When we first moved to San Francisco everyone insisted there was never lightning in the city. Last night was indeed a unique event that resulted in 750 lightning strikes around the city (reported by NOAA). From our apartment you could hear the booms of thunder rolling through the Bay and could only imagine what it looked like. Luckily Phil McGrew shared an amazing picture he took from his apartment that overlooks the Bay Bridge.
It appears spring hasn't made its way to Lake Tahoe yet. April has been the best month for skiing all year. If only the mountains looked like this in January... it would be last year. I am getting my final day in Saturday, I might be able to squeak out one more weekend but I think this is it. All is well since the North Pacific High is strong and there should be plenty of 20+ knot days in San Francisco Bay. Hopefully the forecast below holds and I can end the winter season with a bang.
Given what the mountains looked like in the beginning of March it is amazing that the Chimney is open at squaw. Every line is a little scarier right now because of how little snow fell earlier in the season. Got to love that Sierra Cement and how it sticks to the steeps so well.
Most people are still thinking about the awesome days from April Fools weekend. It doesn't line up so perfectly that often. As you can see Squaw is also milking the good shots they got from that weekend for all they are worth.
So after an epic weekend of skiing I had just enough time for my legs to recover before the wind picked up around the Bay starting Wednesday. Sorry, I didn't take any video because I was testing new gear, the conditions were full on, and there were some issues coming in at the end of the day because of low tide. Frankly the conditions were so crazy it took me some getting used to. Here is the wind graph from the 3rd Ave. channel Wednesday.
There was giant swell all afternoon because of the ebb that was running until low tide around 6pm. I was out on a 4.1m sail and 78L Goya Quad and was pretty much overpowered the entire time. I tried sailing until 6:45 when the tide would have been high enough to make it to shore but as you can see from the graph the wind really started pumping at 6 and after feeling like the sail was getting ripped out of my hands during jibes I decided to trek through some mud to make it in. Sailing the swell is an incredible experience in these conditions. There are sections where sandbars and weird currents cause mogul chop to form but once you make it through that into the middle of the channel the swell is smooth and from my perspective mast high. The wind blew through the night into Thursday afternoon making the swell even bigger.
Thursday I got right after it so I could make it in before low tide. No practice jibes on the inside or making sure my gear was tuned right, I went straight out into the thick of it. The wind was pretty much the exact same but the swell was bigger (mast+) and more organized. When there is that much current and wind it takes some courage to turn downwind into the bowl of swell but once you do the sail pressure eases up and everything gets quiet. You can really concentrate on steering the board down the swell and enjoy yourself before turning back up onto a reach to the roaring wind. This video from Kevin of Sunset Sailboards sums up what I am talking about completely:
I had Friday off and got a little surprise when the wind filled in at Crissy and I got a nice booze cruise session on a 5.8m sail 100L board under the Golden Gate Bridge. I hope you enjoyed the write up and video from Kevin. I hope to have more to show you next time... which shouldn't be long from now.
The snow that fell last weekend also brought out some serious crowds. When we drove by the entrance to squaw the traffic was backed up past the entrance to the access road. We continued to Alpine where there was no traffic and probably more fresh lines available all day. Squaw always draws a large crowd on powder days with good reason. The extreme terrain that makes Squaw famous needs a lot of snow to make it skiable. As you can tell from this video the really good skiers at Squaw know every cliff, chute, and line they can take on the mountain.
Later is better than never. At least that is how the winter season around lake tahoe is shaping up. The snow that fell on the mountains this weekend doubled the season total bringing the snow levels up to 80% of Tahoe's average snowfall. When we got to the mountain (Alpine) we could hear the booms of charges exploding above the parking lot and looked up to see an avalanche pouring down from the peaks above. Instantly, we knew it was going to be an epic day. Avalanche safety must have gotten up really early because the mountain opened up on time despite 2+ feet of snow falling the night before.
Great view while hiking alpine bowl to the keyhole
There was so much snow and fresh tracks to be had you could get the goods anywhere on the mountain. After getting as many fresh tracks as we could in Alpine bowl we ventured to Scott chair, a slow lift near the backcountry. After a few runs in The Promise Land (actual name of the trail) we started eying the snow just past the signs for the ski boundary. The snow looked a little sketchy because it was built up from wind blowing it off a ridge but everything seemed stable so far that day. Little did we know the warm midday weather had weaken the snow and even though our friend Mike made some fresh lines when Elizabeth took her turns a large section released from under her. Luckily she stayed above above the snow and was funneled between a few trees and came to a reasonably safe stop in front of Mike. Needless to say we took more care during the rest of the day.
Elizabeth taking it in
I also had a scary experience at squaw on Friday when some snow released from under me. It was not nearly as large but there were some rocks I did not want to take a ride down. Elizabeth and I have never had such a close encounter with avalanche conditions and will probably do some homework before next season. There were still plenty of fresh lines off Scott but when we headed to the other side of the mountain most of the far bowls were closed. It was clear from the avalanche crowns we traversed by the far bowls were not safe.
