South Lake Tahoe
Slaying the Solstice to Moon Crescent & the Sinister Sisters – 07/24/11
Better Than Expected…
Date:
July 22nd-July 24th, 2011
Location: Tioga Pass, Yosemite, CA to Moon Crescent Couloir off of Roundtop to The Sisters near Kirkwood, CA
Solstice Couloir, Mt. Dana…
Moon Crescent (Roundtop) and The Sisters area…
Weather: Bluebird…no wind
Riders: Skier666, Powdork, Dblatto, and S.P.C
Powdork….
666, Dblatto & S.P.C
Cameraman:
666 & Powdork
POV VIDEO – Slaying the Solstice to Moon Crescent & the Sinister Sisters….
Slaying the Solstice to Moon Crescent & the Sinister Sisters – 07/24/11 from skier666 on Vimeo.
Music: Wilkinson – Refugee
Synopsis:
It was a weekend full of sun, warmth and bluebird skies. Powdork and I decided to take a long boulder-hopping walk up to the Solstice Couloir on Friday, followed by two days of sessions with S.P.C and Dblatto over near Roundtop and The Sisters. MildBill thought we were nuts, but that just gave us more energy. As it turned out, we enjoyed a ton of uphill, but encountered decent skiing, great views, and a fair amount of exercise. Dare I say ‘better than expected?’
Java Porn: Caffeinated Shot Bloks
July 22nd, 2011:
Driving up Tioga and a view of a mound of rock with some ice…
Ellery area coming into view…
Our hike begins…
Getting closer…yet still miles away
Time to put on the crampons…Powdork makes a quick transition.
So much AWESOME exercise!
My view…
666 gets aggressive…
Nice views of a dying winter…
Mono oh Mono….
I didn’t feel comfortable scaling this puppy, so we dropped from below…
Powdork begins his dash back to work…
Get after it man, you earned it!
Its my turn…not a bad line for July 22nd!
Actually quite smooth as well…
Have I mentioned that enjoy skiing down more than the uphill?
Woot ‘r’ us…
This spot will work well for a lunch break before I venture up the Plateau to my Ellery descent…
n3rD…..
Just looking at this dried up all my sweat…
Dana Couloir, Mt. Dana, and Solstice Couloir….
Now atop Ellery, there lies the ‘no fall zone.’
Descent #2 looks a bit longer eh?
Dropping’…
That chute looks smooth….
….July 22nd faceshot
Mid toilet bowl…..
Done skiing for the day!
July 23rd, 2011:
After little convincing, dblatto and S.P.C battled the mosquito clan to rally from Woods Lake to Roundtop.
We are such great friends…skiing just does that to people.
S.P.C is a mountaineer….
Dblatto does some stretching below the Moon Crescent ascent…
666 takes a nap…
We headed up the looker’s left line…
S.P.C wished he had my crampons…
They definitely help..haha
Come on boys!
From the Summit, some nice views…
You can see a lot from 10,000 feet near Lake Tahoe….
‘Hey look, someone brought up my skis!’
Dblatto goes for a ski….
He survived and met up with S.P.C who didn’t wait for my camera…
I might as well give it a go…
Gosh, this is fun…
Next, we traversed over to the Sisters….the view from behind to the South.
S.P.C hates hiking…
…but is a handsome ski model, so he has no choice.
Backside of Kirkwood is shown….
S.P.C takes some SuperG turns….
…on better than expected snow
Dblatto thinks we are at NASTAR…
…and skis down a corn field.
S.P.C continues his descent….
I went down a sliver….why not?
Interesting snowpack….
Dblatto heads down to Roundtop Lake…
…he even made turns…
Definitely and East Coast style….
S.P.C sprayin’…
Leroy, lets do this…
Success!
Time to check out the glissading down to the car…
Tele-glissade is SO hot right now…
Planking on a plank….
‘you do know that will dehydrate you?’
July 24th, 2011:
Back to Sisters with a mission…first up was the corn
then a traverse….
across a bowl…
to transition into spikes that attach to my Tecnicas.
