Kirkwood 2011-12
Springing into Slush Season @ Squaw & Kirkwood – 04/21/12
Slush Skiing? OH MY!
Dates:
April 20th – 21st 2012
Location: Two resorts in California….(click pics for larger sizes)
Squaw Valley Int’l playground…
Kirkwood ski area….
Weather: How does PERFECT sound?
Riders: Skier666, SQ99, and Girlski
Cameradude: Skier666
POV VIDEO – Springing into slush season @SquawValley & @KirkwoodMtn – 04/21/12
Music: Goth Trad – ‘New Epoch’
Synopsis:
After about a month off to obtain a Real Estate license, I embarked on a 2 day journey up to the legendary Sierra Range. On my spiritual journey I uncovered a police search for a loose gunman on a closed I-80, bluebird skies, no lift-lines, hot temps, a deterioration snow pack, cold beer, and wicked good time skiing. The snow was slushy yet strangely entertaining. Truth be told it was some of the most fun I had all season.
I met SQ99 and Girlski for a reunion of sorts. Due to the highway closure, our time together was cut short but felt like the old times skiing up in the PNW. We gave SQ99 a hard time, as usual, Girlski and I talked about law school, and WE HAD FUN SKIING….perfect day I’d say! After dropping off SQ99 at the Reno airport, I rallied down to South Lake to catch some sleep to awake early and hit up some perfect Kirkwood corn-slush. It was fun.
JAVA PORN:
Peets New Guinea Korona
Red Bull Zero…
GAME START!:
It started to rain in the Bay….but I knew I wasn’t going East to the snow…
because of this…
…but the forces high above knew I’d pass on my first attempt…yippie!
While it snowed in Tahoe, I ran to Mexico…
Punta Minta to be exact…
The fountains were nice…
The sunsets were….meh
On my return, and after a work week, it was finally time to get in the car and head to some bluebird fun….
And what are the chances that I get held up going to Squaw before Sacramento due to a gunman on the loose? I mean, really? However, I was quoted in the article and I do have a story to tell…heh.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl…BA681O72HS.DTL
It was 7:05am. Almost to Sacramento. And STOP. No westbound traffic. No eastbound traffic. Hmmmmm…….
When I saw this, I knew I had to get out of here….
‘Let me through, I need to meet SQ99 up at Squaw!"
After a 6.5 hour drive that should have been 3 hours, I finally made it to KT-22 at 12:45pm…ugh.
Headed straight to Olympic Lady….
Then to Chute 75 which was skiing ‘oh so nicely.’
We headed over to the Nose…
And went to my usual zones…
It was actually quite nice….
Squaw’s upper mountain looked great, but I just couldn’t leave the vert of KT!
The alternates were up next….
Looking to the South toward Alpine….
There’s something quite nice about skiing around the Fingers with nobody on the chair….
AND NO MOGULS IN THE RUN-OUT!!!!!
SQ99 wanted another lap in Chute 75, so I happily joined him…
Always good to ski with old friends….
WHy not a lap in the Rock Garden?????
And then follow it by a lap near Olympic Lady…hell, we’re the only people on KT!!!!
Time for the Chamois…its getting a little wet at the base:
Why not go wine tasting after skiing @ Truckee River Winery?
That night, I fell asleep to these…
KIRKWOOD DAY
The morning was spectacular….
If only I could remember the name of this lake…
And to think I took this with my cellphone…heh
Mt. Tallac looking a little Spring-like…
THE CIRQUE!!!!
Caples Lake and West Shore etc….
Round Top to Sisters….
The WALL!!!!!!!!!
Obligatory early morning groomer shot…
The snow was pretty soft from the get go, so I headed over to the Ski School zone…
And found a nice little air…
Over to Chair 10. With the warm temps, there was one line I figured would be good…
Yep, Once is Enough…
Then over to Waterfall…
A couple laps off the top didn’t hurt….
Upper Chamoix looked a bit thin yet EXTREME…I passed.
The untracked corduroy wasn’t too shabby as an alternate…
Back to 10, I did a couple laps in Norm’s Nose…
Then a lap down the Sisters…
One last lap on 6, I went above Ski School….
And was pleasantly entertained…
In a few short hours, my vehicle hit this temperature in Walnut Creek….
The next day I was buying this..
Thank Yew California!
