Speaking of wind, the image below is from yesterday – you can see how strong the storm blew in. Some of us caught a few waves in Tahoe Vista; sectiony and longish rides. My buddy (who’s ‘top brass’ at Ski Corp) rode his last one all the way to shore.

4/17/10 Lake Tahoe Wave Heights

Heaven, Not Dearth

Tuesday was one of those days. If you’ve been in the Valley on a perfect morning you know what I’m talking about. If you haven’t…suffice it to say that the place is its own heaven – both aesthetically and physically – for everyone here. On the drive in, the Valley view opens up wider and wider with prominent peaks like Tram Face, Headwall and KT-22 jutting skyward. As you adventure to different parts of the mountain new and incredible vistas are laid out in front of you. Clouds march through the many smaller valleys like Indians paddling up the Lake. From the chairs you see tracks from all the various critters who call this home (last spring there was a marmot and her baby watching the human zoo near the hot tub). Then there’s the not-too-natural stuff that rounds any perfect morning at Squaw. Booting up you get some thrasher metal from that pick-up; a bit of Grateful Dead from that van; if you’re lucky there’s a little Michael Jackson coming from somewhere! Then the sweet bass of avalanche bombs going off and rumbling around the entire valley. Greeting a couple friends and chatting with strangers in the lot. Then the internal chess game of deciding which of the six (yes, six) lifts to start your ski day from. It’s a festival every time and, man, it’s great to have this happening in April!!!!

Chimney Sweep right before Rush Hour

Ahhh, a little wind in the hair on the morning commute...Chimney Sweep again

Mainline getting Pocketed yet ever so slowly

Cornice II looking as good as it gets in a typical February

Kima's Paw in Silverado: Meeeeyow!

Granite Peak just getting blasted

I don’t want to overdue how overdone the Chimney Sweep was today but I met a snowboarder on Headwall who rode it for the first time today. I happened to snap him in the crux:

Nice work. You can now wear a 'brah'

Headwall setting up

This thing blew in Tuesday and has steadily picked up steam ever since. Today the National Weather Service called for 1-2 inches at Squaw. While watching our clothes get covered on every chair ride, it seems the NWS must have meant 1-2 inches an hour! Since Wednesday each day has surpassed the last and it looks like it’s going to continue through the weekend. This is exactly like any awesome storm cycle in the middle of any of the greatest seasons. Thanks, April!

'Bro'cal Billy Haupert takin care o' business in Broken Arrow

Smoothie Sign

The Smoothie is unlike anything you’ve ever skied before. It’s a lot easier and incredibly wide-open. If I had to guess I’d say it’s a half a square mile of terrain minimum. You have to maintain some wits about you as this is natural backcountry terrain (no groomers, etc.). But if you ski with your eyes open it’s one of the most pleasant experiences in skiing this side of soloing Sonora Pass or other classic California spring schusses.

Acres and Acres of Farmland...

We’ll get into ‘corn’ skiing once this most recent April storm cycle passes. Suffice it to say that corn in Iowa and corn in Tahoe are both huge beneficiaries of proper farming techniques. Squaw Ski Patrol runs the show on farming the Smoothie and with a usual closing time of 10am it stays fresh for weeks at a time. See you on the traverse…!

Potential for freshies in the Chimney Sweep

So this past Monday was the Jobless Set’s turn to enjoy the insane conditions that we’ve had since…oh let’s say December! The 500′ vertical swath of terrain known as ‘The Palisades’ opened fresh this morning and I saw everyone from the unemployment line except they were all in duct-taped ski gear. It was a hoot. A jobless, careless, reckless hoot. Saw one 60′ air (Dan Scarcia who wimped out of doing it twice) and no takers on the Chimney  which was open for a half hour while I was up there (tough exit bump). All the other landings in Extra, The Box, etc. were all perfect and the traverse line at the bottom didn’t claim many victims who crossed it high speeds. On the other side, Kitchen Wall cooked nicely. There were lots of hoots and some decent hollers. I love it when strangers cheer on strangers!