I think this will do….
Powdork showed up to yell obscenities at me from across the valley…
Yippie…skiing.
It was DEEP!
Another traverse to the left yielded another line…
…such a fun walk…
So fresh and so clean….
Did I mention ‘better than expected?’
I left my signature…
…this one is just my pee trail.
Powdork and friends skiing down to Winnemucca Lake….
Time to cross this thing…
666 needed his Comis…
Rinsed…
Kirkwood, CA – July 24th, 2011 @ 2pm
…Good Times!
Wondrous Weekend of duh WINNING – 03/06/11
You all remember Charlie Sheen week right?
Date:
March 4th-11th, 2011
Locations: Kirkwood sidecountry, Hall of the Gods (Fallen Leaf BC), in-bounds Kirkwood, and Florida?
Hall of the Gods…
Kirkwood…
Florida…
Weather: Sun, snow, clouds…something like this if you average it out….
Riders:
Skier666, Powdork, Skiin’ Ian, gimpy, Sierra Cement, S.P.C., Steven S Dallas, Mild Bill, Abominable Snowman, Boston Aaron (sp)
Cameramen:
666, SSD, Sierra Cement
POV VIDEO – Wondrous Weekend of Winning…
Wondrous Slay Weekend of WINNING! – 03/07/11 from skier666 on Vimeo.
Music: Bon Jovi – ‘You give love a bad name’ Mater Suspiria Vision (Zombie Rave Remix)
Synopsis:
My wife and kid flew out to Florida to meet up with the in-laws, so I did what any reasonable father would do….ski as much as humanly possible. This is a story about skiing throughout the sidecountry of Kirkwood, the chutes of the Hall of the Gods, a sleeper pow day at Kirkwood, and a quick trip to gator and flamingo country
It was also the week of Charlie Sheen. Let us never forget. Duh…WINNER! No warlocks or Trolls in this TR…
Java Porn: Mmmmmmm…3 days of 7-Eleven’s finest!
March 4th, 2011:
I departed San Francisco a tad late with a 6am departure…
But made good time into the foothills where I stopped to take a picture of the Earth
But I arrived to ski the Spur untracked…
666 makes a few turns….
As luck would have it, Powdork had the same idea….
It was horrible…
He had to cross too many tracks…
Untracked schmears are boring…
Powdork enjoying his run….
Here, he descends down the mogul course…
666 skis through the sierra cement….
666 then takes a couple laps in bounds….Norm’s Nose:
Oops EP…..
A meet up with Skiin’ Ian led to a tour near Cali Chutes….
I made a pee, phone call, and drank a Red Bull here…
To the Southwest
To the Southeast…
We decided to ski the Headwall prior to Cali Chutes….
Skiin’ Ian leaves some room for the 6’er…..
Man, it was good….
So good, it warranted noodling….
My POV….
The damage….
Time to hike over to Pipeline….
It was good in there too…
Skiin’ Ian enjoys the sport of skiing….
666 had fun in the powder…
The zone is that rocky bit in the distance…
Near Lake Tahoe, winter had her grip on the boating community…
March 5th, 2011:
‘Act as a leaf and fall into this lake, and pow turns will be had’ – a wise man once said…..
Sierra Cement, Gimpy and I head up while contemplating a hotwire….
The journey was mixed with ice, sugar snow, and sweat…
Up and up we go….
We approach some gnar….
Sierra Cement thinking about….yep…donuts.
Our first line encompassed Main Halls with no tracks….
666 went down a tad to take a few photos…
Not too ‘slabby’…
Gimpy provides avalanche testing…
Sierra Cement getting hella extreme…
666 approaches the choke…
From his point of view….
…and continues onward….
Sierra Cement goes next but refuses to stop….
Do you blame him?
Gimpy follows suit…
And exits out of the bottom…
666 survives as well….thank god it’s a blue run.
Another round?
Desolation Wilderness looking phat….
I believe this is :Lake Tahoe but I could be very wrong….