Delicious Day in a Sporadic Season @ Kirkwood – 03/18/12
REALLY? A POW DAY???
Date:
March 18th, 2012
Location: Kirkwood – USA
Weather: Snow, snowy, and a blizzard on the drive out
Riders: JMetzler, skier666, fatbastard, Ottime, mogul5480, MildBill and others…
Cameramen: Skier666
POV VIDEO – N/A as the memory card was left at home…it happens
Music: Brookes Brothers – ‘In your eyes’
Synopsis:
It snowed. Those days have be few and far between this season, so a quick trip was in order before I headed out to Telluride/Silverton two days later. Chair 6 was buffed out to perfection. Oops face was finally skied all the way through, and Dan Cliffs finally had more than one line in it. The Wall was ridiculously good, and then we had to drive home knowing that the next day would be even better. Oh well, THAT’S SKIING FOR YOU!!!
Java Porn:
Blue Bottle Macchiato…
PRESS ‘A’ to BEGIN:
A day before the storm on the Marin Headlands…
The skies get darker near the Bay Bridge from Ferry Building…
A quick run before the rain, and the swells increase near Fort Point…
Wet Cable Car tracks in Nob Hill…
California Street getting washed off…
…and then the storm hits…
Double Rainbow heading East near Davis on I-80…
Its about time the snow tires hit snow again…
Its xmas in March in South Lake Tahoe!!!!
What the hell is a ‘chain control?’
LOL, is that a snowplow???
Finally, Carson Pass actually looks like a mountain pass in the winter…
Looking good…
Apparently, it snowed a bit overnight…
C’mon, we ALL know that isn’t a parking space…tow that guy!
Yippie! It looks like the interior of British Columbia up here…
A rare sight indeed…
fatbastard gets some air on Dan Cliffs…
fatbastard attempts to ski powder…but he’s terrible.
Ottime snrokels a hidden zone…
JMetzler tries to go UNDER the snow…he’s simply amazing!
Now in Wagon Wheel Bowl…JMetzler is pissed that this isn’t full of moguls…
fatbastard cleans off his ski pants…
Ottime looks for a lost wallet…
Found it!
A little look down Heart Chute…me thinks we need snow-making up here…
JMetzler descends upon Sister Chute…
Just waiting for that pesky cold ass wind to stop blowing….
There you go buddy…
Skiing on winter snow….sick!
fatbastard drops in…and if I remember correctly, he crashed into rocks but survived…
Jmetzler jumps over something…
Time to leave…more crowded than I thought
Spur actually has BANKS!!!!
Winter already????
And then winter dropped he hammer…
So stoked that Supu was on his way up…SO STOKED FOR HIM
Ahhh…and to think this is 30 miles from that blizzard…
What a weird yet cool state….
Mr. Winter, please stick around…
Violating the Vestibules of VailWood – 03/03/12
Enough to Entertain…?
Date:
March 3rd, 2012
Locations: Kirkwood (VailWood)
Weather: Bluebird, no wind…yeah, kind of nice out
Riders: Skier666, S.P.C, MildBill, Sean from SF, JMetzler, Jrosen32, mogul5480, and dblatto
Cameramen: Skier666, S.P.C & JMetzler
POV VIDEO – Violating the Vestibules of VailWood
Music: Nosia & Phace – ‘Program’
Synopsis:
Well…as I type this, it is Tahoe’s 3rd driest winter on record for total snowfall. Vail has also now purchased Kirkwood. So, we figured we would entertain a ski day at this new place especially with the recent snow. Funny enough, it skis just as fun as Kirkwood. We traversed from left to right, went up & down, found powder to slush, hella’ jumps, cliffs, features and actually had GREAT TIME!
BEGIN:
One last rooftop BBQ before the rain set in….
Satellite is looking impressive…
Commute wasn’t much fun…
On March 3rd, the lake was calm….
Tallac looking its most winter-like yet!
JMetzler and I take our first run down the Spur…
Now two days after the storm, we weren’t expecting much…
But found some delightful snow…
Yep, better than expected…
666 even made a turn…
…considered a powder run?
JMetzler finds a nice spot…
…and ANOTHER
…Love this one, props to photog!
Snow…
The WALL….its a black diamond
Over to lower cirque…
Then over to Main Street where the snow was…
…delightful
S.P.C even put on a camera….