Flat to Fat...the 'Sades

We’ve gotten it soooo good this season. If you don’t remember any 3′ pow days well that’s probably because there weren’t many but we we’ve had so many rediculously sweet weeks in a row. It’s been a skiers’ winter. Sometimes in January I have to write a piece titled “The Doldrums” or something like that but this year hasn’t been that way at all.

Chimney Sweep with Patroller Hoping for some Biz

Here’s how he described what you are about to see:

“Okay, this really was the best day of the year (Th. 3/4/2010). Crazy dry snow, landings very filled in, cold temperatures, and plenty of sunshine. I just skied by myself today. It was actually kinda nice. I just looked at my list of lines to ski for the day and went after ‘em! Truly an unbelievable day that I don’t think I’ll soon forget!

In here you’ll find: Chamber Cliff, Adrenaline Rock (twice), The Drifter, The Sisters, Deadmans Chute, a new double I just tried for the first time on The Fingers, Broken Back Rock, The Booger, and more!”

Go Miles…

The Best Day at Squaw….EVER from miles clark on Vimeo.

Judge Robb Gaffney overjoyed that GNAR is on; competitors in background

The funniest part is the bonus chapter by Shane McConkey, renowned prankster and humorist. Oh yeah, he was the best skier since Scot Schmidt. Oops, he also re-invented skiing…twice. Anyway, his section at the end goes something like this: “Pushing, shoving, kicking, punching and biting are all necessary tactics for a good day of fun on a Squaw powder day. (O)n a testing ground of such incomprehensible sickness and with a cast of riders so loaded with talent how does anyone compare themselves? Through competition and with points naturally!” Thus is born the game of G.N.A.R., Gaffney’s Numerical Assessment of Radness.

Roving filmer J.T. Holmes interviews competitor Jamie Blair on a chair. Jamie was apologizing to his mom for straightlining Extra Chute in the Palisades while talking to her on the phone...for bonus points

The game being played currently goes until March 20 and the winner gets $25,000. There are 20 competitors with helmet cams, 8 – 10 roaming film crews and spotters on each lift to identify competitors. The coolest thing is that the game is making these 20 hand-picked athletes ski like they never have before. They have to do it for 10 days and they are being forced to have a good time while attempting the incredible ski lines described in the Squallywood. The good times are pranks that creator Shane thought were hysterical and they earn competitors bonus points. Like skiing a line then going up to a group of strangers who watched and say, “I’m the best skier on the mountain.”  Or hit another competitor with a snowball once they’ve pushed off into a line. Or call your mom and keep her on the phone while you straightline the Palisades. The list goes on forever but suffice it to say that today there were numerous guys cooking real breakfasts in the KT line, some of them got there at 4:30am to get first chair, and a number of ‘regular’ skiers wore one-piece suits so competitors could spot them for extra points. Keep your eyes out for some antics on the hill…

Just a nice place to be...

Today was ridiculous – a shotgun opening of just about every lift at 9a and what was new? Over 2 feet of the fluffiest, nicest, seemingly-non-California-est pow you’ve ever seen. And it was a bit of a surprise for anyone who wasn’t in the Valley yesterday.  This was probably the coldest snow of the season (maybe 7% water content) and it was buffed with a fine chammy. Landings got deep so some of the ‘fat-to-flat’ airs saw tracks. There was lots of slough-debris but it exploded on impact with ski tips so straightlines and other huge swaths of terrain all rode nicely, even if they looked like they had slid. The wonder of it was that although the parking lot got pretty busy the hill was totally spread out and it took a long time for things to get tracked. Here are some pics from one of the best days of the season…so far!

A pretty 'Face

This morning there was almost no new snow along the North Shore and much of Truckee. But out at ole SV it was deep, deep, deep.

The 'Sades, Garbage Chutes, and North Bowl

Zeroing in: Sades from Siberia chair. Can you scream WINDBUFF?!?!?!

Palisades hike - it was too tempting to miss...

Some dude getting the goods

Patroller getting it done in Silvy EARLY. It opened by 10 - that's a Good Day!

Below these pics is my firsthand account of getting bowled over by this avalanche…

Click to enlarge.