A very very very large cliff looking down towards death…
Our previous line…
On the Angora side, we take a few turns before heading to the Fallen Angel area….
Sierra Cement knows what to do…
Gimpy loves to ski as well…
666 descends a boring pow face….
Needs more ice for carving…..
Near Fallen angel, Sierra Cement takes a GS line….
A little variable in here, but all around great fun…
Gimpy enjoyed himself…how do I know? He gave me a hug at the bottom.
Later that afternoon, I headed out to KW to witness MildBill making a turn into Once in Enough…
Success…
After all the hiking earlier in the day and being a bit bored with steep skiing, I decided to take a nap on top of hospital air…
Steven S Dallas flames through Sisters Chute…
…even busted out a wall slash!
Guess the meat…
March 6th, 2011:
It wouldn’t be a skiing day in 2011 without driving on snow…
At the parking lot, the 4-6 inches looks more like 14 inches….
Open before 9am? No WAY!!!!!!!
MildBill ollies into Upper Cham….
666 takes the easy way in….
Not only is he sexy in pink, SSD is actually a damn fine skier…
mmmm….powder skiing….
That’ right, get after it boy!
Fun times…
Sleeper pow is always fun….
Damn snow….
Lower-outer-Palisades…
That damn snow again…
Thunder Saddle opened, so time to jump off stuff…(opposite of Kodak)
And a little ‘one man chute’ I believe…(near Soul Searcher/Tremans)
One last run off the side of Oops and lower Cham…
March 9th, 2011:
And then a couple days later, its off to Naples, Florida! Wahoooo!
Gator country…
…and beach camo-lizards
and white sandy beaches….
Hop came along but he’s underwater taking pics of that thing…
Some golf happened…
March 14th, 2011:
And an early Monday morning direct flight to SFO across alligator alley…
Flew over the San Juans where the Red Bull Cold Rush 2011 was happening…(you can see Telluride in the photo)
…and of course, the Central Sierra
…and it continues to snow at time of publishing…
Mission to Moon Crescent & Slushgnar @ Kirkwood – 01/16/11
ZE HEAT ZE HEAT!
Date:
January 15-16th, 2011
Location(s): Round Top, California
&
Kirkwood Meadows Slushgnarows
Weather:
Bluebird…no wind…like skiing in temps as if you were skiing San Francisco in the sunny season (now)…
Riders:
Skier666, S.P.C, JMetzler, Gerome, Dhelihiker, Unpossible, Skimoore (what?)
Cameramen:
666, JMetzler, Unpossible, Gerome
POV VIDEO – MOOOOOOOON…
Mission to Moon Crescent & Slushgnar @ Kirkwood – 01/16/11 from skier666 on Vimeo.
Music: Loadstar – ‘Link to the Past’
Synopsis:
With reports coming in that it rained to extremely high elevations just a day prior, and with two days to do whatever we wanted, we figured we should attempt to ski something above 10,000 ft. That’s where Round Top came into play. Unfortunately, only the upper 3rd of the Moon Crescent had wintry snow.
After a morning of hiking, we zipped over to Kirkwood, where sun, beers, and softening snow blew our minds. The next day followed suit.
Java Porn: Lines are getting out of control at the South Lake Starbucks, so sometimes you have to go old school…
Trip to the Moon!:
What a better way to spend a Friday night than driving to the snow…
A little fossil fuel cam…
Not really a dawn patrol, not really an Alpine start…but cool nonetheless…
It may be warm, but there’s still some snow hanging around…
I think the coffee is wearing thin…
Now if they would only plow our skin track…
Its not really that far is it??????
S.P.C is killing it on his first skin ascent…
Our line comes into view…unlike the way it did in the last photo…
S.P.C reconsidering his late night skin cutting session…or should I say ‘early morning skin cutting session?’….
Skier666 heads up to check the snow conditions at the bottom of the chute to decide to hike around or up the damn thing. Yes, we walked around…
This was as close as ‘powder’ we got….
