That was end of day #4, great way to end the season :)
One more nice storm before the likely end of season for me (due to trips in April)? Yes please!
With more than 30 inches in the forecast, drove up wednesday before the storm arrived, and rode a couple of hours to confirm that there was plenty of snow but it was kinda icy, like I expected it would be.
Got to see ski patrol load up a lot of bombs and heard lots of them the next few days early in the morning :)
After that, I just ended the day and waited for the good snow ot fall.
Thursday, a solid 9 inches, although it was pretty firm and only felt like 2 or so. It was a bluebird, so I used the day to charge my car:
nice but not very deep
Firt run on chamoix was nice, but you can see it's not super deep:
I never get tired of this view :)
I went to check out the cave skiiers left of the wall ridge, it's very filled:
I went to the backside to check it out when it opened:
usual line at chair2
the wave looked super nice
nice fast run since it was pretty firm:
As usual Fawn Ridge was the best snow on the mountain:
a bit of work get out, though :)
Friday, day 3 for me, was a ok-ish day, the new snow didn't fall until late in the day and it got a lot better then. Got to do a few runs with Maze before the storm hit hard:
Saturday, day 4 was the best day, the best for last for sure. A solid and soft 12 inches, and half bluebird:
not crowded for a saturday
First run was really good:
very very good snow
happy :)
The top of the wall ridge was hard, so I lost my edge, but once in the forest, plenty of good snow left:
Met Eric who did a much deeper Fawn Ridge run than me :)
Then it was time to head out to the back side, usual little line on 2:
fawn ridge was excellent
oops, I had to walk out on that run :)
I'll leave you with the last Fawn Ridge run, which was excellent:
Forecast was clear that Tahoe was going to be blasted and the roads were going to be shut down for a while. I missed the last that happened but was able to go this time, so I hurried to get to Kirkwood before weather got too bad. That storm was unusual as I drove almost all the way with not even any rain and it's only in the last 30mn that I got some rain and then snow. I didn't complain and was happy to get over before it got bad:
Drive across the spur, was interesting:
Days 1-2: Shut down
The next 2 days were shut down, wind was so high (100 to 200mph, snow falling completely sideways) that kirkwood was not able to run any lifts and do any snow safety. This was kind of expected. During that time, the road in both directions was also closed, which was also expected. I went out on day 2 to get some pictures when there was a small chance things could open, but did not as the wind did not die down:
The kids tried to dig out the front door:
day2
they failed, this is what it looked on day 3 :)
The snow was relentless, it never stopped:
KW tried, but didn't succeed in opening anything on day2
I parked my car in underground parking so it wouldn't get snowed in :)
parking your car outside didn't seem like a great idea :)
this was the parking lot I got in, you could barely walk out without hitting your head
Day 3: Cartmanland Fluffy 4H Pow Day
Day 3, finally chair 6 opened at 11:00, the roads were closed so no one could get in, the snow was absolutely fantastic even if weather was super cold and miserable:
weather was blizzardly
nice board :)
I was able to snowboard all the way from the lift to across the street and inside the parking lot ;)
I also noticed that it was cold enough my car lost 8% charge
Despite the bad weather, these were some of the best runs I've ever had at kirkwood, especially as no one was able to drive in since the roads were closed:
Chamoix was trivial to get down, so much snow:
Day 4: Finally better weather, Wall opened
Day 4, finally the weather got better and it was possible to open more terrain. Sadly by then the wind had packed all that fantastic snow that was flying in my face the previous day. It's not like it sucked, but the epic powder day was already over:
the wall finally opened!
everyone flocked there :)
the path down from the top was all gone and burried
chair 2 needed a bit of TLC :)
I started the day with a fast run down 6, snow was firm powder but still smooth:
A different, down angle run:
The wall, eagle bowl to chair 1:
Day 5: Late bluebird, Backside finally opened
Day 5 finally had nicer weather, and the back side opened:
the wall seldom looks like this :)
people camped at chair2 2H early to get to the backside :)
I used the time to hike to Glove Rock mostly for fun, the snow was not that great anymore by then:
nice views though
riding the ridge was super windy, I then rode part of palisades
snow was pretty packed by then though
The ride was pretty rough, I got blown off the icy ridge a few times:
Then went back to the Wall and eagle bowl to get to chair2
rode down this, pretty rough on my butt :)
chair2 line had gotten a bit longer :)
it looked pretty, but backside snow is usually pretty packed
haha, good one :)
I went to find better snow
the cornice off the wave had been blown off by the wind, it was now a gentle slope. Had never seen that.
Fawn ridge was beautiful, as always
The first run was pretty firm:
This was my last, and best fawn ridge run, snow was much better there as usual. Good thing I had poles to get out of it, especially with the snowboarders that were blocking the path out:
After multiple fawn ridge runs, it was time to drive back, just as Carson Spur had finally re-opened:
While this year has not been an above average snow season, this storm made things a bit better. Turns out that sunday only had a few inches and might not have been worth the early trip, but it's always hard to say after the fact and I prefer to get through Carson Spur and stay at KW during storms. Thankfully I had a friend who had a condo there and was able to host me saturday night, saving me an early sunday morning drive:
got through the Spur just as the snow as starting to stick
I did a quick charging stop at jackson since I wasn't sure when I'd charge at KW, but in hindsight I could have driven there direct and arrived with 15% left (day drive, no headlights, no heat, warmer temps). Nice to see my car can still make it there in one shot when the conditions are good:
found this as jackson supercharger
Day 1: Sunday, a few inches
Unfortunately it was timed over president's day weekend which was a blackout on my pass, but given the price of lodging ($400/night), paying an extra day for a lift pass was ok-ish (but it used to be half price, now it's almost full price, $170). As a result, Sunday was not very busy since most passholders were blacked out. Only a few inches of fresh snow, but that was still good ;)
not very deep, but still nice
went pow hunting
finally could ride to the rock under the wall
Day 2: Monday, 18 inches
For the main pow day, we sure got the snow, but it was a bit too warm/wet and I could only sink a few inches, it didn't feel that deep.
not that deep like I said
not that busy for a deep pow day
the chutes were still a bit shallow
astill a sheet of ice
Despite the slighly hard powder, it was still a very nice day.
