Trip Reports for the "2011 Lake Tahoe 3/23-3/31 and Utah 4/2-4/8 Anyone gonna be there?" thread

We had a chance to ski with Dirk and his group Daphne and Hubert again this year.  (This time in Tahoe.)  As a bonus, we skied with Phil Pug and Trekchick and some of their friends we met on the hill.  It was a great time.

There was a ton of snow -- I think it might have been a 100 inch week.  The downside was that a lot of ski areas were partly or completely shut down for wind or avalanche controls.  But thanks to Phil and Trek we knew the secret to make the most of the conditions.

Tuesday Kevin and I skied by ourselves at Squaw.  We spent most of the day on KT-22 and Red Dog -- the upper mountain was socked in.

Here Kevin is coming off the cornice next to the top of the KT-22 chair.

Hey!  Where did that stick come from?  (And what is it marking?)

Later, taking a break in the trees under Red Dog.

Wednesday Alpine Meadows was completely closed, and most of Squaw was closed.

So we went to Northstar and spent the day skiing the new snow in the trees on the Backside.

Here's a relaxed clip of Kevin in the powder

Thursday Phil and Trekchick showed us where the more obscure (and a bit steeper) Northstar lines were.

Kevin shot some great video of Phil, Trek, and me.  Unfortunately I forgot to copy it, so it is still with him at college.

Maybe we can add it eventually.

We did a few runs with the head of the ski school -- one of the perks of skiing with Phil.  He knows everyone.

I loved Kevin's sotto voce comment.."Oh, jeez.  I can barely keep up with Phil.  Now we're in for it."  And we were.  I've never seen anyone ski powder that fast.

On the way home we went past the Squaw entrance.  I like this shot of the Olympic torch in the snow.

Kevin's reaction to the Olympic obsession at Squaw:  "It was FIFTY years ago. Get over it!"

Friday we skied with Dirk, Daphne, and Hubert at Squaw.  The upper mountain was closed, but it didn't matter.  We skied Red Dog, Exhibition/Searchlight, Olympic Lady, and at the end of the day when the lift-line died down, a run or two on KT-22.

This little snippet of trees off of Exh/Srch, circled here, was steep, deep, and almost untouched.  Nobody bothered to ski it, probably cause it was short an off a "blue" lift.

Here's a shot from inside.

I think my favorite was the steep trees directly under the Red Dog lift.  This is Daphne, Hubert, Kevin.

Later, Olympic Lady opened and we did the cornice on it... I posted some pics in the "why isn't the 2nd time less scary" thread.

Here's an over-the-shoulder blind shot from the lift.  Purty, huh?

We ended the day on KT-22.  I did not like the open slopes in the bad visibility.  I need trees!

That night we (K, me, and my wife) had dinner with D/D/H at Jakes' on the Lake.  Unfortunately P&T had to work late and couldnt join us.

The food was excellent, but the room was way, way too dark.  We had to use the decorative candles to read the menu.  And it was a bit loud, since there is no wall between the bar and the dining room.

Saturday we all skied together - Phil, Trek, Dirk, Daphne, Hubert, Kevin, me, and BSHON who happened to be in town.  (At Northstar again.)

Daphne was an amazing illustration of what the right ski can do.  In the morning she was frustrated and struggling, with a bunch of falls and general unhappiness.  At lunch she tried to demo powder skis, but the shop was sold out.

So Trek graciously loaned Daphne her DPS skis (fortunately she had her Black Pearls with her too).  That afternoon, Daphne was like a skier reborn... in fact, she may have been skiing the best of all of us.  Fast, smooth, round turns through the trees.

I was only able to get pictures when we regrouped at the road half-way down.

Here's Phil and Dirk

and Daphne, Kevin, Hubert.

Again, Kevin has some cool video, but it's with him at college, and he is busy with midterms.  Oh well.

This is where we left the train.  I hope the rest of the voyage was as much fun.

And I hope we get to ski with the Dutch delegation again next year.

Vince - thanks, glad you liked it.

Cross reference to Maui Steve's Utah photo (Dirk, Daphne, Hubert, and his friend mark from Houston).

What different weather than we had in Tahoe!

I thought skiing was a winter sport.

A movie of me coming off the cornice next to the top of the KT-22 chair at Squaw our first day there.

Ugh - where did that big up move come from?  Nice steep terrain with plenty of snow, though.

Philpug, MDF, and Trekchick in a fun little powder skiing clip on Thursday

The whole gang getting silly on the runout (Saturday)

We had a great time. Thanks for showing us the goods.

I like the way Phil hams it up in the vid of the three of us going through the powder together.  He really gets the snow flying!  You and I look "low energy" by comparison.

I think that first run under the Squaw  Red Dog lift may have been the second steepest thing we skied all day.  At the top, Dirk confidently proclaims "No warm-up required!"

And then after a few truly steep turns in the trees, Daphne says in a somewhat different tone of voice, "No warm-up required?"

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trekchick 

And.....Daphne can kick all our butts.  She rips!!

Especially when she steals your skis!

Well, I think they are very cool photos.  But I'm not exactly a disinterested judge...

oops! posted in wrong thread...