Up and around the bend, its time for a push to the summit…
Yippie! Ice, scree, and sheer drops to the South!
S.P.C decided that this was scenic and all but a little too sketchball…
JMetzler makes the push…
False summit 2011…
WE MADE IT! SO ski mountainery of us!
Oooooo pretty pictures…..to the Southwest
To the South…
I should have gone to art school…
A lake…
The Moon Crescent from the summit…JMetzler decided it wasn’t the best line to try out his new Dynafit setup, so I jumped in…
Looks so incredibly fun!
Not so fun…
This is better….WINTER SNOW!
Ok, time to do some skiing…
Doesn’t look so bad from here….
JMetzler rips down the corduroy….
S.P.C finds a ribbon of GREATNESS back towards the car…
SUCCESS!
Off to Kirkwood. Might as well hit the Extreme Traverse…just don’t trip.
Above Ski School skied well…
Same for Sisters Chute…
Nice afternoon looking West…
Back at Bub’s….Irony set in…
The next morning, Skimoore carves down Norm’s Nose…
I ollied his markings…
And then we are off to a hidden stash…
S.P.C. heads downhill…
JMetzler finds a SECRET chute…
I think it goes…
Skimoore came from Paris just for this run…
S.P.C is the next customer…
bye bye…
666 goes for it…
West Shore was looking prime for wetslide activity, I think not hitting freezing the night before played a role in that one….
Temple of Doom tried to swallow Skimoore but failed to do so…
He then migrated to Hells….
We soon met up with Gerome and crew on Chamois…
A run over to the Fingers…
Gerome rolls into Once…my little camera fails to focus…
Down here?
666 follows the big monkey…
Good times…
Its not really 50F at the 8,000 ft is it?
…Even colder at 500 feet…
Cows were stoked…
But cleared up on a bridge over the Bay…
And I thought Moon Crescent was narrow…
We actually skipped SF and made it to China…yet, in record time.
And I had another birthday…yep, I’m 12!
see ya’
Foreclosure Upon Winter By Summer, in CA – 05/31/10
TR: Foreclosure Upon Winter By Summer, in CA – 05/31/10
RIDICULOUS 2010!
(Below: Kirkwood ‘The Wall’ – Monday May 31st, 2010)
Date:
May 28-31st, 2010
Location: Obscure Reference gets a few early morning KT-22 pow turns in at Squaw, then we hit another backcountry trip to Hall of the Gods above Fallen Leaf Lake. Finally, Slim and I visit a ski ghost town called Kirkwood.
Squaw Valley USA of California Sierra Nevada Mountain Range
Hallzzzzz……………
Kirkwood, CA (Yes, this pic is from two days ago….)
Weather: Sunny. 55F. Some cloud on Monday.
Skiers:
Skier666, Obscure Reference, Slim, mogul5480….
Cameramen:
666, Obscure Reference, & Slim
POV VIDEO – Not too bad for almost June….
Foreclosure Upon Winter By Summer, in CA – 05/31/10 from skier666 on Vimeo.
Music: Moderat – "Rusty Nails"
Synopsis:
It snowed Thursday night and dropped up to 18 inches of snow in places. A few soldiers managed to get out on the hills Friday morning to session the rare hi-quality powder. By Friday afternoon, most Tahoe slopes were quickly approaching the Spring texture. Saturday, a 4:30am wake-up call leads us to the Hall of the Gods to ski some classic chutes. Finally, after relaxing on Sunday, it was time for Slim and I to take a Spur and a Wall lap at Kirkwood.
Java Porn: 7-Eleven….American as apple pie
How about getting down to business…:
The weather was busy mid-week…according the visible satellite image:
The Infrared shows trajectory towards Tahoe….
Radar shows precipitation…
Maycember in the Bay….
Meanwhile, Obscure sends me an image from Tahoe…
Friday morning, Obscure decides to hike up KT at Squaw….looks shitty to me.
His buddy gets attacked by powwwwwder….
Almost June on West Face????
