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!
It was Sunday morning and a late aubible had been called by the Freeride World Tour organizers to run the event in the Tram Face instead of Silverado. The event crew and some athletes were up near the start at Tower One. An experienced Squaw Patroller was there and dug a couple snow stability pits. After getting a response of CT-11 (Compression Test score 11) he mandated that nobody ski adjacent to the skier’s left of the tower and that the start be moved lower down the ridgeline. This was done. However a Frenchie photog decided to become unilingual and walk out on a shoulder exactly where the patroller had told people not to go. He was the remote trigger for the crack that occurred 20-feet below his footsteps. This was the slide that barrelled into the assembling crowd at the finish.
A ton of my friends and I were in that group below. The party was just getting going: beers were being popped, a snow couch was being dug and we were hanging out carefree in what proved to be an incredibly unsafe location. Mid-laugh, I heard someone scream “AVALANCHE!!!” and looked up to see that white plume billowing over the first rockband. Everyone turned and ran, I fell and couldn’t get up in the deep pow. As I struggled I looked up to check the advance of the snow. It was coming fast and hard just like footage I saw in a movie where the camera was set in the path of the slide. As I tried to climb a tree with ski boots on, I heard Squaw Mountain Manager Jimmy King radio to whoever was listening, “We are about to be buried by an avalanche.”
We were lucky. This one didn’t have much snow coming with it. It was mostly plume. So when that cloud hit us at high velocity I was looking straight into it and wondering when to start holding my breath. Thankfully it blew through our entire crowd like a ghost then it was over. No one was hurt. All was shaken but ‘well’.
Renowned ski photographer Hank deVre was uphill and sideslope from us to shoot the contest. While we hung out in Silverado the next day for the comp he told me, “I thought I was about to watch 50 people disappear under that huge avalanche.” Needless to say, with his proximity and pucker-factor Hank didn’t fire off a single frame. Then after the comp I bumped into the patroller who dug the pits and he said, “Hey Al, I heard you got kissed by Mother Nature!”
I grabbed this video off of YouTube. Note: the finish area / group of us dumbies (!) was at the very bottom of the screen where the plume was highest. You can hear Jimmy King on the radio talking about this as one of the scariest things he’s ever seen (!); I believe the group of people were near the judges across the Valley at the Apache watertower; a mistake in the video’s intro – there was not a forerunner.
Granted it’s considered out-of-bounds but this terrain is also very ride-able – if you’re one of the top skiers in the land. The rest of us can get an incredible look at this face by simply riding the Cable Car to High Camp. Everything under you see before passing to the first peak is considered the Tram Face and it was to be opened for competition this week.
The Tram Face retains its status as one of the most awe-inspiring steep zones of any ski area in the country. Ironically, the most recent addition to its resume was when it was deemed unride-able for the most gifted skiers/boarders for this week’s Freeride World Tour. Hence, it didn’t get skied so the mystery carries forward…
Silverado: site of the Freeride World Tour at Squaw
The Freeride World Tour was relocated to Silverado which is one of a few perfect venues for competitive steep skiing at Squaw. Silvy is one of Squaw’s most ‘backcountry’-style chairs and the beauty is that any intermediate rider can take the groomer under the impressive terrain on which the competition takes place.
Local Jaclyn Paaso let it all hang out and proved that the women should be getting the same prize money as the guys. She got first. Also, 9-year resident Ingrid Backstrom had a solid showing and took third place in yesterday’s comp. The crowd was a classic amalgam of Tahoe comedians and Squaw faithful. Local Olympian Daron Rhalves pre-ran the course then stood back to watch the antics of these incredible athletes. The whole day was a hoot!
Olympian Daron Rhalves watching the show
Squaw Paparazzi. From left - Eric Deslauriers, Hank deVre, Keoki Flagg, Jamie Blair, Dave Carmazzi, Daron Rhalves
Squaw's Jimmy King of the Mountain unloading gear for the finish area
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