Wallowing in Winter’s Warmth @ Kirkwood – 03/18/16 The season rolls on and El Nino has been gracious enough to continue to add substantial resets every Monday or so. On this day, we headed out to Kirkwood to check out the conditions in the West Shore area after 6 feet of new snow fell the previous on the tail of the previous weekend. Unfortunately, I could not make it out during the storm due to road closures and not wanting to spend all day in the car with my two lovely children. The storm followed the traditional pattern of big snowfall, high winds and then followed by four days of warm Spring temperatures. After finding a nasty ice layer two weeks prior, I was a bit hesitant to fully unleash on some of the steeper and more exposed lines, so we settled with a relatively conservative jaunt over to Boulevard Chute. To our surprise, we encountered a consistent wintery and silky surface all the way to Emigrant Lake. The rest of the day was spent searching for chalky and softening snow in Hell’s Delight, Norm’s Nose, The Wall, Sisters Chute and of course all aspects of Cornice Chair. Remember, the sun angle is a bit higher so those North facing hidden gems are beginning to get their fare share of sunlight, so if it snows, its best to get after it early. Bottom line, the upper mountain is CAKED. Cliffs and massive rock formations are now buried in areas like West Shore, All the Way, Fingers and Chamoix. Conditions Report Casey Cane | March 22, 2016 1 Comment
Springing into March @ Kirkwood – 02/28/16 After a nice refresh the previous weekend that was followed by extremely warm temperatures throughout the week, the bar was not set very high for finding great conditions on this ski outing. It was that typical Tahoe early spring pattern…the groomers were perfection upon opening and most of the off-piste needed some time for softening. But would the north-facing aspects hold any winter snow? The day began with dropping one kid off early for JETS and skiing with the 4 year old for a few laps at Timber Creek before dad could be set free on his own will. I immediately met up with telemark extraordinaire Bevan at the bottom of Chair 6 where we immediately headed straight to Thunder Mountain. The plan was to hit up Thunderbowl to look at V-tree and eventually make our way out to Carson Spur. If anywhere has winter snow, its the protected aspects in these two zones. Upon arrival to V-tree, we unfortunately found un-edgable bulletproof ice conditions under a tiny layer of new snow. Bevan made his way down slowly and safely while I ended up traversing out mid-way. Luckily, I found some cold powder in the chute directly below the ice-fall. After a medium hike over the Carson Spur, we opted for the 2nd Sentinel and headed in the direction of Mario Land. Fortunately, we found some smooth consolidated spring powder and great terrain. Although Bevan pre-released in the middle of his run, he was stoked to get his first tour of the area. The rest of the day was spent cruising Chair 6 & 10 with my 7 year old and having a blast of a time. We actually found wintery chalk in Chamoix, Oops, and lookers left of the Wall. Mission Accomplished and bring on the MEGA STORM in the forecast! Conditions Report Casey Cane | March 4, 2016 1 Comment
Thrashing with the Tribe…a week in Telluride! So here we are…another year, another ‘ski week’ in Telluride. With six days of skiing on the docket, the big difference this year is that the kids can actually ski with us! Hell, my 7 year old decided to pick off ‘double blacks’ all over the mountain. Call this dad impressed… Telluride is our staple ski destination outside of California for many reasons. One, and most importantly, there’s great hike-to steep terrain like the Gold Hill Chutes, Mountain Quail and Palmyra. Secondly, they have some amazing beginning and intermediate terrain for the little rippers in your family. Finally, it was a town before a ski resort and that character shines through as you walk down main street. I guess you argue that the views are pretty spectacular, restaurants are amazing, and the sunsets are to die for, but I only have some much time to editorialize. With over 240 inches of snowfall before our visit and spring time temps throughout the week, we couldn’t have asked for more perfect weather to ski bell to bell everyday. Groomers such as Henry’s, Milk Run, Bushwacker and The Plunge had that ‘every so perfect’ Rocky Mountain chalky consistency. Coverage in the steeps was better than years past, and outdoor lunching at Bon Vivant or Giuseppe’s could not have been more sublime. My only dilemma was trying to fit in some dad time lapping Dihedral face and at least one hike up to Palmyra Peak. I managed to bag those lines and a few others but had just as much fun cruising the mountain with the 4 and 7 year old groms. To be honest, it is pretty rewarding to see your kids having a blast on the hill but its even more rewarding when they crash to bed earlier than usual after a big day. Conditions Report Casey Cane | March 2, 2016 2 Comments