Firat run:
Day 3: Tuesday, 10 inches of fluffy pow
Agsinst all expectations, the 3rd day had the best powder. It was nice and light, a pleasure to ride:
not too many people
Chair 4 finally opened, it was worth checking out :)
the wave was pristine
I did have to hike back up to find a pole I dropped, took 25mn because of deep the snow was
Awesome snow:
Fawn ridge was stellar:
Day 4: Tuesday, 4 inches for the last day
The 4th day wasn't the best pow day ever, but it was still quite enjoyable and it was still fun to chase freshies for another day:
not much of a line
my watch told me I snowboarded too much :)
haha, one more day before I can rest :)
went to check out a wall chute
Still good runs:
By the way, this is why I why I get underground parking, getting this car out will be an hour of work with a shovel...
All in all this was a good trip, with plenty of enjoyable snow and kirkwood staff did an awesome job opening terrain timely, as well as communicating what they were doing. Thanks Ricky Newberry, the new GM, for running a great ship.
For our last day in Hokkaido snow, Kiroro has just gotten a lot of snow, and it was a godo time to visit to enjoy the powder. It was reaosonably busy, but even if the parking lots were full and we had to go to overflow, the resort didn't feel very crowded and never had to wait long for a lift:
the weather alternated between sunny and snowing, all day
I wasted some time trying to see how to register for the sidecountry gates, as was required last time I came, but that was 7 years ago, and now they ask you to register with some Hokkaido backcountry office on the internet which seemed fairly time consuming if you just wanted to do the in resort sidecountry as opposed to exiting in places where you'd end up way out there.
the maps are worth paying attention to, lots of tree areas and powder fields
yes!
The first run down the chair was very good:
the gondola to the other peak had a short line and did take 15mn up each time
beautiful trees
anti wind gates
did I say nice trees? :)
Seems that most people didn't really register and just took the side country gates in a way that you end up in the resort at the end, but in one of them, if you turn the wrong way, you could end up in unhappy places (like snow hike out which could take hours)
You definitely have to pay attention to this map once you get out, especially for teh elevation linea and the river in the middle that you can fall into if the snow collapses:
I did have my beacon :)
some signs, but no real warnings about the river that will try to swallow you at the bottom
the hike at the top of the gondola can be as long as you want it to be, but make sure to drop on the left side
While the side country was good experience, it also could get you in trouble, especially as you end up on top of a river with multiple holes, some big, and others where the snow could collapse and you fall in the river, no good:
it was very easy to end up in one of these, they were almost everywhere
After 6 different side country runs, the day was over, and time to get back:
Defintely a great experience, but it's a no screw around zone, you can really get in trouble once you go side country at Kiroro
We definitely were lucky with snow and being able to choose resorts based on snowfall, did help. Nice powder at Rusutsu when we went.
Rusutsu gives you 5 free days if you have an epic local pass, but those 5 days are consecutive
Rusutsu Day 1: Great Bluebird
nice drive to Rusutsu
I didn't know the terrain so well, my first ride down the gondola, I was afraid of getting stuck at the bottom, but actually it was fine
always hard to gauge if it will be downhill the whole way, I was worried the gondola line had an uphill section lower down
ran the gondola line a few more times, it was excellent
While I really like flow bindings as they are easier to get in and out, they fail in too many different ways. Thankfully I learned my lesson and carry an entire spare emergency binding in my backpack:
kind of sucky that such a thick cable can snap
there you go, emergency backup binding installed
will fix this later, spare cables were ordered and sent home for when I get back
Back on the slopes to esplore the rest of the resort:
Rusutsu Day 2: Windy Post Storm
Knowing that a storm was coming, we went back the next day for more fresh snow, although the resort was half shut down for half the day due to too much wind. Thankfully the back of the resort did open later in the day, but the wind damaged the snow on some aspects of the mountain. Once we figured out where the good bits were, we went to enjoy that good powder ;)
snowy drive to rusutsu, but the roads stayed open
only a few lifts were open in the morning, Mt Isola was too windy
people showed up for the pow day, thankfully we already had a ticket thanks for our epic pass and skipped the ticket line
The gondola run was really good:
eventually Mt Isola opened up
And the tree runs on the correct face of Mt Isola (way from sun and wind) was also quite nice:
and after a bunch of rides, it was time to get back. Yes, there was night skiing, but that didn't really seem worth it after the great powder we had all day:
Defintely got lucky with Rusutsu, great snow even if the terrain isn't super steep in many places.
It had been 7 years since I was last in Japan for snow, time flies. This time around, it snowed every day, although more than half the days were too windy and only a few bottom lifts opened, especially on day 3 which was a bit frustrating due to the lack of open terrain. The snow was just really good all around, and even if it was not meters of it, the powder days felt very nice and no ice underneath.
For US people, Niseko gives you two days for free with Mountain Collective (you have to go to some office to get them) and then half off. At half off it was about $30 a day to ride all 4 mountains, i.e. super cheap.