…and got some.
dblatto followed us…
and then stalked S.P.C’s camera…
Not sure what’s going on here…
Finally, over in the Diagonal Chute called ‘boulevard’….MildBill makes some happy turns…
He lines up a straightline….
…and followed suit.
JMetzler followed MildBills lead…
And aired it out…
This is what was left for me and my iPhone….
And it looked like this…
The line…
JMetzler gets a few extra turns…
Over at the Temple of Doom, Jrosen32 was already itching for his line…
Oh yeah!
Boring….
S.P.C is up and decides…
…to go…
…straight…heh.
MildBill goes for a huck….
And from the bottom…talk about TR technology!
666 tries not to land in the ruts…..
Dblatto gets some speed in the Vista Shadows…
Sean from SF was there…..he found some decent snow
JMetzler metzlin’….
We then rallied over to Oops area, where I did some AC work on the face.
On the extreme traverse, I said hello to my friends above. HI FRIENDS!!!
Over on Oops EP, we jumped stuff….
Jrosen32 was up for the challenge…
Multi-angle steeze…
And another!
A little rabbit chutes lap…
Then over to the Fingers with Dblatto…
S.P.C on the lower sisters….
Jmetzler on the following day out near Headwall…
On the drive home, I stopped to smell the flowers. They said it was going to snow next week.
And obligatory….(the weather has been pretty stellar in the city lately)
MAJOR SNOW NEXT WEEK???
Following the Northstar and Squallying to Da’ Wood – 02/20/12
It actually snowed…a bit
Date:
February 12th – 20th, 2012
Locations: A few of them…all in the TAHOE REGION OMG!
The big, the bad….NORTHSTAR!
The tame, the lame…SQUAW VALLEY USA!
And Introducing KIRKWOOD…(also known as VAILWOOD)
Weather: Flat-light, some sun, some clouds, some snow…
Riders: Skier666, S.P.C , DaveP & Kelly, SSD, MildBill, Sean from SF, JMetzler, Jrosen32, dblatto, and Slim
Cameramen: Skier666 and S.P.C
POV VIDEO – Squallying over to Da’ Wood – 02/20/12
Music: Need for Mirrors featuring DRS – D.F.T.F
Synopsis:
We are still under 100 inches of total snowfall (as of the last day in this report), but there’s still skiing to be had if you look hard enough. With a planned trip to North Lake Tahoe before Valentine’s Day, and as luck would have it, a fairly decent storm dropped close to a foot of blower over Squaw Valley on the morning of February 13th. Fast forward to President’s weekend and Kirkwood was skiing quite nicely in and out of bounds. Pray for snow. 
Its seems to be working….
Sunday, February 12th, 2012:
The morning was filled with another warm walk to Fort Point with the kids…
With uber dry roads the wife and I were on the slopes at Northstar for a late afternoon shred session in around 3 hours…
Squaw from the Backside at Northstar…
Skiing was horrendous, so we grabbed a few cocktails at the new lodge…and took in the views of the upcoming storm…
The storm dropped around 7 inches that night…
…but once the groomers were skied off, there’s not much else to do due to the low snowpack…
After looking at Squaw…I headed there to meet up with Obscure Reference
Parking lot was nice and full so I expected moguls everywhere by now (11:30am)
Headwall not looking bad at all…hmmm
So…we take a lap in the Slot
…and below we didn’t find moguls
…but we did find patches of this:
On Siberia, Obscure had an idea…’how about we ask Patrol if the Palisades will open?’
Sure enough, Patrol turned the sign after we asked…heh
Hmmm…how will that debris be down there…it didn’t snow THAT much…
So we headed for first tracks down National…
Obscure had to leave after a few Granite laps down Corkscrew, so I decided to lap KT for the rest of the day. (hint: see video above)
The next morning I lapped groomers at Northstar before heading back to SF…it was quite nice.
Time to wash the car…in the gorgeous California sunshine!
A few days later, the boy and I headed up to Tahoe South for the holiday weekend…
Saturday February 18th, 2012:
Stevens Peak on the way to Kirkwood…
MildBill races down Ski School…
Jrosen32 makes an appearance in Main Street…
This is what it looked like….
JMetzler gets in on the action…
Looking pretty good right?
That’s right! Variable POW POW!
