Tahoe

[kimchi]

@jkor what's your group dynamic and you able to possibly break off? Wasn't planning on riding but with the storm I'm low key tempted to play hooky Thursday and cruise up for some turns. Might have to take a couple morning meetings in the lift line or from the car lol.

[jkor]

@kimchi They're all very solid skiers but honestly Thurs AM is probably going to be a shitshow. There's 20+ of us, the majority coming from sea level, and they're probably going to want to stick together somehow. I might be able to break off around lunch or in the afternoon but the morning isn't likely unless they sleep in on a powder day (this has happened though).

Most are at the Everline, so I'm going to advocate we get in the Resort Chair line by like 8:30-8:45. We'll see.

[kimchi]

Got it. I may be a game time decision, work may be heating up and I might need to put out some fires tomorrow. I'll DM you my number, feel free to text for beta. Looks like decent SW wind gusts tomorrow, at least in the morning.

Probably too difficult with that large a crew, but I'd drift over to the Alpine side at least in the morning. More trees, and Lakeview in particular should be dope. Trees + peak protection from winds.

If you stay on the OV side, and especially if most folks are staying at the Everline, hammer that Resort Chair + Red Dog + Far East zone in the morning. Trees should protect against wind (the lift ride up might suck). Depending on upper mountain terrain opening I'd try to get the goods on Broken Arrow, that zone is dope and should be well wind protected. In a position to catch good wind drifts too.

[bboytommy]

20+ of you!? Whoa, that's a crew!!! Love to hear it.

[Alkasquawlik]

Any of you other AZNs going to the Boreal Stir-Fry event at the end of March?

[kimchi]

Any of you other AZNs going to the Boreal Stir-Fry event at the end of March?

I'm the fence. Tommy and I were just chatting about this. I went last year to the community day, Tommy's been past couple years.

Vibe was a little cliquey. Not that they're actively trying to exclude anyone, but bunch of those folks either already know each other or have already been hanging out during the invite-only days. And there isn't really mechanisms for folks getting to know each other, just cruising around the hill with a bunch of Asians around... and it's California so not like seeing that many Asians is that remarkable lol.

From what I saw, the social aspect was mostly raffles and giveaways... except I ride seldom enough that I'd rather go ride than wait around for an hour for a 0.5% I win a tshirt or free board I don't need.

Probably if I didn't have a young infant at home and on day trip duty, maybe I could have made after-event drinks and gotten to know folks mostly. But mostly I ended up riding with Tommy, chatting up with a couple of his friends, and then watching Miles Fallon rip around from a distance.

I might still go just for the cheap lift ticket or chance to link up with some friends who are on non-Ikon passes.

[kimchi]

Posting from the lift at Palisades. Shockingly the Sunday of the FIS ski race is a great day to ride. Longest lift line I’ve waited for on this side of the mountain is maybe 2 min (as a single, maybe 5 for a group on Sibo or Belmont). Better than a typical Sunday even.

I headed over to Alpine thinking I’d be clever and avoid the race crowds, but apparently lots of people had same idea. 5-10 min lines for all the good chairs and a lot of traffic in the lower funnel zones. OV side is where it’s at. The parking lot is packed but seems to be race dweebs and their entourage / spectators.

Decent coverage, slushy. Just soft enough to be fun and just slushy enough that the kooks are calling it early. Good day.

[kimchi]

Also to discussion earlier, I overall definitely prefer OV side to Alpine. It’s a little more disjointed with so many different peaks and zones but I just understand the rhythm of this side better. I know exactly what lines I want to hit and I know the rhythms enough to avoid crowds.

Vibes are higher and chiller on the Alpine side and they have the edge on groomers, but I just like the terrain, sidehits, and optionality better on OV side.

[bboytommy]

haha, sounds like we all prefer the side we spend more time on. with the exception of that flat zone at the bottom of tree line cirque, Alpine flows so much better IMO.

[kimchi]

haha, sounds like we all prefer the side we spend more time on. with the exception of that flat zone at the bottom of tree line cirque, Alpine flows so much better IMO.

I wonder how much colored by you having flexibility not to cruise weekends past couple seasons. I recall really liking Alpine couple seasons ago when I was unemployed and cruising a lot mid-week.

I really like the terrain at Alpine when empty, or when snow’s good and I’m traversing out onto the ridges. But on weekends, I feel like I’m constantly dodging people coming from unexpected directions because of the way the runs funnel. And because it has so much less vert than OV (and fewer cat tracks), speeding up to find space between tourists burns a third of the run.

And at least this weekend, literally every worthwhile lift was a cluster. Even on the worst non-pow days at Palisades, I can lap Wa She Shu or Resort Chair + Red Dog. Heck, KT rarely is that bad after first chair.