Niseko Day 1: Annupuri and Niseko Village
The first 2 days, we stayed in Annupuri at Niseko Grand Hotel. There were few places left, so that's the closest we found. We took their morning shuttle to the slopes:
my partner in crime, Arturo
ticket prices were quite cheap by US standards (got 2 free days with mountain collective and half off for the last 3 days)
lots of side country gates
gate 11 by niseko village was also fun
riding pizza box chairs on the way back to Annupuri :)
doesn't feel super safe, but better than a tow rope
the Annupuri G1/G4 gates were nice, but you quickly get to a valley with tracked terrain
Niseko Day 2: Grand Hirafu and Hanazono
The next two days, we went to Rusutsu as the forecast showed good snow there, and the 4th day we came back to Niseko after moving to the fantastic pension island. The only downside of that location was that it was a bit far from the slopes, but the shuttle bus made it ok although it didn't quite get you there in time for first chair. Close enough though, the pension was Koko-san were so nice that we were super happy there:
morning gondola line
windy day with rotor cloud on top of Mt Yotei
beautiful day
gates were open, G5 took you to the Hanazono base
this was the posh base for people with too much money :)
2 or 3 chairs to go back up and cross back to Grand Hirafu
with 2 chairs only and a short hike, this side country took you back
this was the posh base for people with too much money :)
2 or 3 chairs to go back up and cross back to Grand Hirafu
with 2 chairs only and a short hike, this side country took you back
When it was sunny, it looked nice:
Side country run with good snow, still:
Niseko Day 3: Grand Hirafu Mostly Shut Down Blizzard Day
Day 3 was too windy, very few lifts were open. The gondola line was very long as a result:
not many pictures, visibility was not good due to wind, it was kind of a blizzard
Nice side country with powder faceshot:
Niseko Day 4: Windy Grand Hirafu and Hanazono
A bit more opened on Day 4, still very windy, but you could get a bit higher and cross over Hanazono:
morning gondola line, although it went faster due to less wind and higher gondola speed
the gates were weird, some closed ones were routinely ignored while others were really a good idea to respect
the work to get that powder was not really worth it, and it was not very steep in most places
beautiful views
but the weather turned quickly again
Two nice sidecountry runs, one with sun, one with show falling:
Niseko Day 5: Better weather, all mountain
For our last day, the top lifts were unfrozen and we were able to go to the top:
lnie for the top lift
The avalanche gate near the top had some really good warning cartoons. They were poetic sounding (maybe even haikus in japanese?), and they should actually be more advertised, The warnings on getting stuck in crevaces and riverbeds, were wery on point, especially at Kiroro where you can really get in trouble when you go side country:
you could hike all the way to the top, but it was a 45mn hike that didn't feel worth the time and effort
being able to take gate 4 for the first time, was nice
After that, I went back to Niseko Village and gate 11, which is alledgely a triple black diamond, but didn't feel that hard:
makes for a nice picture, though ;)
Nice clouds to end the day:
farewell niseko, we had a great time
One sidecountry run off gate 4 that finally opened:
And a loast one from gate 11, the supposed to be triple black diamond that was only single black:
Snowfall was a bit low compared to averages this year, but by Jan 10th, a couple of storms started filling the holes and rocks, so it was time for me to do a quick trip as warmup before a trip to Japan/Niseko the following week.
Snow line was down, my M3 driving range also has now lost close to 10% since I bought it, so driving to KW in one shot with cold, snow, and headlights on, was going to be pushing things a bit, but with the supercharger in jackson, it's really just a 10mn stop now, just enough time to go to the bathroom :) (and this got me back from 43% to 76% in just over 10mn:
snow line was low, but that's good for the snow quality (cold)
got to KW in just over 3h40 with chain control speed restrictions, not bad (arrived with 31%)
glad to be back :)
Day 1 was cold and windy, became whiteout conditions before long:
coverage in Chamoix was still a bit rough at the bottom, but easy to go back on my butt
still a bit low in coverage on some ridges, but ok elsewhere
bottom of the drain still had holes to the river underneath, but they were being covered slowly
the wall still needed a bit more snow in places
it was still easy to get cliffed out i places
fair mount of snow falling the 2nd half the of day
KW crew did a great job keeping 6 and 10 open 'till end of day.
Thanks to Jeremy for getting me lodging for one night
Day #2 was the bluebird. We didn't get the 1.5ft in the forecast, only 7", but it was just the right kind that it felt bottomless and enjoyable while helping improve the base.
crews hard at work, and it sounded like this guy was actually electric, not diesel. Is that possible?
6 opened right on schedule, no delays
lovely snow
Couldn't see the base or anything the previous day. Much nicer on day #2:
I feel like I jumped this because I was too lazy to hike back up and the snow was soft enough, but it looks high. Still, I took a picture afterwards and have no other such picture, so it may actually be this one:
The Wall opened around 11:00 after snow safety was done, and the backside at 11:45 exactly as scheduled (big thumbs up on the twitter updates):
lovely to see the backside coverage, not bad
I didn't stay in line for 30mn to get first chair on 4
but I went to the wave, one of the first people down
looked like a good place to check out
got all this snow to myself, woot!
not every day I get a shot like this :)
I finished the day, getting good snow and lines all day, and left after 2 full days, very content. Great job to the KW crews for keeping things running in the middle of the week, even if few people were there:
This year was definitely a snowy year, the most I have seen in my life. Thankfully Vail agreed to close Heavenly on May 7th, and Kirkwood on May 15th (although it was fri-sun only for KW).
Got up at 4:40, in hindsigh shoudl have been 20mn earlier to get first liftat 09:00 (including a 10-15mn charging stop on the way up), but close enough :)
Saw Sierra on the way up but it was already closed
the base of SLT looked somewhat snow free
Heavenly CA parking lot was fairly full for a wednesday
let's get to work :)
fairly good powder at the top of sky
found Ovidiu on the way
did I saw powder, in May?
Yes!
we rode to Killbrew gates (all closed)
Nevada side only had Dipper running but that was good enough
plenty of snow still, signs are still buried
Had a bit of a view from time to time:
so much snow to be enjoyed
Arturo and I went to check out the beach, which I seldom get to see :)
Day #2, we went back to Heavenly but it was a bit icy in the morning, until more snow came, and the resort got closed for lightening:
vis went downhill quickly
there was still decent snow
I took roundabout to the bottom:
the bottom forest snow was warmer
it did start snowing hard
Day #3, we went to Kirkwood when it just re-opened that day (friday). Thankfully the recent snow didn't melt and freeze, so the conditions were awesome:
one thing that sucks about kirkwood is that they are now down to one charger left (from 10)
Another storm, a bit warm, but just cold enough to give usable snow instead of half rain, so I drove up to go enjoy it for a few days:
roads were already nice and white on the way up
Carson Spur was quite loaded
Impressive wall of snow
thankful to have underground parking for the duration of my trip
another impressive wall of snow
glad to be back on the lift
I arrived by noon on sunday, new snow was starting to cover the frozen crust underneath:
lots of snow, the top of cornice had some almost invisible real cornices like that, I fell down from that one
met Johannes for a few runs
school run was a rounding error
it was still a bit too warm and wet
by the end of the day, things looked good though :)
When I got to my condo, I was reminded that it had snowed a bit recenty:
Monday: Kirkwood
While sunday was wet and cold, Monday was a nice bluebird:
Kirkwood has a real problem with electric charging, this is the only charger left on the entire property
nice powder
notice the huge pile of storage snow by the parking lots
got one of the first few chairs up the wall. Wee!
