After hitting a high of $1889 this season, Squaw is finally dropping prices on their season passes! Restricted passes start as low as $369 and a totally unrestricted pass is $949, if you buy before May 11, 2009. Details here.Thanks Squaw!
Author: Susan (Page 8 of 15)
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The rain finally turned over to snow and NOAA is calling for more than two feet by Wednesday. The Tram Face comp promoters are saying that the most likely window to unleash the comptetiors on Tram Face is Wednesday afternoon or Thursday morning. If conditions aren’t good enough by Thursday morning, the contest results will be based on the scores from the Silverado runs last Friday.
Tram Face is the ultimate Squaw venue; it epitomizes Squaw’s steep, rowdy terrain and its position just above the parking lot is the perfect arena for competitors to give 1000% for the crowds and the cameras. It’s fitting that this long-awaited contest is hinging on Squaw’s fickle weather patterns, where two-days of rain have scoured the area and two days of snow is poised to dump feet and create ideal conditions.
South Lake Tahoe’s 986 Park Hotel is offering a “Lake Tahoe Stimulus Package.”
Lake Tahoe residents can receive $10.00 every time they have someone stay at the environmentally-conscious 968 Park Hotel. Additionally, the guest who stays at the hotel receives 9.68% off their entire stay. There is no limit to how many rooms a Tahoe local can send and how much they can make. “If someone sends us 100 rooms, they will get a check for $1,000,” says Christopher Minnes, General Manager of 968 Park Hotel. To be eligible to receive the $10.00 commission, the referring individual must receive their mail inside the Tahoe Basin or Truckee.
Tahoe locals can pick up a form at 968 Park Hotel or download it from the hotel by visiting the “Lake Tahoe” Page of the website www.968ParkHotel.com. The form looks exactly like an IRS W-2 but upon closer inspection it has fields for the Tahoe residents name and the name of the guest that they have referred.
Wet weather started the week before Presidents’ Day, breaking a long dry spell and dumping almost eight feet of snow on Squaw’s upper mountain. The skiing for the next two weeks was insanely good. There was the epic bluebird day on Tuesday, February 17th (which I missed for babysitting duty) and deep backcountry conditions which were irresistible and also dangerous; last Friday these guys witnessed a huge slide in the Cabin Creek area. I got a new video camera, the Flip HD Mino, which is tiny and light and takes great quality video and audio. I made My First Ski Video … now I just need to work on finding the good light and keeping my hand steady. The rain came in yesterday morning and has stuck around melting out and dirtying up the precious snow. Fortunately a winter weather advisory is back in effect and snow is forecast throughout the week. The long-anticipated tram face contest is happening this week at Squaw. It should make for some exciting spectating from the parking lot or one of the higher streets in the Valley. We’re planning on heavy-duty duty tailgating and video-reporting so check back here for updates.
It’s been raining for almost three full days and watching the snow shrivel down to a thin, pocked, dirty mound could be depressing. But, in the name of optimism, we came up with five great things about this late January rain-a-thon.
1. If you’re out skiing it in, the rain is a blast. The snow is always soft and spongy and there’s never anyone else out there to get in your way.
2. This rain will wash away the slick-as-Exxon ice layer that has been plaguing the ski areas for weeks.
3. This rain will percolate through the entire snowpack and eliminate the depth hoar layer that setup early in the season.
4. This rain will make an excellent, well-compacted base layer for the SNOW* that’s forecast for next week.
5. As the temperature drops, and the rain turns to snow, the snow will bond like glue, significantly decreasing avalanche danger on the next pow day.
*NOAA Says:
Today: Rain and snow showers. High near 38. Southwest wind around 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. Total daytime snow accumulation of 1 to 2 inches possible.
Tonight: Snow showers likely, mainly before 10pm. Cloudy, with a low around 30. Southwest wind around 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New snow accumulation of 1 to 3 inches possible.
Sunday: Snow showers. High near 31. West wind around 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New snow accumulation of 2 to 4 inches possible.
