I Rave Squaw

Posted by Big Al on December 31, 2009 under The Weekly Deal | Be the First to Comment

Have you ever been to one of those rave parties that takes over a whole building, each floor offering a different vibe, DJ and crowd? Me neither. But from the stories that come out of those joints, they actually sound like the skiing at Squaw lately.

This was another incredible week. Great skiing led up to a Tuesday night storm that had enough snow and wind for the ‘You Shoulda Been Here Yesterday’ folks to heat up their cel texts to all the poor wretches who weren’t lucky enough to be here on Wednesday. Squaw only claimed 8-12″ but people on the hill were calling it more like 14-16″. Thursday, New Year’s Eve Day, was another treat as Ski Corp was able to get just about all lifts spinning despite fairly high winds – it was also the opening of Granite Chief since the storm. December snows totaled 127″ making this the snowiest December in 8 years.

And what about the Rave? When the mountain is skiing this well each chair is like its own floor of an oversized party. On the 31st, I shared one on Granite with a couple guys who were all fired up. Remember: it was untouched, relatively cold snow which had opened just a couple hours before. These guys needed to leave Granite so they could bang out laps on Headwall because it, too, was skiing so well even though its fresh pow got schralped the day before. Next chair I heard someone say they had to get to KT because Chute 75 was so smooth (it had been open since yesterday’s opening bell). On the next ride a happy couple told me they came straight to Granite when it opened and were planning on staying there all day.

THEORIES ON NEW YEAR’S & SKIING THE NEXT DAY

Years ago on NYE while skiing at some other resort in Tahoe I rode a chair with a guy who said he annually didn’t party on that night because he liked to start each new year fresh. And yesterday on a Headwall chair an instructor was asked by his lesson what his plans were for the big night. He replied, “There’s an old saying around here: ‘if you want to fly with the eagles you can’t hoot with the owls and become a turkey.’” So even though they agree with each other, I have to say that I think this approach is a bit lame. From my ‘Sophomore Years’ of living in Tahoe we developed our own saying: “Start Strong, Finish Strong!” Well, whatever you decided to do on NYE 2010 I hope you were able to get out on the hill the next day. Either way, Happy New Year from Big Al’s Blog!

Check out Squaw’s full list of upcoming events, including the Olympic Heritage Celebration which is just around the corner…