interestingly, the top of the chutes by the wall were bare due to wind blowing the snow away
this is the one time I had to unbind that day :)
Palisades was good too
Another picture of the storage snow pile in the parking lot
Cornice run, a bit rough at the top, but opened up to be good lower down:
Straight down run from the wall, a bit firm at the top too, but good after that:
Wall tree run:
The backside just opened, so I went to check it out:
pretty big cornice by the wave
it was a bit of a jump into snow that wasn't exactly a pillow underneath :)
I got down, but it was a bit scary :)
snow as wind packed at the top, deeper lower down
Tuesday: Kirkwood
Tuesday got more snow, which was free refills all day
the wall had so much snow that they gated you to come down before the chairs, the regular ramp that went under, didn't fit anymore
weather and visibility improved during the day, so much snow
I literally managed to snowboard all the way back to the building parking lot across the street :)
Great pow ride off the wall:
More pow during the day, free refills:
Even face shots (1:16):
Wednesday: Heavenyly Side Country
The last day, I could have stayed at kirkwood for a 4th powder day with another foot of freshies, but I went to Heavenly to meet my friend Ovidiu and Rik joined us later for some frond side country runs. It was a bit last minute, so driving there in less than 1H in the snow, was "challenging", but I made it :)
Gondola line
got to the gate for the first run
We went back for 6 firebreak runs total:
After 6 runs, we had enough time to go back the Gondola one more time, up sky, and towards the backside:
The backside snow wasn't perfect, but it was still a good run down, especialy at the top:
Eventually got down the good parts and took a rest :)
before doing the rest of the run down, where snow became more scarce (it's melting quickly at lower altitude):
eventually we got to below the snow line and had to walk a bit
then there was a bit of snow left to finish up
and we got to the road
way too much to drive back
thankfully we got luck with hitch hiking
25mn later, back at the gondola base, end of a great day
Thanks much to Ovidiu and Rik for joining me and the 7 powder runs
we celebrated with a mexican dinner big enough for 4 :)
After staying at Eagle which was a bit less insanely overpriced than closer to the ski slopes (which was over $500/night), Arturo suggested spending the first day at Vail (friday) to avoid the crowds. It worked out well:
[html:h2}Day4: Vail[html:/h2}
Unfortunately I managed to slip on the ice and fall on my flow finding, which shattered it. It was broken beyond repair, but I was able to use my snowboard leach to fasten the backplate to my boot and the front part of the binding, which miraculously allowed me to board all day in difficult conditions. The only downside was that I had to stay strapped on to the board all day, which I sure did. Normally it's no big deal, but the wind chill was so cold that it was tough:
anyway, we went for work (oh yeah, the gopros didn't work, way too cold)
we eventually got to the back bowls, they opened late
thanks to Arturo for finding snow that wasn't icy
It took more snow and finding the right back bowls to get bottomless powder eventually. Arturo did a good job finding that, although the conditions were rough, low vis and really cold winds. After a while, the back bowls started closing and it was time to get back. Getting back to the front side at the end of the day, requires long lines:
We had some good tree runs though:
After that, we found a ski patrol sign to get out via a less congested route:
[html:h2}Day5: Beaver Creek[html:/h2}
Next day was Beaver Creek, not really any new snow, but great leftovers:
wonderful corderoy :)
After doing the corderoy, Arturo and I found heaps of wonderful trees with fresh pow:
Doing the trees was a *lot* of work, so we had a good lunch:
Pretty homerun:
We then relocated from Eagle to Karl and Suwei's condo at Keystone:
night skiing :)
[html:h2}Day6: BreckenRidge[html:/h2}
The next morning, we went to Breckenridge with Karl and Suwei. It was a bit icy by then unfortunately:
longer line to the t-chair
we got some more fresh snow
dinner
[html:h2}Day7: Keystone[html:/h2}
The 7th and last day, I went to Keystone. By then unfortunately most of the snow was poor quality outside of groomers, where I don't spend much time, but I went around to see the resort again:
happy dog
I went to the outback, which I forgot is actually kind of small. You can hike quite a while, but the way down is actaully not that long. Still, it's fun:
I did a few runs and eventually decided to head back:
I tried the trees down Santiago and some of the snow was actually pretty bad
By then, at the bottom of the chair, a liftie thought I somehow crossed a rope and went poaching what was really terrible snow. After he realized that there must have been some ropes missing and let it be. I was leaving by then anyway. Given the so-so snow I tried to leave earlier to catch an earlier flight home, but that didn't work:
The last 2 days were not the best snow, especially the last one, but overall this was a really good trip. Thanks to Arturo for having me.
