretty disappointing.
I don’t see failing to properly staff your business as any sort of legitimate excuse. Forcing people to take there vacations and then using that as a reason why you can’t get the mountain open does not explain properly to me (the customer) why I should exhibit any sort of patience with your operation. How does KSL have the money to fly a helicopter around to take video of all the closed terrain but not enough to pay the staff to open said terrain?
Rhetorical question Andy,,,, because they can. Same as the toilet problems still not fixed @ gold coast.
SV/KSL=Epic Fail
To your weak a$$ comments about KT not opening.
“KT can’t spin without the Saddle cut” Total BS.
Experts only means, Experts only. Saddle has been sitting for what, 4 days now? How long does it take, especially when a piston bully has been parked at the bottom of saddle for a couple of days.
Bad logic and another lame excuse.
would be good today with a little rain and warm temps
Squaw has no soul.
Great, can’t wait to ride frozen, rubble, chunder. Shoulda left it alone for a couple of days to settle, then done snow safety, would’ve been in much better shape. Was closed anyways.
Get the meat wagons ready for Bay Gapers slamming themselves into shit this weekend.
Wow thanks KSL (killing squaw locals) you just got to save the goods to draw all the kooks and gapers from the bay, why not show your appreciation for locals and die hards and open it today, hoping some one pouches it and paints some tracks right down west face,