Boulevard still has some crap in the middle and I really don’t want to down-climb…
SSD just freaking RAILS a shitty snow turn…
Getting so god damn deep….
OH SNAP!
MildBill makes a turn near a forest….
dblatto gets hella crazy in a sepia turn…
Sean from SF finds a deep spot near Temple of Doom…
And then pulls some steepness in a wide angle style in Ski School…
S.P.C escapes rather quickly while I almost fall off this thing trying to capture the shot…
On Oops EP (Dan Cliffs), 666 goes for it…
On Oops LP, S.P.C finds wintery snow…
The next morning , the little guy and I slay chair 7 & 9 prior to ski school…
Then his papa skis an exposed line on Norms…
With dblatto, DaveP & Kelly, and Sean from SF in tow, we headed up here…
Nice day on Mars…
This shot screams war zone, not ski field….
Ah, even without snow, the Sierra is pretty….
Where is that guy going?
Don’t worry, he’s been there before….
Looks worse than what it really is…I guess
Yep, that’s the problem area for my 192cm Jag Sharks…
Ugh….almost there…
Sean from SF arrives from around the corner in a stoked fashion…
Dblatto makes a turn on some epic snow…
…and yet again, goes sepia on us…
Down to Emigrant Lake looks great…but its not.
Vista was good though…damn good.
Day 3 and we are having a blast!
MildBill and I have a line picked out, can you find it?
Frosty morning with a massive 1” of overnight snowfall…
He starts his descent…
Gathers his bearings…
Makes a turn near a wall…
another turn on snow….and he’s out! Yippie!
Super steep, not deep…
Slim sessions all that overnight fresh….
Emigrant glacier bank…
Lap 2….MildBill gets nutso….
…and makes a TURN!
He’s familiar with these next steps…
But a couple cooks scraped the landing a bit…
Yep, right there…
Fun line…
Slim found a deep patch on lap 2….
Back on Vista, MildBIll turns on the turbos…
And then I go into father spy mode at Timber Creek…
Yep, they are in the Ditch of Doom, or Terror, or whatever it is….heh
Hey, slow down mate!
And a nice sunset after a sweet weekend of skiing…
…and 5 feet of blower is expected in the next 48 hours at time of posting
No Base, No Problem @ Kirkwood – 02/04/12
Major snowfall would be nice….
Date:
February 4th, 2012
Location: Kirkwood Ski Resort of America, located on scenic Hwy 88 in Northern California
Weather: Bluebird and ABSOLUTELY STUNNING!!!!!!
Riders: Skier666, S.P.C & Supu (so adorable)
Cameramen: Skier666, Supu and S.P.C (loves bass music)
POV VIDEO – No Base, No Problem @ KW – 02/04/12
Music: Gridlok – ‘Insecticide’
Synopsis:
A couple days earlier it snowed a few inches followed by the wicked wind from the East. With a bluebird day on tap, new Jag Sharks on my feet, 100% of the mountain and backcountry gates open to tour around, I was riddled with optimism. After a lackluster run down Eagle Bowl giving us everything from powder to glacier ice, pessimism encompassed my mind until we ventured beyond a ridge named after a baby deer. Considering the amount of total snowfall to date, this day was top-notch…
Let’s Begin:
Supu left his racks open and lost a pair of snowblades….keep a look out!
North Beach looking stunning for February…
Texting and driving…
Major drifts in the front of the Tahoe house in South Lake…
Nice and cool in Hope Valley…
Zach’s was groomed to perfection for warming up new edges…
Supu gets all "Blizzard of Ahhhhs" on us in Wagon Wheel…
Seth finds some ‘sorta pow’ in lower Eagle Bowl…
Supu gets hella deep…yep, hella
Supu finds the last powder patch…
On our way to check out the sidecountry…
S.P.C gets a nice line…
Supu follows suit…
Did I mention its his first day on skis for the season????
Man oh man is he KILLIN’ it….
Diagonal recon….large cliff in middle, need to rappel. Will wait for next storm….
S.P.C finds a fresh ridge….
…and works it all the way to the bowl
Supu finding freshies…
Oh no he didn’t….
Yep, he actually found great snow….
666 skis more skier’s right down the fin for beta…
Nice and soft….
…such a scenic tour
an AK spine…heh
Supu isn’t shy for the camera…
Nice turns down to the traverse….