Right after coming back from Montreal/Porsche Ice Force Experience, I flew home and joined Arturo's ski trip half way by flying to Aspen to join him. Thankfully my plane was able to land that day (which is not a given for Aspen):
[html:h2}Day1: Aspen/Ajax[html:/h2}
The next morning, we went to Aspen so that I could remind to Arturo that Aspen Mountain actually sucks and we should only go to Highlands or Snowmass. Still, since we were there, we snowboarded it to confirm it really wasn't a snowboarder mountain :)
if you miss one or 2 lifts kind of high up, you are stuck with going back to the bottom and taking the gondola back up
don't ask :)
nice view of the airport
We then went back to a restaurent we had been to years ago in Aspen. It wasn't quite the same level, but still good:
[html:h2}Day2: Aspen Snowmass[html:/h2}
The next morning we had a good amount of fresh snow, so we went to snowmass:
it's a bit of a bus ride
we started with campground
plenty of pow
Then, a "yellow jacket" appeared and messed things up. long story, had to go back to the bottom and wasted an hour and money, but that just allowed for more snow to fall and the powder to become bottomless:
KT Gully from the Cirque tow rope
[html:h2}Day3: Aspen Snowmass[html:/h2}
Third day was a bluebird, we went back to Snowmass since we knew there was plenty of powder left:
found this guy up top
%(caption)s
We then went up high alpine and did a couple of hanging valley runs before the side country gate closed:
Another storm coming meant it was time to go back to Tahoe. It was an easy 2 day trip, went there and got just ahead of the storm pounding rain in the bay area:
seems that my car is still barely able to make it to kirkwood without charging despite the 10% loss since I bought it
I did charge in jackson and picked up another 30% to have a good margin
Carson Spur looked nice
The next morning, we didn't get the 18" we were hoping for, but still got a good 8" which wasn't bad (plus 9" during the day)
lines weren't terrible for a sunday
Chair 6 opened 30mn behind, not too bad
nice storm nonetheless
The wall opened just before 11:00, which was nice
Lots of pow
The next night didn't have more snow, but was able to catch up with TODOs
Kirkwood really sucks now, only a single charger left with 2 ports (used to be 10)
Monday was a bluebird:
Went in line for chair 2 and backside for when it was going to open at 11:00
first time doing the backside this season
fawn ridge delivered as always
Vista was unfortunately closed
After 2 good days, it was a reasonably easy drive home, although 88 was icy for quite a while and there were multiple accidents:
this year is definitely a good wet year. Xmas had big dumps, downed powerlines and closed roads, and as soon as I got home from France, there was enough of a dump that it was worth going for a quick trip. Carson Spur was closed, so I had to take 50 and while my original plan was to go to kirkwood, Ovidiu gave me intel on Heavenly that it was worth trying to go there instead and do some frontside runs (side country):
even early on a friday morning, chain control caused a 45mn traffic jam :(
well done guys for blocking traffic so much
snowplow escort that wasn't really necessary
I stayed on the Califonia side and managed to find parking close to the gondola to meet Ovidiu and Rick after confirming the Gondola had just opened (they parked on the nevada side which I generally avoid going to :) ):
several lifts no running yet, so the lines were long
back for more
nice views
Fire Break Runs:
For Day #2, I went to kirkwood, by then I had of course missed the fresh tracks from Day #1, but given the firebreak runs, that was not a big deal. Driving there was not a huge deal, but there was already a good line getting in the parking lot when I arrived:
my car has become a lot more chatty :)
lots of cars trying to get in
Despite the parking getting full quickly, the resort didn't feel too full. Snow coverage was excellent. Chamoix was not even a problem, anyone could go without even trying hard:
snow was still good and a few stashes here and there
given the few lifts running, we had mild lines
running the wall for the first time this season
the wall ridge opened and I was able to drop it the first time this season too
liftie humor :)
very windy on top
sunny at times
But with 60mph+ winds, being on the top of the mountain was painful. Once I went up cornice and wanted to ride the ridge to drop skier's right, but the wind was so strong and I was being pelleted by ice/snow in the face, so I aborted:
that's snow/ice being blown around
by dropping the wall, I was able to get to the snow cave, sheltered from the wind
lenticular cloud, showing the strong winds
After some good runs, I went home. Glad to get such good snow in January!
After several not so great years, resorts opened early this year, and by early December, we got a good 4 day dump which added 3ft, so I made sure to be there for that.
Drove up early on a friday morning and the snow line was quite low but thankfully the road was clear until higher altitudes, so the drive was pretty quick, except for requiring a 10mn charging stop for safety (temps + headlights + snow rolling resistance made it unsafe to drive in one shot without stopping):
Carson Spur looked good
Big downside was that kirkwood only has 2 chargers left
It was early season, but when going in the right places. Friday was a bluebird with 19"
Chamoix was still very new
Drain was still low too
Day 2 had more freshies:
Palisades was kind of closed
but looked very nice :)
Later in the day, I found Johannes:
terrain towards the wall never opened all 4 days, neither did the wall
Despite the great snow, coverage was still limited, and I ended up getting a core shot somewhere during that day:
thankfully I had Ptext to fix it :)
Dau3, Sunday, got more fresh snow, kirkwood only opened 6 around 9:30, but I guess it wasn't too late:
a bit of a wait
got cold to wait like this
people were eager :)
when I finally got up, it was very good :)
Day4, Monday, we ended up only getting 1" overnight and 5" in 24h (mostly the previous day), but things were still great. Unfortunately not a lot of terrain opened and the Wall never opened.
the guys who waited 2H for first chair didn't get a lot
coverage wasn't perfect everywhere, but still very good for early december
Around 14:00, I had had enough fun and given the limited terrain opened, I called it a day and drove home, tired and happy :)
Despite this year not being a top snow year, we got a fair amount of snow in April, and this was probably the latest season closing for kirkwood in many years. It closed even after heavenly did. While I was kind of done for the season, going to meet Arturo, Peter, Ovidiu, and Johannes, was fun enough to make a day trip worth it.
Snow coverage was excellent for that time of the year, although the snow was obviously variable and you had to follow the sun or the snow was icy or too wet. Still, for that time of the year, it was better than average for sure.
great to meet ovidiu, it had been a while
and then there is this troublemaker
chamoix was still in very good shape, snow all the way down
After a not so great season, we got multiple dumps end of season (and more as I write this). That's good for our water reserves, but of course the last dumps are a bit warm. Still, it had been a while since I had been able to go to kirkwood, so it was time for another snow trip.
Despite leaving at 13:00, the drive got delayed by 30mn due to traffic (damn, things clog up early now). That caused my tesla to save battery use (slower speed) and I had an estimate of 21% left of arrival before the last climb. This got down to 9% when I arrived, as my drive up took more than planned, as usual (despite virtually no snow on the road). Snow line was a bit over 6000ft, carson spur was not too covered anymore, so no worries about it closing:
coverage left was decent
The snow was a bit wet (high snoe line) and didn't stay much on the road/base, but the next morning, we had some. Unfortunately lifts opened 1h late due to lack of staff to do snow safety. Once opened, the snow was pretty good:
unfortunately lifts opened 1h late, lik
finally got to go up
Chamoix was in really good shape
The wall still had a good amount of snow left
Even Palisades was still open
Day #2 had more snow, although it came late a night and continued throughout the day, it was pretty wet. Good amounts of snow, but the conditions were tough and most people got pretty wet. Snow was pretty wet and heavy and took a lot of effort to ride. Still, not complaining, it was fun :)
as a result, few people running the lifts, even on a sunday.
