Wallowing in Winter’s Warmth @ Kirkwood – 03/18/16

Casey Cane | | Post Tag for Conditions ReportConditions Report

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UPDATE – Another 15 inches of snow fell since the day of this report – GO GET SOME!
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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.

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Upon arrival, The Cirque and Thimble Peak were looking rather grand…

The Cirque

The Wall has some snow…

El Nino has made California a visit

Bob enjoys a turn above Kirkwood Valley…

Norm’s Nose

Norm’s Nose skiing well…

Springlike steeps

Mokelumne Peak shining bright from the backside of Kirkwood…

Mokelumne Peak, CA

Emigrant Lake showing a bit of blue…

High alpine lake in the Sierra

Bob enjoys some stellar views…

Kirkwood sidecountry

But also enjoys some stellar snow…

A skier descends above Emigrant Lake

It’s hard to pass up this sunny little spine…

So fresh and so clean

But Boulevard Chute was sheer bliss…

Sierra chuting

Bob makes a fast descent down to the lake…

Kirkwood sidecountry skier

The sun was definitely shining bright…

Sunny Tahoe turns

The West Shore area in its current plastered state…

Lots of snow up here

Signs of recent avalanche activity from the last storm is apparent on the backside…

Debris field

Over in Hell’s Delight, we found some features…

Kirkwood terrain options in Thunder Saddle

Near Kodak we found some soft landings…

Lower Cirque – Kirkwood

We migrated over to The Wall to take in some scenery…

Sierra views

Chalky conditions was found under the summit…

Steep slashin’

Over near Waterfall, we took the line on the ridge…

Waterfall zone – Kirkwood, CA

As the day went on, the shadows ever so slowly made their appearance…

Getting the creep

The pinnacles of The Wall from above Once is Enough …

Shades of winter

Bob wanted to huck Hospital Air, but I told him 100 feet to firm wasn’t really a smart idea…

Top of the world – Kirkwood, CA

Sisters’ Chute was on the docket and Bob was my ski model…

Sisters’ Chute

Bob making some strong turns near the goalpost..

Terrain of Kirkwood, CA

Lower Sisters’ Chute spines are still in play unless we continue to get snow …

Lower Sisters’ Chute

By the afternoon, the mountain was shining bright…

Roundtop to Thimble Peak

Over on Chair 6, Oops Face was skiing quite well…

Cornice Chair chuting

Who needs gloves when its this warm? That or I left them in my trunk and too lazy to go back…

Spring skiin’

Dan Cliffs was softening nicely…

Dan Cliffs

The Fingers are almost gone…

The Fingers – Kirkwood, CA

Who doesn’t like jumping off things?

Cliffing out

The snowbank on the Carson Spur was crying a bit in the 50 F temps…

Carson Spur – Hwy 88

California is loving El Nino…

Foothill pastures

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