S.P.C chargin’ with an idiot watching below…
West Shore needs snow…
Supu doing his best to make it look TeH EpIc!
666 finds some untracked…
East wind was here…
How about a new line?
Nice and fresh…
Best run of the day…
S.P.C having fun…
…hell yeah
Smile…you are on camera!
Supu is up next…
I thought it was all ice in Tahoe?????
HEH…
Thunder Saddle has some nice patches…
Ventured over to skier’s right of Chamoix….
…and then a fun lap of Oops where oddly some snow was untouched at 2pm
Supu sleepy…
But he did manage to get this shot…
The next morning, the family and I went for a walk…
…just another winter California weekend.
snow please…:)
Jumpin’ Janvember it Snowed @ Kirkwood – 01/22/12
OMG…IT SNOWED…IT REALLY DID!
Date:
Janvember 22, 2012
Location: An extremely rare 11/12 snowy day @Kirkwood, CA
Weather: snowy, windy….very winter-like….
Riders: Skier666, Dblatto, mildbill, Slim, Ottime, Unpossible, Schuss, SSD….
Cameraman: skier666, Ottime, and SSD
POV VIDEO – Jumpin’ Janvember it Snowed @ Kirkwood – 01/22/12…..
Music: Need for Mirrors – D.F.T.F
Synopsis:
The first substantial snow of the 11/12 season fell in the wee hours of January 21st, 2012. After one of the driest December on record, this storm was incomprehensibly overdue. So, we packed up the car on a quiet Saturday night and headed Eastbound to wake up early for the hopes of expanded terrain at Kirkwood. Most of the shots in this TR were dirt two days prior…yes, I said dirt. All in all, the skiing was incredible for November…er…I mean January.
January 21, 2012:
A nice day for a run to the bridge to watch some people playing in the water…
California…
January 22, 2012:
Skis on racks…
Tahoe lookin’ white…
West shore lookin’ wicked….
Tallac actually has snow…
Plows actually plowing…
Stevens playing the winter game…
88 is the road…
Roundtop blowin’….
Yippie…Sentinel is now open…go get sum’
The characters…
Summit view…
B-lining straight to Ski School Chute…
Dblatto airing part of Oops one day earlier…
Ottime under Dan Cliffs…
Unpossible skiing on actual snow…
Schuss trying to make it look like an 8 foot dump…
mmmm…powder flying around
Slim in a slim situation….
Ottime goes for it….
Mmmmmm…more snow please
SSD….hey there SEXY!!!!
‘Hey SSD, you missed that pow shot just above you…duh!!!
SSD schmearing…..
Slim….skiing…soft snow…
Oops, found a slab….
then some low angle pow pow…
SSD gets some tree skiing during a strong storm cell…
Unpossible having a great day…
Schuss schussing…
People were out, lines were long, but only until around lunchtime
Back to the skiing…
Ottime loving the trees…
Mildbill points it from here…
A chairlift with a ’6′ in its name…
666 hopping around Dan Cliffs…
Weeeeee!
Mini-golf style….
Found this overhang near lower Palisades…
Ottime continues to ski untracked…
666 finds some features in Oops n Poops…
Ottime near the unloading of Chair 5….
Back in SF…
Not a bad FIRST powder day….
Turkey Turns Without the Gravy – 11/26/11
N33D MOR SNW
Date: November 26th, 2011
Location: Kirkwood, California
Weather: Too warm
Riders: Skier666
Cameraman: 666
POV VIDEO – NONE
Music: They Live – ‘Mr. Spaldings Neighborhood’’
Synopsis:
WE NEED SNOW. Rolled up to KW early and scored first chair with Coop and be the first human of the day down Racecourse. Top 4th is crap but bottom 3/4 was $$$ for laying down the steel. Ended up doing a lap on the offpiste that actually wasn’t as bad as I pictured, but that’s probably due to everyone packing it down the day before.
Car is loaded with sidecut and heavy red bindings…
Made it to South Lake in under 3 hours from SF…
Tallac is buried…
West Shore is caked…
Kirkwood under an ice age…
Corduroy….
Even though it wasn’t epic pow pow, I still got first tracks…
Cirque…
Superpipe…
Village of Chamonix…
Weapons…
Race Course…
Spur without snowbanks…
…Woot for Chair 5!