Sunday Night: Snow showers. Low around 22. West wind around 5 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%.
Monday: Snow showers likely. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 29. East wind around 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60
For years, my husband has kept a small calendar in his closet where he marks each day he skis and which of them are powder days. From this, he keeps a running tally of his powder percentage each season. I’m not sure whether he’ll ever abandon the old, simple system, but I recently came across a new website that might propel him into the 21st century. SkiLogs.com lets you keep an online journal of your ski days including the date you skied, the conditions, the weather and the lifts you rode. You can also upload photos from the day, track the exact time that you skied, and note the wind speed and direction. The site also has a vertical calculator for Squaw Valley; enter the lifts you skied and the number of laps on each and it calculates your vertical for the day.
A WINTER STORM WARNING FOR HEAVY SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL NOON PST THURSDAY.
* SNOW WILL INCREASE OVER THE SIERRA THIS MORNING WITH PERIODS OF HEAVY SNOW THROUGH THURSDAY MORNING.
* TOTAL SNOW ACCUMULATIONS OF 12 TO 20 INCHES OF SNOW IS EXPECTED AT LAKE LEVEL…WITH 20 TO 40 INCHES ABOVE 7000 FEET.
* SOUTHWEST WINDS OF 15 TO 30 MPH WITH GUSTS OF UP TO 50 MPH TONIGHT AND THURSDAY WILL CREATE AREAS OF BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW. RIDGE GUSTS OF UP TO 140 MPH ARE POSSIBLE.
* RAD DOGS SHOULD EXPECT EXTREME HUCKING AND STRAIGHT RUNNING CONDITIONS AT LOCAL SKI AREAS THURSDAY AND FRIDAY. NEW SNOW TOTALS SHOULD MAKE TURNS UNNECESSARY. SKIING WITH A BEACON AND A BUDDY ARE RECOMMENDED TO AVOID POTENTIAL FATALITIES FROM SNOW SUFFOCATION. APRES SKI SHOTS AND BEERS ARE STRONGLY ENCOURAGED TO CALM NERVES AFTER ROWDY DISPLAYS OF SICKNESS AND VORACIOUS PURSUITS OF GNAR POINTS.
* CONDITIONS COULD TURN TO RAIN BY THE WEEKEND SO GET IT WHILE IT’S HOT.
I was lucky enough to get on the reverse traverse just as it opened yesterday. The masses seemed to head elsewhere so I had the slot all to myself. Fresh, thigh-deep tracks all the way down!
I had my first ski day of the season yesterday at Squaw Valley and it was fantastic. I was surprised to hear that KT was running and even more surprised to hear that it was good. And when I took my first run down West Face I was blown away. Having a nine-week-old baby meant that I wasn’t able to join my friends on the fourth KT chair. But West Face was still great at 11 am when I dropped into it. The snow was soft, light and dry – a special treat since I’ve learned to love Sierra Cement. West Face was a little bumped out, but the bumps were soft and skiable. Though the parking lot was nearly full, I had the run all to myself. I made my way to the upper mountain for laps in Shirley Bowl where the snow was also soft and dry and way smoother and less bumped out. The sky was clear and sunny and the temperature was warm enough to be comfortable, but cool enough not to bake the snow.
Part of what made the day so great, in addition the snow snow, was that I skiing with a rat-pack of six friends. My three-year old neighbor, Declan Mack, also had a breakthrough day. Free from his harness, he showboated down East Broadway, making turns, catching air and skiing backwards for the crowd.
The big news at Squaw, aside from the four and a half feet of new snow, is a new ticket checking system. The mountain has installed electronic pass readers at all of the lower mountain lifts. Now you don’t have hassle to take your pass out and show it. Just wear it inside your jacket, on the left side, and the machine will scan it and let you pass. The only thing they need to do now is extend those carrals to the lift entrace so you don’t have to worry about sitting on someone’s lap when six people try to get on the KT quad at the same time.
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