It had been a little while, no new snow, but a good excuse to go for one day
I arrived with 18% left and kirkwood sadly got rid of their 10 chargers, replacing them with only 4, now using chargepoint (some tesla chargers had up to 10A, or 8A, and those are only 6A), which now charge money, but that's fine.
Kirkwood was nice and sunny, but everything non groomed was kind of unpleasant, so groomers it was:
After a very bad start of season (resorts not being able to open due to lack of snow), we got more than 7ft in a week, which well, was very nice :)
I tried to time the storm systems and drove to kirkwood in between 2 storms, when Carson Spur was open. It was too cold and I had to drive at night, so the temperature and headlights made it so that I would have arrived at kirkwood with -4% battery from my after the fact estimate, but thanks to the new supercharger in Jackon, a 5mn detour and 10mn bathroom stop gave me more than enough battery to arrive there comfortably. Drive up took just over 3h45 with the charging stop and the snow:
the bad news is that most of the chargers are broken, and the 2 left are sharing the same power (only 20A each)
It was early season, KW had only been open for 3 days, so they were still getting things ready and cleaning up :)
coverage was amazing
Normally, 6 would have opened on tuesday, but didn't like I predicted, and opened late (11:30) on wednesday. It was a longer wait than planned, but better than nothing:
we all waited eagerly :)
and finally got up
plenty of snow
coverage on chamoix was amazing
Day #2 got an extra 17", which caused Cornice to open a bit late (9:50), but not terribly:
ski patrol was training
chamoix started being scraped a bit :)
this is why the run is called hole in the wall :)
plenty of freshies
Palisades opened
we were all eying the wall and hoping it would open the next day
Day #3 started being a bit repetitive running 6 all day, but we held hope for the wall opening:
beautiful conditions
by 13:00 people started lining up for the wall
so I went to join them and waited about 45mn
and at 14:00 it opened, wee!
people who waited 1h30+ got first tracks, but there were plenty for everyone
After lapping the wall until they closed it, I was definitely spent, and with a huge grin on my face :)
So, there was no way I could go to Dubai, and not go snowboarding of course :)
Before people cry murder about how bad it is for the environment, it's all indoors and temperature is controlled beter than ski resorts that spent untold amounts of energy to make a lot of snow that melts away on very big slopes. I don't have numbers, but my feeling is that it's actually not that bad in comparison, and it's cool for people there to be able to enjoy the snow when there is clearly none nearby.
This is what it looks like:
Like other places in Dubai, navigation was a bit tricky, I missed one exit and had to find far away street parking and jump some hedges to get in the mall eventually (or it would have been a 15mn drive to get all the way out and back in to the correct entrance). Got there eventually. I got in kind of late on a weekday, so I was lucky not to have any wait and got my gear right away. The guy was surprised when I asked a board of 164 and stance of 15R 30F. That was a bit aggressive and powder-day like, which is almost all I do :)
really cool to see a groomer indoors
the quad chair was not detachable and a bit slow, but note the nice leather seats
After a while I figured out that the tow rope was faster than the quad chair:
The run is of course not super long, but they have a mini terrain park at the top, and it was fun enough for almost 2H. Here's a vid:
It was definitely my best day of the season, haha :)
Well, this was not the best season for snow, I unfortunately missed on a bit midweek storm due to another commitment, and the one I did catch was too big so most of KW was closed. Still, got to go a bit...
I wasn't happy with Vail closing early (again the earliest in the history of kirkwood, not counting covid last year), but in the end, there was not a lot of snow, so it's probably not a huge loss.
I went with Deana who had been meaning to go to Tahoe, and this made the trip more fun for sure, especially on easter sunday where she definitely wanted to be in the running for bunny spirit :)
Carson Spur was honestly not showing a lot of snow, and despite the higher temps, the early morning was on the icy side outside of groomers, so it was a chasing the right snow, day:
Deana got some rentals:
getting ready for the day :)
it was easter, bunny ears
She then went mostly on chair 1 and 2:
A few pictures from higher up:
a few people still went hiking up, but the snow wasn't worth it for me
not very busy
Then, we did something I haven't done in many years: lunch :)
I went on the backside to check it out, it had started to melt, but still had snow:
the wall drop never got a lot of snow, and started getting questionable to ride again
And that was it for the weird 2020-2021 season. Not the best, but better than nothing.
I drove up sunday morning while the weather was still nice, not too much snow on carson spur:
lots of people, lines for getting food
the wall was pretty tracked out, but not that much snow at the top
The forecast for overnight snow went down to 6", but thankfully Kirkwood got 1ft, nice!
eagle bowl, not open yet
got more snow refills during the day
I went to the back side when it opened:
fawn ridge delivered
the line wasn't bad
I definitely got some good rides that day:
a later ride on fawn ridge:
Day #3 was a bluebird with pleny of pow left:
saw a heli land at martin point, not quite sure why
As a first (for me), I used half the day to hike two peaks, starting with Thimble Peak:
the other side was nice, but a bit bare
After Thimble peak from chair 4, I went to hike Glove Rock over palisades. As I expected, by the time I got there (15:40), the temperatures went down and the top crusted, making the ride down a lot less satisfying:
you have to hike far to see those signs
nice view of the back
it was spooky to ride on the other side of the ridge, away from the resort
I then rode the ridge some more
and afer another warning, it was time to ride back down
I wasn't the first person to do this :)
And that was it for day #3, very nice conditions, and snow that was good until 2/3rd of the 3rd day.
After 4 days in Utah on Arturo's ski road trip, our next stop was Crested Butte in Colorado.
