Freshies all day.
This blog was written by Rene Jerez.
Today Alpine was even better than on Tuesday, with lighter (yet steady!) powder falling throughout the day, much better visibility mid-mountain and at the backside, and more lifts/terrain opening throughout the day. It was overcast, but not as heavy as yesterday and temps were a little bit warmer. With today being overcast it made it possible for one to ride without their goggles which was especially handy when the moisture in my goggles was getting to be a bit too much.
I started my day off like I did yesterday with a few laps down the Roundhouse chair. This time instead of going straight down sympathy face I hit the face that is to the right of the Alpine Meadows Chapel and it was completely awesome due to the plentiful pow that fell overnight. I love how even though powder can slow you down, carving in it on a snowboard can’t be beat, and I was taking wide and long turns going down.
As I mentioned in my previous reports the weather this season is absolutely perfect and awesome for trying new terrain that in past seasons would be full of crusty snow and ice! On my subsequent laps I was trying different variations such as shredding down directly under the Roundhouse lift line. There was so much overnight fresh pow I kept on getting stuck and having to dig myself out, which truth be told is a pretty good workout and test of your physical conditioning given the high altitude.
My run going down Ladies Slalom was particularly tough, but rewarding today! The fresh powder here had accumulated so much it felt nearly flat which was a total killer if your acceleration wasn’t fast enough. There was so much pow it was getting knee deep and I got quite the upper body workout trying to fish myself out and get going again. I was relieved when I got out and could see the return of the yellow chair, and I got an awesome park lap in which I hit an A-frame box for the first time! Like with the Olympic Valley side and its associated park the features in the Alpine park blow the features of previous seasons away.
Summit eventually opened, and I was ecstatic despite the visibility being similar to the whiteout conditions I experienced yesterday. I played it safe and didn’t zoom down and made sure that all of my turns and carves were slow, methodical, and in control. It was totally worth it though for the freshies on the Alpine Bowl and the snowfall there from this week’s storm system was out of this world. I didn’t go down Wolverine Bowl, but I’m sure the skiers and snowboarders who were hitting it were enjoying the likely pow stashes to be had on that side of the mountain.
After my summit run I decided to check out the backside and it was completely lit with how much pow there was to be had in Sherwood Forest and down Sherwood Face. I’ve never seen the backside having so much untouched snow until today! There was absolutely no shortage of untouched snow to make lines in. Sherwood Forest was absolutely magical today, and I got in some amazing tree riding off-trail in that area. It’s awesome how easy to navigate the trees on the backside are, and how mellow the pitch and grade are considering. I spent most of the rest of my day here getting in as many lines as I could, and ended my day with one last run down through the terrain park.
Thursday this week should be absolutely amazing as it’s a one-day break in the storm system that’s been battering all of California. For those in the Bay and Tahoe/Reno areas, it’s totally worth playing hooky to come and get your tracks in the fresh pow!