The storm starts to deteriorate as I make my way to the mountains…
Above Strawberry, Winter shows his glory…
Saturday morning, Obscure begins his day of skiing…
Yes, around that massive rock is Disneyland….
As usual, Slim was in a bad mood….he hates skiing.
Why we love ‘Da Hallz’….
At this point the sun finally warms up my bald head…
‘Almost there buddy!’
I believe that these are a series of high mountain lakes…
Obscure wanted this shot…
…so we did it twice…
Is that powder?
January or almost June?
Got plans to hike into Desolation Wildness in your favorite flip-flops? Think again.
Sunnyside up toward Echo Peak…
O M F G!
Obscure’s line choice….too many tracks for me.
Obscure begins his descent…
I like this one…
Watch for the slough…
Slim skiing…
Snow getting variable…
Obscure went ice skating…
Foreclosure is happening…
Main Halls….left zone schralped the day prior
Obscure is ready….
Oh Boy…
Boring…
Yuck….its only almost June…
666 was there…
Much better conditions this time around…
Time to open it up…
A turn….
Aggressive….
Alpine….
Skiing!
My favorite photo…
Meh…
P-O-W-D-E-R!
Turn by a rock….
666 eyes the lakes….
Weeeee!
Fun!
Carvelicious!
This is a waterfall falling near a lake…
Ok, now just make a left turn around that island….
Its 8pm….Hall of the Gods just to the left of Tallac…
One too many? I’m starting to see things on the Lake….
Its Monday, time to ski Kirkwood…but first a view of Red Lake.
Moon Crescent….
I think there’s still snow at Kirkwood…
Slim makes an early morning hike….
Yep, he’s a 9 foot tall scary human being…
‘Wall’ – May 31st, 2010…
Slim ate a highlighter for breakfast…
This guy?
Slim on the Spur…
Slim on lower Spur…
666 on upper Spur…
666 on lower Spur…
….contimued…
Time to run up the Wall…
Made it….
Top of the skier’s left Cirque?
Too soft and too dangerous at 10am…
….and meanwhile in New Zealand (photo: Miles Holden)
BYE BYE
Hall Pass to Halls & Ablaze at Alpine Ghettos, CA – 05/15/10
WOOT! STILL FUN SKIING!
Date:
May 15th, 2010
Location: Hall of the Gods above Fallen Leaf Lake, and a visit to Alpine Ghettos, or Meadows, or Shreadows, or Shralpine Mellows…..I give up.
Fun area eh?
Oooooooh, new sign!
Weather: Sunny. 34F at 5am, 64 F at 2pm
Skiers:
Skier666, hop, Obscure Reference, Vets, Dookey67, Unpossible, SchralphMacchio, Corky, Snowranger, The Frush, and many more….
Cameramen:
666, hop, and Obscure Reference
POV VIDEO – Its a little high, but it does the job….
Music: TRG – Broken Heart [Martyn DCM RMX]
Synopsis:
Hop and I are granted a 17:19 hall pass to do some skiing. We depart SF at 8:11pm Friday night, sleep a few hours, ski until 2pm, and arrive back in SF at 5:30pm. We did a dawn patrol on Halls from Fallen Leaf around 6,500 ft to top of Halls around 8,800 ft, and then ran over to Alpine to shred some slush. Good day.
Java Porn: TR created by an Apple flat white…(this new app is great)
TR Begins Now:
Hop’s Maserati is fast….which was good because our alarms were set for 4:30am.
The road is plowed to the trail-head parking lot, thus saving time on the ascent. Lots of snow for Mid-May at 6500 ft.
This is a river of snowmelt….
Here, 666 punches through the snowpack into the black abyss….Obscure is there to poke fun….
Yep, still early…
Hurry up….
Hmmm….does 666 really want to ski that chute?
Obscure should have used pole straps…
Yep, 666 eyes his bulletproof line…
Frozen sketchfest. Helmets on!
We made it. Hop was so excited!
The options….