Crested Butte is not a mountain for beginners, and a bit on the bony side, but very interesting terrain. We got to meet Karl and Suwei:
great views
good pow on the sides, but you had to pay the price of getting back
the tow ropes were there to weed snowboarders :)
before the ride down
then the hike back up
Wanna smoke some rocks, dude
we went for banana to find some powder
Then another hike to another run: spellbound (hike was not that fun):
arturo didn't even make it to the beginning of the descent :)
it was a fun run down, with another hike to get out at the bottom
Well, it had been a while since the wretched day that shall not be named where I drove to kirkwood the entire day for them to close for the rest of the season when I arrived.
We got lucky and got an unusal early cold storm in January, which covered all the rocks and ice. I drove there on a tuesday afternoon before the storm hit, parked the car underground and waited for the storm and the lifts to open.
I made it in one shot (no recharging) and 11% left when I arrived. That was by far a best condition scenario: no headlights, no heat, no windshield wipers, and no snow to add rolling resistance. I know that it's not safe to attempt this in one shot if all the stars don't align, but on the plus side, there is now a supercharger in jackson (only 5mn detour), so it's much easier to charge if needed. That said, I only had to charge when I arrived at kirkwood.
Day #1, wednesday. Big dump, lots of wind, kirkwood only managed to open 6 (the only lift to the top) by 15:28 and promptly closed it at 16:00. Disappointing to say the least. The old kirkwood would have stayed open past 16:00 as a gesture of good faith. The new kirkwood, closed after 32mn:
Day #2, thursday. Another big dump. Thursday, they opened at 13:00 again (new dump). The "you had one job" twitter guy failed to tell anyone that anything opened. I just noticed it on the webcam and ran outside screaming "WTF?"
They closed at 15:00 sharp, because the road was closing at 15:30. They knew they were punishing every single person who paid you and KW to stay on site. They didn't care.
The old kirkwood turned away people for the lift if they didn't have logdging and kept them running until 16:00. The new KW closed for everyone.
Day #3, friday: the wall never opened. Again, it was probably hard to make safe, but I'm pretty sure they could have opened friday.
Johannes came to join me for a few hours:
Day #4, saturday. The wall didn't open until 10. Why? Nobody knows. And then it closed at 14:00 for reasons unknown.
by the weekend, people came, teslas filled the electric parking slots
there was a line by 07:30 already
Time to go to chair 4 that had just opened.
slight line to chair 4
probably first time of the year that the wave was rideable
fawn ridge
At the end of the time, I was able to retrieve my camera pouch I dropped off the lift:
So all in all the snow was fantastic, and kirkwood as a resort was beyond disappointing in multiple ways. I will seriously consider heavenly next time.
π
2020-10-02 01:01
in Hiking, Nsnow, Ntrips, Snow, Trips
To finish our trip through Utah and Nevada, we drove through Kirkwood to see it during the summer:
never seen the area outside of the snow season, pretty trees
I've only ever seen caples lake when it was frozen
Then, we went to check out kirkwood. This must have been the lowest snow coverage day I've seen at kirkwood :)
the wall
which button do I push? :)
it was fun to see the magic carpets. They can be raised as the snow level goes higher
the 'temporary' lodges
still stocked
After going around KW a bit, we went around Carson Spur:
avanlache prevention gates and avalanche triggering devices when the road needs to be cleaned
After parking the car, we hiked up from Carson Spur to Thunder Mountain, and back down to Silver Lake/Kit Carson. It was a pretty easy hike up to Thunder Mountain with great views of kirkwood, Caples Lake, top of Cornice lift, and Silver Lake.
nice to see the avalanche gates from so close
these trigger the slides for avalanche safety on Carson Spur
the smaller kirkwood lake
multiple big volcanic rocks
damn, I never hiked that far with my snowboard :)
getting closer to sentinel bowl/cornice lift
nice view of silver lake
We split off with Arturo, he went back to the car, and we continued the other way towards cornice and silver lake:
looks a bit rocky, probably not a big deal that I forgot to bring my snowboard
a sign frozen in time, left as is on the wretched day of March 14th when they closed
path to sentinel bowl
woohoo, I'm a lift operator now :)
never went down this way, but it was the way back to our path
kit carson
From there, Arturo met us on the road, and we drove home to end our 11 day trip.
4ft+ of snow finally coming to Tahoe, after so little for so long, finally! It was time to go.
The snow line wasn't too low when I started driving up, except for a bit of surprise slush when I was passing a truck. Thankfully my tesla stability control, did the right thing:
strangely, the road was quite clear higher up (localized snowfalls)
Carson Spur was still in very good shape
After a bit under 4H, including a 20mn recharging stop in Manteca, I arrived at Kirkwood just before 15:00:
Sadly, by then only solitude was open, I did 2 runs that weren't bad but on my 2nd run up, I got the very bad news that while Vail said they would stay open that same morning, a few hours later, while I drove up, changed their minds and closed off everything for the season due to COVID-19. Needless to say that I wasn't happy that they couldn't make that decision in the morning, and mislead everyone into coming:
those were 2 expensive runs
Now, life sucked, it was clear that I had to leave kirkwood as quickly as possible, as the weather was worsening, but my car was very discharged. I had to recharge it just enough to get out and hopefully make it to some charging source under the snow line.
I had to take the Omo Ranch Rd by Cook's Station to get the shortest path to the Placerville Supercharger, where I barely arrived with a 5% of battery left. Omo Ranch Rd, while open, is not a safe road with snow, and doesn't get plowed. The top was dicey and I had the tradeoff of getting down quickly to get out of the snow line, without driving off the road due to snow.
The tesla estimator has been very wrong, on the trip out, it told me I'd arrive with 14%, but I arrived with 5% while driving quite slow and taking an unsafe road (the safe road around would not have gotten me there with enough battery left):
estimator went from 14% to 9% to 5% by the time I arrived
thankfully it stabilized at 5%
on the plus side, the new superchargers are fast, I got back to 80% in 30mn
That's definitely been my worst snow trip ever, except for the fact that I avoided crashing my car on the way up after that slide, or running out of battery and having my car die on the side of the road in a snowstorm.
