Report #59 Details

Report-ID: 59
Submitted: 01/29/99 21:46:57
Host: ps.pge.com
Date: 01/23/99
Days: 3
Resort: Squaw Valley USA
Hours: Day
Equipment: Snowboard
Rating: 9
Primary-Surface: Powder
Secondary-Surfaces: Packed powder, Powder
Gender: Male
Age: 33
Ability: Advanced
E-mail: bdg3@pge.com
Loved: All the POWDER!! Fresh turns all day, for days on end!
Hated: Darryl missing a day. The Drive home (from hell!)
Closed: Upper mountain closed at times
Liftline-Waits: 0-5min. Really crowded at times - but avoidable
Moguls: big and soft

Details:

After staying up way too late doing last-minute laundry the night before, got
up at 5:30, showered, threw some stuff in the car.  Bryan arrived just as I
was leaving to pick up Darryl, but we found him  waiting patiently at BART
(what an efficient packer!!) and we were on our way by 6:45.  Drove up and
stopped by the house - Bryan ended up going to Squaw with Brian and Garry,
while Darryl and I headed for Alpine Meadows (many thanks to Darryl for the
ticket!).  It was pretty stormy, but we were having a lot of fun riding Summit
and Roundhouse chairs - except for the whiteout conditions at the top of
Summit!  Darryl took a fall, and wrenched his neck a bit - and later made the
prudent decision to take the rest of the day off.  I rode the back side
(Lakeview) and then did a bunch of laps on Summit right up until closing - and
had a pretty big day (23K vertical).  The recent storm had laid down a lot of
snow - but it wasn't particularly light and fluffy, but rather a bit heavy off
piste.	Visibility was a bit sketchy, with snow freezing to our goggles and
fog up top - but who can complain when you're out there making turns?!?
Pouneh, Kevin and Kristin arrived late Saturday night - so Saturday we had a
big crew going to Squaw (except Darryl, taking a recovery day, and Brian and
Garry, off to Boreal).	It had just DUMPED Friday night (1-2+ FEET is what the
forecast was calling for above 8000'!), and was still snowing Saturday
morning, but it was colder (drier) snow, and TONS of it!!  Not too many
people, but most of the upper mountain on wind hold - still, not much in the
way of lines.  We had a blast on Resort, tearing up powder on Far East.  Bryan
and I had a 'moment of Zen' in knee-deep, Warren Miller,
face-shot-every-other-turn-kinda powder in the trees off the top of Resort -
that's the stuff dreams are made of.  The ultimate riding conditions - and I'd
get a lot of it in the next few days!  Everyone had a great time, and after a
rendezvous at the house the whole gang headed out to dinner at Hacienda Del
Lago in TC (thanks to the Expedition - that car is HUGE!!) and swapped stories
of a fantastic powder day over pitchers of margaritas.
Sunday the storm broke, and it cleared (at least partially).  This, after a
five-day, powder-dumping storm, brought every skier and boarder from the
tri-state area out of the woodwork and onto the slopes.  Traffic from Tahoe
Donner to Squaw was absolutely unreal - it took WELL over an hour to get from
the house to the slopes.  It was Pouneh, Kevin, Kristin, Darryl and I headed
to Squaw, with Brian, Garry and Bryan off for discounted tix at Alpine.  When
we arrived at Squaw, the lot was as full as I'd seen it this year - and by
mid-day, it was as full as I've EVER seen it  (which is to say - completely).
It was like a Saturday on President's Day weekend - cars were parked along the
road down towards the meadow.
Despite the crowds, we did a pretty good job of avoiding lines - we started on
Resort, and there was still plenty of freshy powder turns to be had.
Unfortunately, Kristin took a couple of falls on her wrist fairly early on,
and she and Kevin ended up taking the afternoon off.  At least Squaw was
(atypically) cool and gave them some vouchers, and a lift up the funitel to
meet us for lunch.  Fortunately Kristin didn't break her wrist (we want the
URL for the x-ray!  I'll re-post mine ;-) and seemed to be feeling better
after properly medicating with a couple of beers <grin>.  Pouneh, Darryl and I
did laps on Mt. Run (yes, skiers and boarders can peacefully co-exist! ;-) and
enjoyed some great snow.  Darryl hit a rock on a jump and tweaked his edge and
base pretty good - but the board still seems to ride fine.  I finished up with
a last minute, under the wire KT-22.  Crowds really tapered off in the
afternoon, as people left early to beat traffic (my thanks to Darryl for
agreeing to stick around for the whole day!).  Here's some irony:  Alpine was
SO full that they were turning people away at HWY 89 - so Brian, Garry and
Bryan ended up riding Squaw all day too - all the same lifts we were, but we
never ran into each other.  If only they had radios that WORKED! <smirk>
Pouneh, Kevin and Kristin left Sunday night, as did Darryl - but Paula moved
in that day, and Chris and Sam arrived, so we still had a pretty full house.
This morning traffic was light, and crowds non-existent (as expected).	It was
my first real day of riding with Brian and Garry (since that day back in
November at Boreal, at least), and Paula's first day on the slopes in awhile.
Along with Bryan, we had an incredible day just ripping up that mountain - we
rode nearly the entire thing.  Shirley, Granite Chief, Solitude, Emigrant,
Siberia, Headwall, and KT-22 - we didn't skimp on the hard stuff!  Great
powder runs (still!) in Boundary Bowl, and even did the Funnel!  What a huge
(23K+ vertical), awesome, challenging, rippin' day!!

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