January 28, 2013 Alpine Meadows,CA

We drove to Lake Tahoe to ski in the sun and get back to skiing at higher elevations.   Our season passes from last year at Squaw Valley/ Alpine Meadows were carried over to this year due to my stroke in Feb.  We parked our van in the lot near to the lift next to the beginner area.  The elevation is about 6800vf and the temperature was about 15 degrees, but our furnace heater worked great. During the past year Squaw Valley bought Alpine Meadows and has a deal with the Sierra at Tahoe resort.   Our $320 season pass is cheap for a senior.   The weather started a bit cloudy but was sunny after 10am.   This is the first January day we’ve skied here because in past years we’re here in late February and March.    The snowpack is lower than we’ve found in past years.   Over the weekend they only received 1-2” of new snow.  The European weather forecast was higher but rolled back and was like the National Weather forecast.   Jill and I skied about 2.5 hours on firm packed powder which, fortunately, was well groomed.   The highest elevation at Ward Peak is 8600vf.   Sleeping at 6600vf was OK, thanks to extra blankets and our furnace.  The amount of terrain is huge. Years ago Jill and I skied south from Ward Peak with our backcountry gear.   We belong to the Sierra Club and have toured in Ward Canyon with the group from San Francisco.   The snowpack needs more coverage for the spring season. Everyone is skiing on the groomers due to the firm snowpack.  The forecast is for it to be warm and probably OK for skiing off piste by Thursday or Friday.  The lifts use an RFID pass -- even for the Sherwood Express lift for folks who came into the area the back way.   We will drive to Squaw Valley and find place to park for the night.   The forecast is for sunshine all week.

It's good to hear you guys are out on the road again.