Scratching the Technical Itch @ Kirkwood The series of storms that have hammered the Sierra over the month of January recently calmed down and in their absence, a ridge of high pressure gave California a chance to dry out. With Kirkwood receiving over 400 inches of total snowfall on their upper mountain so far this year, the calm weather provided a perfect opportunity to examine my usual fun spots and to see…well…if they were even still there. With my daughter in tow, we arrived early in response to the reports of crowds and full parking lots the last few weeks. Her Mini-JETS (Junior Expedition Team) begins at 9:30am, so with an early start, we managed to grab a few untracked corduroy laps on Chair 5 and sneak in a lap into the Ditch of Doom before dropping her off. Conditions Report Casey Cane | February 2, 2017 2 Comments
Sunny Sessions between Super Storms @ Squaw During the month of January 2017, over 23 feet of snow fell around the Tahoe region. After the first 10 feet, a few days of reprieve occurred over the MLK holiday. This gave time for the resorts to dig out and open more terrain…just in time for an old kid like myself to have some fun. I’m creating this blog to give some reference on how much snow has fallen SINCE this report…the result is pure craziness for the end of January when compared to the last few years. Casey Cane | January 26, 2017 0 Comments
Before the Storm – Early Season Radness @ Kirkwood Early season at kirkwood mountain is quite unique. The mountain is littered with deep volcanic chutes and cliffs that skis quite differently at the end of the season with a deeper snowpack. On a normal year, these same chutes and cliffs disappear and may even turn into a open bowl later on in the year. Therefore, this early part of the season yields some radical mini-golf action in the classic Fingers, Wagon Wheel Bowl, Oops & Poops, Lightning, All the Way and of course all of Thunder Saddle. Casey Cane | January 6, 2017 1 Comment
Firming up a Solid Base @ Kirkwood – 12/11/16 Just like that another ski season around the South Side of Lake Tahoe is up on us. With strong wet storms providing much needed drought reducing rains since mid October, all signs are pointing to a solid year…my unscientific opinion of course. After a busy Thanksgiving, I finally was able to grab the kids and head to Kirkwood for our first day to ‘Ski at a Higher Level.’ While most resorts were reporting top to bottom rain the previous day, Kirkwood was reporting snow…albeit in the wet variety. In any case, since my daughter had a mini-Jets evaluation, we were going to ride regardless of rain or snow. As we pulled into the lot, the upper mountain ‘looked’ liked creamy goodness. However, after we took a few runs on Chair 7, it was obvious that rain fell on the mountain overnight. The groomers were in decent shape but a bit frozen and ideal for cleaning off your rusty edges. We headed over to the Village at 10am and ran into Coop who said straight up ‘it is FIRM up top but the positive is that we know have a solid base.’ With a massive crowd on Chair 11 due to some de-icing on Chairs 5 & 6, I headed over to Timber Creek to rail the groomers on Chair 7 until I was informed of the opening of Chair 6. Conditions Report Casey Cane | December 13, 2016 2 Comments
‘Turns’ out Summer is ‘Pretty’ Awesome @ Telluride, Colorado Summer is pretty darn rad in Telluride, Colorado. With some splendid summer skiing options combined with some of the best hiking trails on the planet, its hard not to love a place like Telluride. Just like last year, after a quick acclimatization hike up to Bear Creek Falls, the following day I rented a trusty Jeep and headed up Imogene Pass searching for summer snow. On July 26th, Ashton joined the party and we were pleasantly surprised by the coverage. Unlike last summer, a chute connected to the summit above Savage Basin. Aston took a lap followed by a scenic ride on his motorbike while I headed up the chute. How were the conditions? Summery but with minimal suncups provided a perfect descent for late July. After a few laps on the lower patches, it was time to head down for some snacks at Baked in Telluride. Casey Cane | October 6, 2016 0 Comments
