From trees to moguls, and backside to park, conditions were on point and fast following last night’s snow shower.
This report was written by Rene Jerez
This morning I was pleasantly surprised when I arrived for my second day of shredding Olympic Valley, as there was a light dusting of fresh snow from overnight snow showers totaling maybe a quarter to half an inch. The weather in the morning was once again crisp with little to no wind and favorable temps in the 30s. I was eager to start my day when I saw that the snow had managed to fall down in the parking lot and village. I was a bit ecstatic as well with the overcast weather as it meant I wouldn’t have to apply sunblock for once, one of the few downsides of California skiing.
I started my day off by heading straight to Siberia Express (I love this lift!) and doing a quick warmup run down Ridge Run. The light dusting of snow from the previous evening had left its impeccable touch on the ground. The snow from last week’s storm helped contribute to the already great base, with the fresh snow showers being the cherry on top. The new shower snow seemed to be relatively dry and was helping me hit some new personal speed records at Palisades throughout the day. From Ridge Run, I decided to hit up the back side of the resort, which is one of my favorite areas.
At the backside, I did repeated laps going down to the Shirley Lake Chair return. The tree runs in this area were completely on point, with the shaded areas of the runs being protected from the sun and helping the snow stay in great shape. The hard pack, as like with the snow at Ridge Run, was fast and firm, and I was able to shred and carve even more aggressively than yesterday. If you’re into skiing or shredding down big boulder-sized moguls Shirley Bowl to the right of the Shirley Lake lift, right as you get off, is where you definitely want to be as you’ll be in heaven!
After my Shirley Lake laps, I broke for lunch and then did a lap down KT22 via the Saddle trail. Saddle was good but was starting to get scratched up a bit, exposing some of the underlying hazards like grass and rocks, but they were really easy to avoid. From Saddle, I took the Funitel back up for some more backside goodness at the Solitude chair. This part of the backside I haven’t really explored much in past seasons, and I’m kicking myself for not doing the runs that lead to the Solitude chair in previous seasons! Like the Shirley Lake runs, the snow was in impeccable condition and perfect for cruising down fast. By this time, the clouds were starting to clear up, and the sun was coming out, creating opportunities for some fantastic photography. What’s especially great about the backside is the return lines to get back out move relatively fast, and by the time I was finishing up at Solitude, it was like I had my own private ski resort with the lack of lines.
After I had my fill of fun at the backside, I decided it was time to get my park legs back for the rest of the season, and hit some of the jumps and grind boxes in Belmont Park. The park is so awesome this year and blows the previous two years out of the water. There are so many features for everyone from beginners to advanced, with new stuff such as the spring-loaded rail, which I’ve never seen anywhere else. After chatting with one of the park staff whom I shared the lift with I discovered they have a new guy in charge of the park, and he and the crew are going all out this season on both new features and having a variety of features for all skill levels. They deserve serious kudos for the hard work they’ve been doing. What I especially love about Belmont Park is how fast the return to the top is, so you can get your time’s worth of park fun in while not wasting a lot of time on the lift or having to bootpack up the slope again.
I was energized and pumped up from shredding down the backside and my park laps today. I’m eagerly looking forward to the last day of my trip tomorrow. The weather report is stating there might be more snow showers tonight in the forecast, so fingers crossed that Palisades Tahoe gets another fresh dusting.
