The Unofficial Alpine Meadows Ski Report

It just started ..........

The Unofficial Alpine Meadows Ski Report
Produced by Andy Wertheim
Tahoe/Truckee Realtor
email: andyw@sierra.net
Our real estate website: www.tahoeriverfrontrealty.com

Hello skiers,
It just started snowing again. Although the temperature at 6000 feet appears to be in the 40's, I am looking out my window and few flakes of snow dropping out of a dark gray sky. It basically rained most of yesterday and a little during the night before clearing this morning. The good news is that all the snow that was on the ground did not disappear. In fact, the clearing skies brought freezing temperatures in the early morning. The roads and top surface of the existing snow pack froze solid overnight. I buzzed over to the Alpine lodge this morning to check my locker and drop my pass into it. Kangaroo looked ready for skiing. They were making snow this morning, expecting snow at the higher elevations late tonight with lower levels tomorrow.
My visual inspection of the mountain this morning gave me a lift in spirts. Evidently, it did not rain all the way to the top the other day. It appears to have snowed above 7,500 feet, at least part of the time. The upper mountain is beginning to look good enough for skiing. In addition, snow is covering the ground at the lodge (not deep, but bare ground is not showing as much as I thought). Another foot or two and we should be in business.
Enjoy your day. Andy

Posted by Andy Wertheim at 04:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Who sent for the pineapples?

The Unofficial Alpine Meadows Ski Report
Produced by Andy Wertheim
Tahoe/Truckee Realtor
email: andyw@sierra.net
Our real estate website: www.tahoeriverfrontrealty.com

Hello skiers,
Who sent for the pineapples? I stepped into about 6 inches of mush this morning. The lovely snow that fell yesterday is being soaked by a steady rain today. I am not sure what the snow level is this afternoon, but it is not in eye site from my office window. The snow guns are silent today. According to the remote date information from the weather service, the temperature at the base of Alpine is currently 36 degrees and about 32 at High Camp in Squaw. Maybe we are receiving wet snow in the upper elevations. Good news! I was just informed that Squaw is scheduled to open on Saturday.

One of my associates reported good winter snow with excellent early season coverage at the Keystone Resort in Colorado over the weekend.

There is not much to do today other than read a good book in front of a roaring fire or go to the gym. Well, I guess we can work a little in the office. Property in Tahoe is still moving with prices steady, at least that appears to be the case in our office.

From a wet Alpine Meadows, enjoy your day. Andy

Posted by Andy Wertheim at 02:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Good news this morning........

The Unofficial Alpine Meadows Ski Report
Produced by Andy Wertheim
Tahoe/Truckee Realtor
email: andyw@sierra.net
Our real estate website: www.tahoeriverfrontrealty.com

Hello skiers,
Good news this morning from Tahoe. The temperatures are in the upper 20's at the base lodge and it is snowing. Snow is falling at the 6000 foot level (approx. elevation of my office). We may have received two to three inches of new snow today and snow continues to fall lightly. The forecast is for up to a foot at the 7000 foot elevation by Tuesday morning. It looking and feeling a lot more like winter. We are hoping for additional snow during the week. Alpine has had the snow guns running night and day. Kangaroo, not much, but something, looks like it is ready for skiing.
One of my associates just returned from a weekend of skiing at Hood Meadows where he found 60 inches of snow pack and blizzard conditions, along with 20 minute lift lines on Saturday.
Enjoy your day. Andy

Posted by Andy Wertheim at 02:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

This morning I woke up and

The Unofficial Alpine Meadows Ski Report
Produced by Andy Wertheim
Tahoe/Truckee Realtor
email: andyw@sierra.net
Our real estate website: www.tahoeriverfrontrealty.com

Hello skiers,
This morning I woke up and felt that excitement that skiers get when winter appears to be just around the corner. The air temperature finally dropped down low enough to turn rain into snow late yesterday afternoon. Of course, this was near the end of the storm. However, we did get a couple of inches of snow at the 7000 foot elevation and an inch or so along the Truckee River. This was enough to cover the brown mountainsides with its first real blanket of snow. The sun is out this morning, so the white trimming may melt away if temperatures rise, but it is a picture perfect day at this point in time. The good news is that the low overnight and morning temperatures have created the correct atmosphere for making snow. The snow guns were blasting away at Alpine this morning for the first time this season.
We are supposed to see another storm float through the area in the next few days. Cross your fingers and hope for a good drop from heaven later in the week.
I did confirm that Boreal, and possibly Heavenly are open. Boreal opened one lift with about a 200 foot long patch of snow that may have been 50 feet wide open for skiers and boarders. Heavenly is supposed to have something open on manmade snow at the highest elevations.
Enjoy your day. Andy

Posted by Andy Wertheim at 09:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Hello skiers,
Our beautiful, sunny, clear skies have turned to gray, wet, dripping sponges. The temperatures are still to high to make manmade snow, and/or have mother nature drop white crystals from high above. The temperatures are supposed to drop over the next few days. Alpine has rescheduled its opening day to Dec. 2, 2005 with hopes of snow before that date.

It rained overnight and is continuing to drizzle this morning. I looked up the mountain as far as could see and noticed a sprinkling of white powder on the upper reaches of the hillside, but nothing worth reporting. The only good news is that moisture is falling. Yesterday, in the warm sunshine, a group of us went geocaching for part of the day. We enjoyed a nice walk in the woods near Verdi as we hunted for hidden treasures with our GPS units in hand.

One of my more exotic (this may not be the right word) friends dragged me out to hike up a steep hillside in order to prove that we should use different muscle groups at different times during the week. The idea is to hike up a steep hill that does not have a trail (cross country hiking). In an effort to stay close to home, we decided to scale the north side of Highway 89 between Alpine Meadows and Tahoe City. We parked just passed the commercial center between Alpine and Tahoe City heading toward Tahoe City. A few hundred feet beyond Light Your Fire is a wide spot in the road on the north side of the highway. We thought we spotted a road heading into the hillside, but this turned out to be nothing. Well, we had a brushy hike up this steep mountainside that lasted about 45 minutes. The hillside is covered with manzanita that grows about three feet high in this area. We followed animal trails for short distances, and then waded through thick brush in attempts to locate open spaces. This hike was much like walking in a maze. Once in awhile you thought you were about to make some progress only to hit a dead end.
Being the fools that we are, we never turned back and just kept crawling, or high stepping through, and over bushes until we finally arrived at the top of a ridge where the space opened up allowing us to walk at a normal pace on relatively level ground. We ended up following an old road that led us to an area that is being logged
(selective cutting practiced by the Forest Service as good forest management). Soon we were on a well used steep dirt road that led us to the Chevron station in Tahoe City where we picked up my car and returned to the point of departure. The things we do to keep busy.
Enjoy your day. Andy

Posted by Andy Wertheim at 01:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (246) | TrackBacks (0)