Proof 666 was there…
Nice view of the Pacific Ocean…
Obscure was really nervous on the ascent, so I comforted him at the summit….
666′s line-choice (see POV vid)
Obscure jumps out of the gate…
Finds perfect fields of corn….
Hop gets viewtastic…
Smooooth…..
Aggressive Alpine Skier….
Hop can Alpine as well….
Did someone say Bode Miller? I sure didn’t.
666 appears out of the dark shadows with sounds of nails on a chalkboard….
Recent east facing wet slide debris…
Hop is still skiing….
Obscure finds a line….
So cute that these guys got along….
Obscure carvin’….
Hop lovin’…..
Hop goes through a forest to earn a few more turns…
…like this…
Mr. Baby Head does the same…
Obscure finds a groomer…
666 wants to ski to the car….
Obscure descends as far as possible…
‘Hurry up, we need to head to the Ghettos!’
Headed towards Fallen Leaf from trailhead….
View of the area where we had a fun play date…
Refreshing….
Summer season is approaching fast….
So are the chemtrails….
We made it to Alpine. It is rather warm, snow rather soft. Decked out in Kiwi gear for my Southern Hemisphere entrepreneurs.
Kingswoods on Keyhole? Why not?
Looking South….
Hop back on some rockered K2′s based on Seth Morrison’s needs…
Some guy on a snowboard was dressed and drunk as a Dodger….
This is a tree with a view…
Hop still managed to have a good time…
OMG, no comment….
Dookey67 finds a nice pitch….
Hop goes hella’ tele-mode….
Corky slayin’….
Vets made an appearance….
666 on Pete’s Peril….
Hop and I brought some gear for one day of skiing….
Heh….to think now THIS place is closed!
Where can we get food on the way home? Hmmmm….
Success! Back to winter in SF (truth be told, it was colder in SF than Tahoe on this day)
B
Y
E
BYE
Persistent Wicked Winter of the West – 05/01/10
MORE SNOW?
…it keeps going…and going….
Date:
April 30th & May 1st, 2010
Locations: Both in California, USA
The
Carson Spur just beyond the Kirkwood boundary….
AND…Hall of the Gods above Fallen Leaf Lake
Weather: Clouds to full bluebird….
Skiers:
Skier666 and Powdork
Cameramen:
666 and Powdork
POV VIDEO – Its a little high, but it does the job….
Powdork’s POV:
Music: Ed Rush & Optical – ‘Medicine’
Synopsis:
It continues to snow. Another 12" plus of snow has fallen yet again up around the Tahoe area. Powdork and I decided to do some car shuttle laps on the Carson Spur instead of heading to Squaw. Actually, we lucked out, as the Palisades were ripped by the dreaded East Wind. Lap after lap, we enjoyed the variable snow while getting much needed vitamin D.
The following day, we headed out to the Fallen Leaf backcountry to session a lap in the Hall of the Gods area. Good times down a steep chute and open bowl back down to the car.
Java Porn: TR created by a large Peets filtered coffee….
TR Begins Now:
Good first sign just after 6AM nearing Luther Pass…
Our playground for the day…
Time to for uphill travel…
Someone is pointing to something…
666 goes for it….
Powdork does his thing….
666 takes a turn…
Powdork decides to go massively massive…
…into a nice tree zone of fluff…
666 goes for deepness….
Powdork lines up another air…
Into a sweet pow field…
After hiking back up…666 takes some air….
666 shows his skiing style…
…and his tele-turn…..
On the next lap…we headed over to the way looker’s right zone…
…it was pretty good I guess….
….but did Powdork like it?
Powdork enjoyed himself…
I think he did….
Yep, I’m pretty sure he did…
Meanwhile 666 was just skiing powder…
…but while taking pics of powdork, he got dragged to here…
But then had to launch out with one pole and one glove…
Not the best form, but it’ll do….
Over to the Spur proper….
Powdork leaps for joy…
666 finds some fresh pow pow…
Powdork down the funnel…
Jumps again…
And then takes a very nice left turn….