Sunscreen Session Volume I @ Kirkwood, CA A ski season in Tahoe is never complete without a dry spell containing some good ol’ California warm weather. There’s a solid base around the region so it’s time to breakout the SPF 75, your favorite hoodie and hit the slopes! The day began with some solid warm up laps with the kiddos in the Timber Creek area on runs like Squirrel Ridge and the Ditch of Doom. Soon thereafter, Dad headed up The Wall over to Norms Nose to find some variable snow but steep pitches. Over on the Vista tow, we found some great East facing chutes that started to corn up. Next, we headed to the West Shore area and took a lap down Boulevard because Broadway, a much steeper option, was showing some nasty bulletproof conditions on the ridgeline. We ended the day lapping Chair 6 in the Fingers and Chamoix ending with a run down All the Way on The Wall. Overall, the snow on North facing slopes were great but other aspects were softening due to the warm temps and sun exposure. With the forecast calling for Spring temps, it is probably a great idea to grab that extra bottle of Zinka. Conditions Report Casey Cane | February 12, 2016 0 Comments
Welcome to the Pleasuredome @ Kirkwood – 01/24/16 The ski season rolls on and continues to impress with additional snow and new terrain openings. With snowfall totals close to 300 inches on the upper mountain, on some parts of the hill, cliffs have all but disappeared that were above the surface just two weeks prior. That’s just plain crazy! We started our day like any other…sessioning all aspects of Chair 6 like Chamoix, Oops & Poops, The Funnel and The Fingers and then moving on toward Chair 10 to eventually make our way to the Backside. Conditions Report Casey Cane | January 28, 2016 5 Comments
Killing Some Time on KT-22 @ Squaw Just over a week ago, I was fortunate to be greeted by a foot of new, no wind, bluebird skies and one chairlift that has some of the best skiing in North America… After dropping off the two kids at Ski School, Dad in full sweaty-powday-freak-out mode, was stressed about missing those crucial first pow runs. Luckily, a delayed opening for the mountain gave me some time to relax…at the end of the KT line. Once the mountain opened, conditions were sublime all over KT-22, including The Nose, The Alternates, The Fingers, and of course, under Olympic Lady. For quality control, I stayed on the North Facing aspects to maximize my half day sans kids. Casey Cane | January 23, 2016 0 Comments
Back From the Dead @ Kirkwood – ‘the way it should be’ After many years of drought, the day finally came when Kirkwood was skiing like its old self again. With over 200 inches on the upper mountain, now surpassing the total snow of last season, all my favorite zones are skiing quite well. It has been some time where we could lap every aspect of Chair 6 to Chair 10, over to Eagle and Norm’s, to the steeps of West Shore and the Temple of Doom, with that final sweet lap back through Hell’s Delight of Thunder Saddle…AND IT FEELS GREAT! Casey Cane | January 22, 2016 6 Comments
Noodling the Nooks & Crannies @ Kirkwood – 12/04/15 After a Thanksgiving treat of around 2 feet of cold fluff, December 3rd decided to drop another 6 inches of the white stuff that would ultimately lead to a blue sky powder day on the 4th. The forecast the day prior did call for at least a foot of snow, but sadly, that did not pan out. However, in a severe drought, I’ll ski anything especially after spending Thanksgiving week sipping Mai Tais in Hawaii. This old guy was in dire need of a good ol’ Chair 6 session. Before lining up with the powder-hounds around 30 mins before opening, patrol told me that a brief rain storm on December 2nd solidified the snow a bit and to ‘be careful of the chunder.’ With that advice in tow, I decided to pump out some much needed pow laps before exploring the technical lines off the Chair. Conditions Report Casey Cane | December 8, 2015 2 Comments
Conditions Report