Due to a combination of sad timing and terrible season, I hadn't gone to Tahoe a single time this season yet. It took a long time waiting to have a decent enough day to go, and this wasn't going to be a ft+ storm, but the meager 8" was more snow than the entire month of february combined, so it wasn't time to be picky.
The drive up in my M3 was uneventful, I got there in one shot with 14% of battery left when I arrived.
The next morning, looked good. It looked nice, but the powder was not bottomless. You could definitely feel the crud underneath, which was unfortunate. Later in the day, 2 extra inches helped, and wind blowing made some nicer pockets of snow:
I was able to keep snow from burrying my car by using the heater
the line at cornice was surprisingly short for a sunday
the wall looked bony for this time of the season
eagle bowl was very bony
past resort boundary on the backside, was nice as usual
anything wind exposed was definitely bony, though
After a day of reasonably good snowboarding (cold though), I stayed at the towers, where I found something last minute for a couple of nights:
Unfortunately, it was a waste to have stayed for a 2nd day (monday) as anything worthwhile was closed because of the heavy wind. Such is life, but on top of that, somehow heavenly managed to open sky express during that time.
While solitude was as slow as I remember it to be, the few runs I did were not great, even in the trees, some of the snow had iced up hard (or all the new snow had been blown off, leaving the heavy crust underneath)
So, after a few crappy runs on solitude, I just drove home:
Back when I had an 90D, it claimed that it might barely make it to KW on a summer day at low speed, but it was just too short to get there in the winter, forcing me to stop at least 30mn in Manteca, creating a 45 to 60mn slowdown.
Long story short, it did get me to Kirkwood, but it was a bit annoying to have to stop, especially the day the Manteca Supercharger was down and I was forced to drive to Folson and all the way around 50/89/88, causing an almost 2H detour.
After getting my new Model 3 AWD LR, my first drive to KW I stayed conservative and stopped 10mn in Manteca to recharge 10%. After arriving, I arrived with 20% left while having driven quite hard. This gave me enough confidence that I'd be able to do it in one shot, even if that day the weather was not absolutely perfect.
So, for my 2nd drive, I planned to drive in one shot, despite the less than ideal conditions (snow at the top). This was a bit risky because if the road closed at the top of 88, I'd be in trouble. My backup plan was first to beg caltrans to escort me through, and if that failed, to roll back to jackson's bus station to use their 240V/22A charger which although not that fast would give me enough charge in 30 to 60mn to make it to the folsom supercharger. Obviously, this would have sucked, but better than being totally stuck.
Before you try to replicate this:
You need at least the M3 AWD LR (range 310mi). The RWD LR is actually rated for 330 miles, but if you have to put chains, it will more than kill the extra 20 mile range the car has.
I have the 18" aero wheels. The more fancy looking wheels will make you lose 20 to 30 miles of range, leaving you with a very small margin.
I didn't drive faster than 75mph
I had to have headlights on for half the drive
I didn't use heating, this uses a lot of energy
I only used the defogger for 15 seconds at a time about 10 times total
I used wipers as needed
note that I arrived with 11-13% less than than the car predicted, so you need margin
Don't even try this if snow is down to Ham's station or lower. Snow that far down (plus the temps) is likely going to eat your entire battery margin and there is a no turning back point.
Basically understand that it will not work in all conditions and that there isn't much margin for error, especially if Carson Spur closes in front of you when you've almost arrived.
The biggest thing is: the lower the snowline, the lower the temperatures, the less likely you are to make it. If you don't make it, you'll have to turn back to Jackson's charging station or make it all the way to the Folsom supercharger and drive around hwy 50/89/88, which is a 45mn detour at best.
When I left, my car claimed I'd arrive with 20%, which I knew was likely optimistic:
Strangely just 9 miles into my drive, it then said I'd arrive with 22%, but it soon adjusted to 17%:
By the time I was climbing 88, my forecast was 16%. Probably because I was driving 70 to 75mph on the freeways:
However, by the time I reached lower temperatures, and then hit the snow, this dropped like a stone. Good thing I gave myself a reserve:
13%
11%
then it dropped and stayed at 9%
finally arrived safe and sound with 9%, happy to have made it in just 3h11 even with the snow at the top
notice the big drop compared to the predicted range
I could have saved maybe a few percents by driving even slower, but ultimately the lower temps and the rolling resistance from the snow definitely harmed the range by a lot in just the last 30mn of driving. Be prepared for that.
Now, I was curious of whether I could get anywhere if I hadn't been able to recharge. Allegedly I could make it barely to stateline or folsom SCs but honestly with no margin and with snow resistance, I would likely not have made it to either of the 2:
stateline with 6% used
folsom with 7% used
Now, Kirkwood nicely installed chargers last year, and keeps the spots empty of non electric cars (at least I'm told they do):
their Tesla charger is good, 10kW/48A. I didn't even know my M3 AWD could charge at 48A
otherwise, in an underground lot, charging from 110V is much slower :)
Important notes:
The fact that I made it was definitely based on the conditions of the day. On a colder day with a lower snowline, my 9% could have turned into -3% or somesuch (i.e. not making it). Please plan accordingly.
The chargers at kirkwood are a very nice addition. You only pay the premium parking fee, but they are too close to one another, so it's unlikely that 6 teslas will fit. On a busy weekend, be ready for the fact that the chargers may be full and you might have to park by the lodge and steal a nearby 110V plug if you are desperate
In case of emergency, the Folsom and Stateline Superchargers are far in time (1H), but you should be able to get there witth just 10% as long as you are not in a snowstorm.
Do not park your car overnight unplugged into anything or be ready to lose a lot of battery if it's cold
Understand that you should however not plug into the few building plugs that you can find without getting permission. Those are typically paid for by the HOA at the rate of 66c/Kwh.
Fun facts:
It took me 91% to drive to KW, but the drive back was predicted to only be 35%
My car showed it drove 184 miles at 356Wh/mi average, or 65.5Kwh used for 91%.
As a consequence of the above, 100% usable battery capacity should be 72Kwh (and the pack 75Kwh if you add a 3Kwh buffer).
I had no idea my car could charge as fast as 48A from an AC charger, faster than my Model S I believe.
