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this first hint of winter is about to hit NorCal

eric strt6

eric strt6

Resident Curmudgeon
Sep 8, 2001
24,214
14,875
directly above the center of the earth
tomorrows forecast :eek:

a high wind warning has been issued for the n bay coast...San Francisco and
the San Francisco peninsula coast with wind gusts 55 to 65 mph

the latest qpf forecast n of the cwa puts 24 hour totals ending friday at 2-5 inches with a few
jackpots of 6-7 inches

so 1" of rain equals 12" of snow in the Sierras so we have the potential of 7 feet of powder for the weekend:weee::weee::weee:
 
DirtMcGirk

DirtMcGirk

<b>WAY</b> Dumber than N8 (to the power of ten alm
Feb 21, 2008
6,379
1
Oz
That makes going home for the holidays sound better and better.
 
rockofullr

rockofullr

confused
Jun 11, 2009
7,342
924
East Bay, Cali
SkaredShtles said:
Well that's true. But none of it will actually be Powder&#8482;... :D
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Hate all you want there buddy but I can huck my meat safely after just a few feet of good old sierra cement. In Utah I'm still hitting hidden obstacles in waist deep champagne.

eric strt6 said:
base at Kirkwood is 7800', the top is 9800' . Kirkwood has the best powder in California.
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Good old Mammoth gets the "best" pow in Cali in my opinion. The terrain in Tahoe is better but the elevation out at Mammoth can make for some dry powder (assuming the wind doesn't blow it all off or pack it all in).

I Are Baboon said:
An Eric thread just doesn't seem complete when he doesn't post a picture of himself.
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Will you feel better if I post a random picture of me, my brother, and my cousin enjoying the pow out at Alta?

 
ICEBALL585

ICEBALL585

Bacontard
Sep 8, 2009
6,817
2,078
.:585:.
Damn all of you that have snow to ski on already.

Here in western NY, the local ski areas have just started MAKING snow this week.
 
H8R

H8R

Cranky Pants
Nov 10, 2004
13,959
35
Note:

We don't have winter here. Ever. We have spring, summer, not-summer-anymore and not-spring-yet.


It was about 75 degrees at one point today when the sun popped out.


Suck it rest of the country.
 
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H8R

H8R

Cranky Pants
Nov 10, 2004
13,959
35
rockofullr said:
Don't give me that YMMV crap. I'm trying to argue about sh!t here and if you can't hack it I might just have to argue with myself.
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Wait till Mt. Diablo gets dusted with like, .0001' of snow...
 
SkaredShtles

SkaredShtles

Michael Bolton
Sep 21, 2003
67,395
13,949
In a van.... down by the river
[video]http://store.mobilerider.com/libs/mobilerider/mobilerider.min.js[/video]
rockofullr said:
^^^

I'm gonna go build a sic kicker!

Dispelling The Rumors - a Squaw Valley ski movie - YouTube

Fingers Race Squaw Valley USA - YouTube

If you've never been in line for KT on a powder day you don't know what charging means.
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Those videos are nice and all... but *none* of that is actually powder.

;)

I did find a good representative of powder:

http://mica.mobilerider.com/tv/908/media-37047-title-Cold-Smoke-II-2010-channel-6591.html
 
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Jm_

Jm_

sled dog's bollocks
Jan 14, 2002
19,940
10,532
AK
I've skied and boarded all over NorCal.

It's predicted to RAIN in Tahoe. That is the base area of MOST resorts, and I've skied in torrential rain at a few norcal resorts. I don't know if it's supposed to rain at the base of Kirkwood, but it usually gets a little bit of a reprieve from this due to it's high base elevation. From the forecasts I've seen (brother is in SF and I still have lots of friends there, so I check it frequently), this doesn't look very good for the sierras.

I've also attempted to ski Sierra after a 5-10 foot dump. All powder. All heavy as hell. No fun to ski in. Modern skis make it better, and boards float better, but it was not fun trying to ski in that heavy stuff. I've had some fun powder days at Kirkwood where the steeps of the more popular areas like The Wall, Drain, Thunder Saddle, and others, made it far better. I remember one trip where it snowed at our house at 3200' and we went to Kirkwood the next day. Decent powder. So many of my Sierra's powder trips have been various levels of disappointing though. Don't get me wrong, I love a good steep chute on my skis, but it can be frustrating when that's the only place the powder is really "fun" and you feel like you have good control.

When I started to get out to Arizona and Colorado, my perception changed. I did a few foot-dumps in AZ as well as a 3-5 foot dump and it was everything I heard light powder could be. It didn't have to be some crazy steep chute to turn, you felt as if you were floating on "smoke", and all the other cliches they use to describe it. It was really that different.

I've yet to have a powder day here in alaska, but I hear those are good for heli skiing! Right now the ski-area in the city limits is doing manmade snow. I boarded there on Thanksgiving and they had about 1/3rd of the hill open, should be 100% by this weekend. There are a few bigger areas in Alaska, but Alyeska is our "decent" ski resort with all the stuff a ski resort should have, tram, lodging, crazy terrain, etc. It will be interesting to see how the powder is. It's so cold up here, never above freezing and usually significantly below, but it's also a maritime climate and the ski resort starts literally at about sea level.
 
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DirtMcGirk

DirtMcGirk

<b>WAY</b> Dumber than N8 (to the power of ten alm
Feb 21, 2008
6,379
1
Oz


Sadly, the only snow we have in Phoenix comes in piles about this big.
But it will get you high. Soo, sooooo high...
 
Jm_

Jm_

sled dog's bollocks
Jan 14, 2002
19,940
10,532
AK
3.5 Mo ago. Moved for my dream job, so that part is good. It's not my dream location, but it's pretty neat. I think I'd rather be in Seattle/Portland, but this has lots of cool outdoor stuff always going on, despite being cold as hell. At least I'm in the biggest city and we actually have roads. I don't think I'd make it in Fairbanks or Juneau. I gotta get a beater car though, can't drive mine on the roads in the winter, just too dangerous.

We've only gotten like 4" of snow this fall/winter though, way below average.
 
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rockofullr

rockofullr

confused
Jun 11, 2009
7,342
924
East Bay, Cali
SkaredShtles said:
Those videos are nice and all... but *none* of that is actually powder.

;)

I did find a good representative of powder:

http://mica.mobilerider.com/tv/908/media-37047-title-Cold-Smoke-II-2010-channel-6591.html
Click to expand...
Nice! Some serious blower!

Here's another video that is more your style.


Jm_ said:
I've also attempted to ski Sierra after a 5-10 foot dump. All powder. All heavy as hell. No fun to ski in. Modern skis make it better, and boards float better, but it was not fun trying to ski in that heavy stuff. I've had some fun powder days at Kirkwood where the steeps of the more popular areas like The Wall, Drain, Thunder Saddle, and others, made it far better. I remember one trip where it snowed at our house at 3200' and we went to Kirkwood the next day. Decent powder. So many of my Sierra's powder trips have been various levels of disappointing though. Don't get me wrong, I love a good steep chute on my skis, but it can be frustrating when that's the only place the powder is really "fun" and you feel like you have good control.
Click to expand...
I'll tell you the secret. Ride fast and make big a$$ turns.
 
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