Crisp weather, gorgeous lake views, and fun, fast-riding snow that was still good days after the last storm had Palisades riding wonderfully today.
This blog was written by Rene Jerez.
Today at Palisades the conditions were a complete reversal of yesterday, with blue skies all around and even colder temperatures. When I arrived at the parking lot the thermometer in my car was reading 20-23 degrees! It definitely didn’t feel so bad though when layered up. There was plenty of leftover snow from yesterday at the base, and last night’s near-zero temps helped keep the fresh snow in amazing shape.
I started my day off by riding the tram up to get in some park laps at Belmont Park. Even in the park, there were piles of freshly fallen and wind-buffed pow that were a delight to shred on in the park! My park game has definitely improved this season and I got in about three good runs before I felt like it was time to go hunt some freshies. Packers run was completely transformed from the previous day and had what seemed like a good two inches of fresh powder on top of the crusty snow that was so prevalent yesterday. I had the whole run and area to myself it felt like and I carved what seemed like an endless series of figure eights in the snow making my way down the mountain. I was having such a good time I missed the Siberia lift and had to take the Funi back up.
Unfortunately by the time I got back up the Siberia chair was closed for a wind hold which made perfect sense considering even from afar I could see the top of Siberia Ridge getting hit with what looked like strong wind, scouring its top of pow. I made a quick decision to get a KT-22 lap in down Saddle, rode Mountain Run back, and then rode Mothership back up.
Saddle was in top form, and my lap down was one of my best yet. On a somewhat windy day I really appreciate how wind-protected Saddle Face is and a day at Palisades when one is of adequate skill level to spend some time taking a lap or two down the mountain. The snow on Saddle was in excellent shape, and as I’ve experienced on past trips the run seems to collect tons and tons of fresh wind buff. I especially appreciated how the snow today wasn’t sticky at all like Sierra Cement and was super dried out.
After my KT lap, I wanted to head to my favorite area in Palisades and made a beeline from the Funitel to Gold Coast, and then shredded over Shirley Lake. The snow here today was a huge improvement from Valentine’s Day, and to my surprise and joy Shirley Bowl had been groomed and the moguls that were so prevalent were smoothed out! The fresh pow was piling up as well near the bottom of the bowl, and I did about four laps down and back.
After taking a lunch break I rode the Funitel back up to the top, and was pleasantly surprised to find Siberia was now running again! The bowl looked a bit too windswept for my tastes, so I rode down the ridge trail down to Gold Coast for some quick blue cruiser runs which were great. After I got my fill I rode from Gold Coast down to Solitude via Rainbow Bowl and Joe’s Garage. Rainbow Bowl was super mogul-y and if that’s your thing it’s totally worth checking out. To finish my day off I did a final lap down Saddle from KT.
Today’s conditions, although a bit windy, totally more than made up for the limited visibility and crunchy snow from yesterday! With temps in the low to mid-30s scheduled for tomorrow, it should be an awesome day no matter where you go on the mountain!