Juneuary Jaunt to Mammoth Mountain, CA – One Last Wintery Blast! With our third child arriving into our family around mid-May, life has been a tad busy for family ski trips the month prior and after his entry into planet Earth. However, given the amount of snowfall in the Sierra this season, the two older kids and I still wanted to get in our annual late season trip Mammoth and that day happened to land on June 12th, 2016. After almost two weeks of scorching high altitude temperatures prior to our arrival, my main concern was packing proper sunscreen let alone even a proper ski coat. Well, a few days before our departure, the weather forecast shifted and took the sun completely out of the equation. The day prior displayed ‘sun’…the day after displayed ‘sun.’ But, our day of planned skiing displayed ‘rain & snow’ with a high temperature of 38F. Fast forward to the morning of June 12th, 2016…after a night of thunder and lightning, we awoke to pouring rain in the Village of Mammoth. The older kid is yelling at me that ‘he doesn’t ski in the rain’ and my youngest is only concerned about the promised massive doughnut at the Main Lodge prior to skiing. As we made our way up to the Main Lodge, the rain did not let up and we were soaked by the time we dropped off our gear by Broadway Express. However, Dad was overly optimistic…probably because from McCoy Station and above was showing new snowfall. He studied the animated satellite image and thought to himself ‘I think we may just get a gap in the storm.’ After a hearty breakfast, dad proceeded to walk onto the deck to take a look at the weather and by some sort of miracle, the rain had stopped. Granted, it was still cloudy, but you could see to the top of Broadway and we wouldn’t get soaked ‘trying’ to ski. Casey Cane | June 23, 2016 2 Comments
Sierra Cement Slayage @ Kirkwood – 04/09/16 Another late season storm pushed it’s way into the Tahoe region last weekend but with forecast models showing 9,000 ft snow levels, it really wasn’t looking too promising. With one day to ski, myself and the two kids decided to roll the dice and head to Kirkwood…praying for snow instead of rain. On the drive in the early AM, it was apparent that warm weather had a stranglehold on the area as we encountered nothing but rain on the summit of Carson Spur. The parking lot scene did not look much better as the rain fell from the sky and not just from dad’s forehead after fitting a few pair of ski boots. But hey, we are in the mountains, there’s almost nobody around, and WE ARE SKIING! As we loaded Timber Creek Express, a refreshing mist washed off our sunscreen laden faces as we soared above untouched perfectly groomed corduroy. However, to our surprise, it was starting to snow at the top of the lift. We took a few laps down the corn groomers, the Trench of Terror, Ditch of Doom and the rollers of the Gold Rush Zone until it was time for dad to get his groove on…alone. By 11am, massive flakes of wet snow were plastering the mountain including the base area. I met up with Bevan and his buddy Noah and we attacked the steeps of Chamoix and Oops & Poops…finding soft landings everywhere we looked. One of the good things about the warm weather was that the spring snow underneath did not have time to freeze, so the dreaded ‘dust on crust’ was happily avoided. Of course, there was a lot of goggle management going on but we managed to take quality runs on Notch Chute, Lightning, The Fingers and more. We met back up with my son and ended the day with a few more laps on Chair 6…but now finding around 5 inches of an untouched silky surface. As we departed at 3:30pm, the snow was still coming down and chain controls were in effect over the Carson Spur. By the next morning, 12 inches of snow accumulated where some resorts on the North Shore received only an inch or two. Luck was on our side and we’re not complaining. Conditions Report Casey Cane | April 12, 2016 5 Comments
Sneaker Storm: Darting through Drifts on Donner Summit – 03/28/16 After about a week of warm Spring temperatures and a forecast of around 2 inches of cold snow, the expectation of a great day on Monday the 27th of March was near absolute zero. However, a spinning low pressure over the great state of Nevada decided to take a late trajectory toward Donner Summit and boy was the forecast wrong. […] Casey Cane | April 3, 2016 0 Comments
Conditions Report
