Spring has sprung at Alpine Meadows and that means it’s time to follow the sun. If you play your cards right, you can line up primo turns on every lap from bell to bell.
One of my favorite early runs on a springy day is Sun Spot off of Summit chair. This is a great proxy for what Sherwood might be skiing like, as they share a similar aspect, before actually making the journey to the backside. The groomers were great all morning, and by 10am, Sun Spot was already softening up to springy goodness. Just a stone’s throw in the other direction, D8, which doesn’t get much sun at all, was still holding cold, wintery goodness. To our surprise, we were able to find other pockets of wintery snow in the Palisades zone and Deer Camp.
By 10:30, we started venturing off the groomed trails and found soft turns under Idiot’s as well as the bumps on The Face. By this time, I’m sure that Sherwood was full of soft, slushy bumps, but it wasn’t in the cards for me today. On these shorter ski days at Alpine, I tend to stick to Summit for fast laps and lots of vert.
One of my favorite things about this kind of weather at Alpine is that you have so many different aspects to choose from. In the afternoons, Scott and Lakeview are just soaking up that sun and tend to deliver the best turns from 1-4pm. If I had the time, you better believe I would have been crushing Scott and Lakeview laps until closing.
The good news is that we have more of the same weather this weekend and I won’t have that silly job to rush off to. Don’t forget to apply and re-apply that sunscreen, stay hydrated, and keep it safe!