666 goes waterskiing….
The Final lap….its getting warmer!!!!!
It sure is hot in here….
666 airs…says ‘why not?’…
On the last turn, Powdork managed to find some decent snow…
If you look closely, you’ll see our slayage…
DAY 2: Fallen Leaf Lake backcountry
We then decided to run up to Hall of the Gods on Saturday morning for a little exercise.
Good morning Mr. Fallen Leaf…
Good morning Mr. Tallac sir and friends….
Why don’t we skin up there?
My moon, oh glorious moon….
Ahhhhhh……L A K E * T A H O E
Lets go up Elly Mae!
Fallen Angel comes into view…
A Desolate land?
Elevation = gained!
What’s above Angora Lakes you say?
Destination?
Well, to make a long story short, as we got to the peak, and tried to enter the chute where I did last time (years ago), the snow level was just a tad too low to enter safely. We would have had to slide down 15 feet of granite with the hopes of hitting soft snow and not tumbling down the chute looker’s left of the chute shown with tracks. Therefore, we skinned up around the corner and in my schedule, I had to bolt down the Main Halls and jump into the car. I forgot to even take a photo of my descent…yes, even skier666 forgets to take photos.
Thank you!
Slaying Spring Dragons on Winter’s Tail – 03/21/10
Date:
March 19-21st, 2010
Location: Squaw, Sierra at Tahoe backcountry, & Kirkwood sidecountry
Weather: Summer conditions Friday through Saturday with more springlike temps on Sunday.
Skiers & the splitboarder:
666, Slim, Zippy, MildBill, Squaw Kid & Bcrider
Camerawomen:
666, Zippy, Dblatto with one iPhone shot & Bcrider
POV VIDEO – POV inlcudes every type of snow imaginable, including winter snow in 60F temps.
Music: Instra:mental – No Future (Skream Remix)
Synopsis:
After some decent storms 2 weeks ago, the weather decided to warm up and hit close to 60F in the mountains. Squaw was pretty frozen, except for the usual sunny areas, but we seemed to find some winter snow in the backcountry of Sierra (Sayles Canyon) and Kirkwood (Thunderbowl & Spur). Bottom line, it was a damn fine weekend given the conditions.
Coffee Influence:
Non-fat Iced Latte mastered by Lola
Round One!: Squaw Valley World Resort
First a little waxing session by our Tahoe dog, Skittles (he’s on Facebook btw)
Extreme driving….
Zippy hits up the Olympic Lady groomers….
666 follows suit…
Zippy eats some Funnel….
Shirley Chutes….
Squaw’s highest point….
Maybe we should descend….
Sunny steeps…
Zippy finds a line…as usual…
Zippy makes his first turn 1000 feet below….
Zippy searches for rad silver in Silverado…
666 follows suit…
Squaw kid met us for a few laps…
Snow snakes exist in Broken Arrow….
Zippy finds a slot…
666 gets sloppy seconds….
Beer exists here…
West Shore wonders…
Scenic South Shore…
Zippy and I end the night with a romantic dinner and some grappa…
Sierra Ski Ranch:
So, we’re going to skin from where?
Bcrider starts by skinning through a mossy forest…
The evil clearing…
What are these things?
The first zone (keyhole) just up ahead…..
Bcrider is ready for slayage with no other humans around…
He drops in…
Bcrider rides…
666 takes a turn…
And found some nice winter snow…
666 enjoys the descent…
Bcrider slays pow….
…and then makes a turn…
…and finally, discovers a frozen field of furor…
666 finds a winter zone…
Time to head to the next area…
Uphill it is….
Meanwhile in the Kirkwood sidecountry, MildBill descends down CA Chute…
WE MADE IT!
I think this zone will do…
666 heads downhill…
And finds a chute…
CORN…
HARVEST!
Bcrider plays pinball…
…scored well…
…and earned an extra credit!
Smooooooooth snow….
Pillows of corn…
666 gets one more turn….
After a long slug, Bcrider appears out of the forest…
And hits a groomer!
