Skiing Stoke from Lake Tahoe
Another glorious morning (photo by Robb Gaffney)
Another early to rise morning made worthwhile with crisp weather and fresh snow yet again. Conditions were good, not great…but hey it’s May 26th and if it keeps snowing we’re going to keep skiing.
Ripe for the pickin' (photo by Robb Gaffney)
PlumpJack parking lot in Squaw Valley around 4:30 on May 25
What will dawn patrol on May 26 be like? Time will tell.
Old Man Winter doesn’t want to let go of this monster season. Higher elevations in Tahoe got pounded with more snow this week. Touring near the Pacific Crest Tuesday evening felt more like February than May. Early birds got the worm big time on Wednesday. Unfortunately Wednesday afternoon warmed up significantly and Thursday was not so good. Thick crust layer all the way to the top of Squaw. The flavor of the week has definitely been touring the hell out of closed ski areas. For those who prefer to hike it’s a treat to ride these zones that we would ski all the time if they were not ski areas.
Here’s storm skiing the week of May 16.
New culture meets old culture. Modern day graffiti in the same place Chinese laborers built the transcontinental railroad passage through Donner Summit over 140 years ago.
An interesting artifact from US rail history resides just west of Donner Lake adjacent to Old Highway 40. The tunnels and snowsheds from the original transcontinental railroad passage through Donner Summit create a horizontal line across Donner Peak. More than a century ago, Chinese workers provided the bulk of the labor in the excruciatingly time consuming and dangerous construction of the railway. Newly developed nitroglycerine was largely used for nearly two years of blasting required to bore through the mountain. A seventy five foot high retaining wall between two tunnels was built entirely by stacking natural rocks by hand. The snowsheds were designed to protect the train tracks from avalanches and snow drifts and were originally built with wood and later replaced by concrete. The four mile stretch was retired in 1993 by the active Union Pacific tunnel which passes through the mountain just south of the original line. The defunct section of the snowshed no longer contains rails and can be navigated on bike or four wheel drive in the summertime.
The same steep slopes on Donner Peak that created an avalanche hazard to the transcontinental railway provide a variety of nice ski terrain ranging from mellow cruising on the west side to challenging lines on the north face.
Donner Snowshed
Terrain on the west side of Donner Peak above the historic snowsheds.
Horizontal line of snowshed visible on terrain east of Donner Peak.
Here’s a great writeup on Kip courtesy of ESPN.
The worldwide ski community lost two of it’s finest souls this week. Kip Garre and Allison Kreutzen were found on Split Mountain in the Eastern Sierra after an avalanche apparently swept them down the Split Couloir. Kip and Allison were accomplished ski mountaineers and exceptional people. They will be deeply missed by the Tahoe community and beyond. A memorial service for Allison and Kip will be held Thursday, May 5, from 2 to 5pm at the Olympic Village Lodge in Squaw Valley.
Here are related links with more details on the incident:
Inspiring and intimidating...a look back at our objective (photo by Robb Gaffney)
Last week a friend and I sessioned one of our favorite zones along the Pacific Crest. Perfect conditions allowed us to ski some exciting new lines. At 600 to 800 vertical feet, it hardly qualified as big mountain skiing. However, sustained pitch and secondary exposure combined with mini couloirs and faces to climb and ski made for an exhilarating day of mini-mountaineering.
Dropping into the center line (photo by Robb Gaffney)
We will not soon forget what a crazily amazing month March of 2011 was. Copious amounts of snowfall, endless pow turns and a super fun tribute weekend celebrating the life and legacy of Shane McConkey. Here’s a look back at the monster month of March 2011.
Ice sculpture / vodka luge at the Shane McConkey Legacy Gala
On Friday evening, March 24, the PlumpJack Squaw Valley Inn hosted the swankiest, sexiest, classiest event the Valley has ever seen. Two years after the passing of ski legend Shane McConkey, his wife Sherry created the Shane McConkey Legacy Gala to honor his memory and raise money and support for protecting the environment. Shane was a huge James Bond fan and the Gala followed suit with a 007 theme in which attendees dressed to the hilt in tuxedos and lavish cocktail dresses.
Exotic fire dancers performed outside as guests stepped onto the red carpet leading into the event during of course, a raging snowstorm. Once inside guests relaxed and sipped martinis (shaken, not stirred) to sexy downtempo beats courtesy of dj Patrick Mulligan. Dual tapestries featured silhouettes of live dancers that perfectly recreated classic images featured in James Bond films for the last fifty years. The space also had a lounge for relaxing, ice sculptures, sultry mood lighting and a foyer stacked with gorgeous silent auction items.
As the evening progressed so did the pace of the entertainment. About halfway through the night a burlesque dancer dangled from the ceiling performing a heart racing routine to “Goldfinger”. Shortly after, a live auction began in which spectacular items went for thousands of dollars. Sherry McConkey, looking like the quintessential Bond girl herself, took a moment to thank all the volunteers involved with the event.
The Shane McConkey Legacy Gala was a very special evening that kicked off a weekend of excitement and fun in Squaw Valley. The 80’s cover band “Tainted Love” played at Bar One on Saturday night and Sunday featured the long awaited return of the Pain McShlonkey Classic, an outlandish contest that pokes fun at the serious world of ski competition. The Classic was comprised of two main events including a Snowlerblade Small Mountain Competition and a Snowlerblade Chinese Downhill. Kudos to Jessie Hall for winning the Small Mountain Comp, and Cody Townsend for taking the Chinese Downhill. Most importantly thanks to everyone who participated in, watched or supported this magical weekend long tribute to the skier, the father, the husband and the friend we called Shane McConkey.
Clear, calm, sunny skies and warm temperatures brought us back to reality on Monday. Powder harvesting needed to happen quickly and by the end of the day only select north faces still held cold snow. The spring corn festival should arrive soon. Here are some landscape photos from around Tahoe the day the clouds lifted from Massive March.
Squaw Valley as seen from the East Shore
Third Creek Drainage
Mt. Tallac and Desolation Wilderness with Thunderbird Lodge in the foreground
The Pacific Crest and Tinkers Knob as seen from Martis Valley
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