Spring Supplies Skiing Sustenance @KirkwoodMtn – 03/30/14
Powder daze??…
Dates:
March 29-30th, 2014
Location: Kirkwood Norcal Bro
Weather: Wind and Clouds on Day one, to 2 feet overnight and bluebird
Riders: Slaythegnar, MildBill, Mrs. Slaythegnar, Holden, Pimpin’ Frog, Panvini & Aaron Miller
Photographers: Slaythegnar
POV VIDEO Spring Supplies Skiing Sustenance @KirkwoodMtn – 03/30/14
Spring Supplies Skiing Sustenance @KirkwoodMtn – 03/30/14 from SlayTheGnar on Vimeo.
Music: Alix Perez On Rinse FM Icicle Show 20/03/2014
Java Porn: Why did they get rid of Red Bull Cola??
Synopsis:
In the scheme of things, with a few decent storms on top of a solid base, we really have had a ‘Miracle March.’ As with most years of unpredictably low snowfall, Kirkwood’s high elevation has paid huge dividends as compared to other nearby resorts. Ok, so I also grew up skiing there and love the place, BUT STILL!
Given the wind event on Saturday morning in South Lake Tahoe, it was quite apparent that a significant weather pattern was knocking on the storm door. Heading toward Kirkwood on highway 88, we crossed our fingers that the upper mountain would still be in play. Upon arrival, we were pleasantly surprised to see Chairs 6 & 10 looping up and down the mountain. With the top firmly entrenched in high winds and cloud cover, we made the most of the usual protected zones of Chamoix, Oops n Poops, Dan Cliffs, All the Way, Olympic, Rabbit Runs and Lightning. MildBill even made an appearance to celebrate the wintery packed powder landings. The snow started to fall at around 2pm and didn’t let up until dawn the next day.
On Sunday, the hungry snow tires got yet another late taste of winter on the drive from South Lake to Kirkwood as Kirkwood reported 18 inches new. With a 5 year old in tow, I was able to witness starved powderhounds track up all of Chair 6 from the comfort of my high speed intermediate quad. Knowing that I missed the boat on the untracked race across the mountain, Aaron Miller and I decided to lap up the avoided goods in the hidden corridors of Cornice and Wall chairs. This tactic proved extremely well….
Oh, and it continues to snow…
TRIP REPORT BEGINS:
Friday late afternoon Mt. Tallac view before the storm…
The next morning Carson Pass looked like this…
Spent the morning working on tucks with Holden…
And a few laps in the Trench of Terror…
Natural halfpipe for the win!
We followed Mrs. Slaythegnar toward Sentinel Bowl as the storm stalled but the wind didn’t get the memo…
I peered over the edge of Dan Cliffs while MildBill lined up an air…
Snow was still pretty wintry and forgiving, so an air turn entrance was in order…
Hey, I see MildBill’s tracks!
Oops Face still needs more spackling…
Back up on Jim’s Ridge, Pimpin’ Frog jumps into Ski School Chute…
MildBill gives it a go…
Panvini is up next and I bet wearing a ton of sunscreen…
MildBill airs it out near Olympic…
Next we headed over to the Fingers and found people having fun…
Well, maybe not everyone…
With The Wall running at half speed due to winds, this was our only lap for the day…
Found some old fun on All the Way…
Back on Chair 6, Team Deathwish heads up the mountain…
Slaythegnar finds an alternate air in Dan Cliffs…
Near lunchtime, the weather really started to ramp up…
A usual favorite near Olympic Run…
Pimpin’ Frog makes some turns on Upper Lightning…
Slaythegnar airs it out…
On the next lap, he finds another…
Pimpin’ Frog goes for distance…
And then rails a turn in Supu’s zone near the bottom of Chair 6…
Meanwhile, at Ski School pickup, Holden engages in a snowball fight…
It rained all day at lake level (6250 ft) but in the late afternoon it finally switched to snow…
Funny, we’ve skied a lot this season but rarely have seen flakes from the sky…
There you go…just another few hours doing that and we’ll skip dinner…
We hit hyperdrive on the way to dinner…
That night on Donner Pass looked like this…
The next morning, Mt. Tallac had a nice new coating of white…
Driving to Kirkwood it actually felt like winter…
As we watched Chair 6 gets chewed up in the matter of minutes, we worked on our powder skills down on Timber Creek…
Squirrel Ridge was riding DEEP! Well, for a green run that is…
Is this how the cool kids hold poles nowadays?
Pretty much perfect conditions today with the kids on Chair 7…
After Ski School drop-off, Dad headed over to The Fingers…
‘Hey, is that ice?’
While the masses headed to the Backside to try and score fresh tracks, Aaron Miller and I stayed on 6 and 10…here’s what Dan Cliffs looked like at 11am…
Jim’s Ridge looking stellar and skied just as well…
The line above Ski School Chute is now filled in…
Aaron Miller does the classic Big Jims straightline…
And the snow below was still great for minimal turns…
On our way over to Chair 10, we decided to give Funnel a go…
Aaron Miller jumps in…
Makes a few turns, airs, and yells something to me that I can’t understand…
Maybe it was about the flat landing? However, I’m already aware of that aspect…
Riding up Chair 10 showed how well the coverage has improved in the Fingers…
Well there, The Wall is actually looking like fun…
Mandatory Once is Enough session…
Meanwhile, Pimpin’ Frog and others are sessioning untracked pow airs in Thunder Saddle…
On another Chair 10 lap, Aaron Miller finds a nice spot to drop in…
See, you needs to stress of skiing pow when we can have stress-free fun everywhere else?
A little secret cliff air for Aaron…
Back on Chair 6 it was time for Oops Spine…
For the last lap of Adult skiing, we skied outer Palisades to get a view of Thunder Bowl…
After that it was time for a beer and then take the youngster out for another lap of fun on Timber Creek…
The Carson Spur snowbank looking as it should…
As we get a rare snow eater plow appearance, the sky begins to snow yet again…
And then began to really snow catching a few cars headed Eastbound a bit off guard …
80mph Windows XP screensaver shot outside of Jackson, California…
And it continues to snow…