The sixer is pooped after his tasty beer…
KIRKWOOD KIRKWODD KIRKWOOD!
That’s right race stock GS boards were the call for most of the day….
MildBill lurches into Ski School…
MildBill forced us…er Slim….to ski Thunderbowl….
It was winterized!
Slim enjoyed himself….
dAfter a quick skin to Martin Point, our zone came into view…
California…
MildBill down the gut of the Spur…
A house attacked by El Nino….
Another successful day….
Time for an incredibly late lunch at 88 Burger…
MildBill sat down and broke this house…
Bye
B
Y
E
Sensational Steep Skiing in Sunny Tahoe, California (KW, SQUAW, BC) – 02/16/10
Date:
February 11th-16th, 2010
Location: CALIFORNIA – a well run state
Weather: GLORIOUS SUNSHINE……and a few clouds.
Skiers:
Skier666, Zippy, Frush, CS, Jrosen32, Zippys buddy in a yellow coat
Photo Journalists:
666 and Zippy (with a brand new camera!!!!!)
POV VIDEO – View from my helmet on Thursday and Friday at Kirkwood.
Music: Jubei & Tyrone – ‘Tremor’
Synopsis:
Ski Kirkwood for 4 days straight, one with the little guy, a day at SQUAW VALLEY EARTH, and end with a ski tour with Zippy up the Moon Crescent off of Roundtop.
FIGHT!:
The storms never materialized over South San Francisco….
…but Carson Pass was showing nipple deep of new
Heavenly’s ‘Gunbarrel’
Groomers were immaculate….
How about some slackcountry?
The Frush came to pick up his season pass…
…and to hit the Diagonal Chute (which I believe is Broadway)
We decide to go BEYOND THE GATES!!!!!
Yep…on our way to CALI CHUTES…
The Frush gets some….well….fresh.
Temple of Doom meets Frush…
This guy had my scent…
DAY DOS!
…OMG…CS!
Zippy found some cold smoke in the lower Cirque…
Off to West Shore….
Zippy takes the first turn…
666 takes the second….
CS takes the 3rd…
Zippy takes the 4th…
CS had a good time…
Our little playground…
Zippy in the ice fall of Doomland..
666 searches for ice for his Dewars…
666 in Hells……
Zippy in Hells as wells’….
666 gets aggressive…
Zippy is an eagle…
666 follows his turd tracks….
Heh….same run…just lower on the mountain…
‘Once’ a day for Zippy…
Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!
Here, we found out that CS telemarks….if only we knew….
Zippy takes off above Ski School…
666 airs opposite of the CAVE….
ANOTHER DAY OF SUNSHINE!
The next day….JROSEN32 skiing….somewhere
Again…turnin’ back time indeed….
After daily boot alterations, Mrs.666 slays the groomers…..
First day on proper boots and bindings, the little guy gets pumped with his favorite drink….
His schmear is coming along….not bad for 19 months.
YAY….SQUAW!!!!!
Maybe it should be called ‘Heavenly?’
An aerial tramway goes over this….just like Europe!
Did it freeze last night? ‘Nope.’ Then let’s ski KT first thing….why not? Zippy entertains…
His brother gets creative…
Jrosen32 looking hella xTreme on the Palisades….
And so he airs over ‘Extra’…..
…little bro follows older bro….
A lap of Granite Chief….yeah…really….what? You can’t tell?
Silverado? Why not?
Light Towers? Horrid snow….
Zippy’s buddy airs onto firm in Chronic II….
Zippy does the same…
Zippy picking the Nose….
…finds what he was looking for…
THE FINAL DAY!
Token ‘we’re going backcountry skiing’ shot….
I think you can guess….
Binding POV…its the future
Zippy listening to hip hop….
Zippy listening to trance…
Zippy listening to metal…
666 listening to dnb….yep…I won.
Summit reached…we’re so rad.
Looking to the South…
…and to the Northern view of the Pacific Ocean…
Did I mention that the snow was horrendous on the way up?
