Squaw Valley Weekend Report: 1st Sneaker Powder Day of the Year?

Squaw / Gold Coast on Saturday, November 29th, 2014.

I love a good sneaker pow day. Sometimes it’s raining at the base, sometimes the snow is slushy and wet, sometimes the wind is so strong it scours whole faces—but a sneaker pow day is all the more enjoyable because it’s unexpected. Most people stay home. Conditions seem sub-optimal. But the actual skiing? It ends up being damn fun. That didn’t happen yesterday.

Not much new snow at the base of Squaw. November 29th, 2014.

It started snowing in the valley last night around 1am and by morning there were accumulations of about 1-3 inches of slushy snow on the ground. That slushy snow quickly melted as it began to rain. The rain would continue throughout the day—with occasional periods of heavy precip at the base. This did not bode well for the skiing, but in the hopes of a sneaker pow day, we headed up the funi around 11am.

As expected, the rain turned to snow around 7,000 feet and was falling lightly at Gold Coast. Lines were very manageable again—varying between a 5 minute wait and no wait at all. The conditions were fun, a bit of soft snow covering the firm man made base, but the few added inches weren’t enough to open up any new terrain, and rocks, grass and shrubs remained fully visible just a few feet from the groomer.

The snow continued throughout the day—with a few periods of heavy snowfall and strong wind—but overall, the totals we received from this storm will not have a serious impact on Squaw’s ability to open more terrain. It’s hard to have a bad time when you can at least be out skiing—and on a storm day at that—but it wasn’t the sneaker pow day we were all wishing for. I guess that’s the thing about sneaker pow days—they never happen when you expect.