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sugar bowl has great coverage on the groomed now but off-piste is already getting a little cruddy…the weekend pow is long gone and we are already back to pining for fresh snow. but at least the ice that the bowl had at the end of that dry stretch is also gone…

The bowl was sweet today. Great coverage on the groomed runs, firm all over in the morning but quickly softened up. Corn by afternoon on the exposed runs but still fluffy on top of the hardpack elsewhere. Even some of the off-trail terrain was skiable. It's amazing how well some of these slopes are holding up in these weather conditions. Might be the relative lack of wind keeping the snow put. Whatever it is I will take it.

Feb. 7 8 am…..Wind is howling on Donner Summit this morning….mountains are socked in with fog and some light snow is still falling. Minimal accumulation last night …

2009 Ski Season: Day 15

Location: Sugar Bowl
Conditions: 12+ of Sierra Cement
Date: 2/22/2009

We skied Sugar Bowl yesterday on the Bay Area Ski Bus. When we arrived at the resort at around 9:30 AM, there was about 4″ of fresh in the parking lot. This was a relief as most of the other resorts were reporting rain.

We hit a few warm up laps on Judah lift. There was fresh cement to cut up and it was fun. The Judah lift serves the terrain parks and noone was going for the fresh so I had it all to myself.

We then headed to the Jerome Hill lift for some more. The snow there was more tracked out but still fun. We took Sidewinder to the Lincoln side of the mountain and went directly to Mount Disney. The runs back there were very heavy with new snow. Some of the best skiing of the day was in a little gully off Mt Disney.

We came back to the front side to pick up a friend around 11:30. From there, we took a few laps then went back to Sidewinder. The trees off of sidewinder were untouched. We did a few laps on Christmas Tree and I found some great snow below the lift line.

Mount Lincoln was very windy up top. By this point, we were all soaked. I could literally wring water out of my gloves. Otherwise, I was dry as a bone.

There were some awesome lines to be had off of Lincoln. Very few people were there and the snow was coming down at about 2″ per hour.

A true Sierra Cement day will test your legs and your gear to the fullest. Get out there and enjoy it, and bring a pair of spare gloves.

OK. The bowl is officially tracked out….All the usual haunts off Strawberry, Fullers, and Sugar Bowl itself were pretty much done for. Still nice quality snow but no freshies to be had. If you want fresh you can still hike Crows or Judah, or head for the backcountry…..

The day started off very cold and very windy, and the slopes were rock hard. It was not a very fun morning. But we took a break in the lodge and went back out later and it had warmed up quite a bit. Once the wind died down, of course, it was too hot and we were peeling off the layers. The snow somehow survived the wind and once it softened up was quite skiable. The groomers were better, and everything that could be groomed was groomed, including Market Street and the East Face of Disney. But since hardly anyone was around, the groomers were not too bad. We ventured off trail a few times but the snow was either windblown or cruddy, so we mostly stayed on the groomed.