Over the last 20 years I have been to Tahoe several times -mostly Squaw and Alpine Meadows. I flew in last night to get away from the crappy weather in the Adirondacks. I would usually have ski in Utah but I have clients in San Jose that want me to meet with them next week so I drop down on Reno. Anyway, my daughter new some guys in the area so she had them show me Kirkwood. Two young snowboarders and one old skier. Where you could see the look of concern in their eyes when I pulled into the meet up area. Upon arriving at Kirkwood they finally asked what I liked to ski, I had half a mind to mess with them and say groomed beginner terrain but I said I'll ski anything but I break too easily to huck cliffs.
Well Kirkwood is a fine place, great terrain. Lots of snow this year. There was between 18" and 2' on Thursday and so the snow was soft. We got in about 18K vertical and not a single groomer all day. We jumped a few cornices but as promised, no cliffs. We did a little Hiking but none was really required except when a rope tow was not working in an area called upper devils draw were there was a cornice that was a little big for my taste but with some ways to work around it. The best snow was by far in a shaded area called Hells Delight, you had to drop in to a narrow chute that gave me pause the first time (I looked at it for what seemed five minutes before I bucked up and dropped in) but subsequent trips down I was more relaxed.
The day ended up in an area called Palisades but the sun had cooked it pretty well and I had to do a lot of unweighting to get the skis turning and at altitude that wore me out. Luckily it was the end of the day. The old guy kept up with the young bucks but I felt that my initial hesitation earlier was a sign of father time catching up with me.
Don't know where I'll go tomorrow but it will be a more relaxing day.
Don't ski the trees, ski the spaces between the trees.
Locked
