Category: News (Page 6 of 30)

The upper portion of Squaw got plastered with five feet of snow from the weekend’s storm. The upside down snowpack ripped out some large avalanches throughout the Tahoe Basin.

Last week’s storm had the potential to drop three feet of snow on the crest, starting with a wet layer and drying out toward the finish.   Unfortunately we have to keep imagining what that would have felt like because the final pulse missed us completely and we only received about a foot of snow.  The good news is we received a ton of much needed moisture and the portion that fell as snow is bonding well with the rain crust layer.  Beyond that, conditions are still extremely lean.  The start to this season is now one of the driest in history along with 1977 and 1991. It’s time to ramp up the sacrificial offerings to ensure the next system delivers in a way this one did not.

 

Heavy rain soaked Squaw Valley today as a long awaited winter storm entered the region.  We are dealing with a very weak snowpack which may benefit from being saturated before temperatures drop and the snowfall begins.  Wet snow should help cake over rocks and other low tide hazards.  The Sierra Avalanche Center expects conditions to get dangerous as storm slabs load on top of the persistent weak layer.  Time will tell whether the PWL will break down or remain a threat as our ski season finally gets under way here in February.  Thankfully we are getting precipitation that we desperately need and this storm is expected to finish cold and dry which may actually offer up some nice skiing.  Imagine that!?!

Sierra Avalanche Center Forecast for January 29, 2014

NOAA forecast for Olympic Valley on January 29, 2014

If winter gives you summer, you may as well do summer stuff.

 

While Tahoe is suffering from the winter that wasn’t, some locals have been fortunate enough to visit places with copious amounts of snow and splendid ski conditions.  Mike Walker enjoyed lapping untracked pow at Grand Targhee last week.  Factory Bike owner Matt Duniho ventured into stunning terrain in the Selkirk Range of Canada.

 

The warmest summer I ever spent was a winter in Squaw Valley. It hasn’t snowed in five weeks and it’s not going to for at least another two.   Meteorologists are in agreement there is nothing but high pressure in our medium range future.  After the driest calendar year in the history of California, we are officially in a drought state. The rest of the country is feasting on powder.  The mass exodus has begun and road trippers are reporting back with huge smiles and a gluttony of Facebook posts from Montana, Wyoming, Utah, Colorado and the Pacific Northwest.  Some locals trying to keep a sense of humor about the current situation have started a movement called “Staches for Snow” and are growing mustaches until KT opens.   Hopefully that will happen prior to 2015.  A sacrificial bonfire to the snow gods is planned for January 25 at an underground location on the Truckee River.

Merry Christmas from Squaw Valley. We desperately need snow but at least we have gorgeous weather here in sunny California.

 

 

 

Indian summer was put on hold earlier this week as Tahoe received the first legitimate snowfall of the season.  Higher elevations at Sugar Bowl received nearly two feet of snow.