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Showing posts from December, 2020

Our ship comes in with some Xmas Pow!

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 The best day of skiing at Rose this season happened this morning. Consistent powder was providing big smiles. Even the 15 minute lift line wait was worth it. NICE! The Upper Traverse may not open till we get another decent storm as Upper Zephyr is way too bony. Golds and Climax are also at Low Tide and are still full of land mines although some folks elected to traverse in. In both instances there were severe P-tex causalities.  Sunny blue bird powder beckons and we heard the call! Thanks to all for keeping the Iron Curtain up until the Slide folks who had waited patiently for a late start were allowed to get a first good run in before the curtain dropped. Very kind on Rose's part. Thanks to Cliff, the Slide Side Supervisor for running a safe, clean and caring site. Once more the Slide Dogs show the rest of the mountain how it should be done.  Sven

Merry Christmas to all and to all a Goodnight!

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 Christmas Day at Rose was a blow out... literally with Zephyr and NW shutting down mid-morning. Riding the skid marks on Lower Bonanza I was quite happy to know it would snow tonight and cover up all the skid marks and gravel. Yes, we need it. Powder makers be morphing into Gravel Spreaders in places like Lower Bonanza. Another storm follows this one early next week so cross your fingers and hope Ma Nature feels like Santa and brings it! Merry Christmas, Happy Chaunaka and Joyful Kwanza... I think I got the bases covered... Sven

Rose Grooming is Par Excellence

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As usual Rose grooming is excellent with great coverage on the major runs that are open. Even the face runs are presenting pretty well with at least one face run usually groomed during the night and a couple of others providing fun in the bumps. Hitting almost 50 today and yesterday it was almost Spring Skiing in December with another warm day on tap tomorrow before we settle back into average day temps due to a glancing blow from a Cold Front early next week. Due to the heat Rose has not been able to make snow but with a few exceptions the skiing has been skid-mark and rock free as long one sticks to the groomers. Off-piste, well, you're probably going to find the bottom sooner or later, have you p-tex handy. The only drawback to skiing is the long wait times in the lift line. Although Rose is doing a great job at keeping folk safe and socially distanced, the con is that most chairs ride up partially empty which leads to long lines. Today Lot 2 and 3 were barely at 25% capacity an

Pandemic Powder...

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 Of course there was a lift line... especially with only a couple people per chair SOP but the pow, as always was way worth it even with the limited amount of runs open. It was shot after an couple hours unless you went BC which, now more than ever, has become my choice of terrain given the world's circumstances. There was just enough to hit up some BC as long as you stayed up high (and pay the price if you strayed too low in elevation). Enjoy the pics! Sven

The Snow Finally Cometh...

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The snows have finally returned but not a lot is expected. We might pull a foot out of this if we are lucky but that may be just enough to cover all the rocks and stumps lurking just below the surface. The good news is that Mine Train might finally open back up so we have at least two runs down the Slide Side and some of the skid marks and gravel may be better covered on the Rose side. Every flake helps for sure...  just didn't want you to think this storm would open the entire area up. That just is not going to happen considering the fact that the precip the last three months hasn't been this parched since the 70's according to Daniel Swain of Weather West. The amalgamated models for January doesn't look all that rosie precip wise either but, of course, Mother Nature will decide that... models be damned (as they often are). So look for improving conditions at Rose but only commensurate with the number of inches that nature bestows upon us in this and next week's po

Skiing Rose in a Pandemic

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Finally made the rounds at Rose to check out how the area was dealing with the pandemic. I have to say its all about controlling your expectations. We had a wonderful time but hit it first thing for some fresh groomers and took off before 10:30. Silver received high marks with excellent coverage. Next we peeled over to KC, Lakeview and ATW. All were looking good. Face runs were gated but open but I had my good skis and it just looked a little on the sketchy side. As positive as I am about first runs in the morning I would not bring brand new skis up just yet. As we were leaving some lose gravel, branches and skid marks were beginning to make themselves known in some of the more skied off and popular spots.  Only loading two singles at a time really slows the loading process down considerably. The holidays at NW will probably provide plenty of time to wait in line and BS while the line slowly moves forward. Today, the line at NW was beginning to grow every run and before long... it was

Avalanche Morality, Litigation and Responsibility

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 On 3/25/20 Tyler Dewitt and Ean Hannibal of Vail, Colorado ascended a slope on the West side of the Eisenhower Tunnel on I-70 thinking they would enjoy a pow run adjacent and uphill of the interstate and just above the tunnel entrance. What the two snowboarders got instead is criminal charges for reckless endangerment. Criminal penalties may include jail time and the paying of $168,000 in restitution to the powers that be.  You see, Dewitt and Hannibal attempted to descent a cross-loaded avalanche slope that had been loaded by the wind. The small slide they started then loaded a larger slope below them resulting in a large avalanche that buried the Loop Road above the tunnel and destroyed highway infrastructure. Any serious skier or snowboarder is going to have their take on this from the onset. My question is: where does responsibility lie? As a big fan of BC skiing I really want to side with the two boarders but on the other hand, they did choose to ski right above a busy interstate

The Weeks Ahead...

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 The boys of winter are making as much snow as temperatures allow. While work on Bonanza continues Silver and Minetrain continue to get high doses of the white stuff every night. The forecast is not looking too good for skiing this month as NOAA just came out with their monthly model predictions. Three words describe it well: "Warmer and Drier" than average. Take it with a grain of salt though as my friend Paul over at www.tahoeweatherblog.com says "In the end all the forecasts don't matter too much as Ma Nature is in charge". Go check out his site for more info on upcoming weather. In any event its nice to have Slide open at least and once Bonanza is skiable things will improve whether it snows or not. As a sidenote outdoor ice hockey has been wonderful over at Sky Tavern. Check out their page on Facebook under the site Sky Tavern Hockey for more info. They are playing 3 nights a week now! Sven