We spent this last weekend at the cabin with Andi and her boyfriend Jeffrey, battling our way up to the mountains on Friday night on the tail of the first of a few storms to whip through northern California. We skied Sunday at Bear Valley on about three or four feet of fresh powder, some spots waist deep through the trees. We both took Monday off work to ski at Kirkwood and scored probably the best powder I’ve ever skied in California. During the morning all we could hear was the ski patrol blasting the bowls and chutes after the resort received a whopping 11.5 feet (3.5 metres) of snow in three days. Eagle Bowl was closed until around 11:30am, as was the mountain’s backside, Chair Three and Chair Four. We waited like competitors at the starting line of a border cross competition for the backside to open, managed to get on the second chair up Chair Four for the day and skied top to bottom for two runs completely untracked, thigh-deep powder. The stuff that ski bums’ dreams are made of… I never thought I’d say this, but it was almost too deep! Some shots below of the cabin in Arnold, Bear Valley, and the scenery at Kirkwood.
The Tacoma after a few inches on Friday night
Lakemont Pines Lake on Saturday morning
Lakemont Pines Lake on Saturday morning
Lakemont Pines Lake on Saturday morning
On our way up the chairlift at Bear Valley on Saturday
Bear Valley powder in the trees
Speed check in some deep Bear Valley powder
Waist-deep tracks coming out of the trees at Bear Valley
The back side of Kirkwood (Glove Rock to the left and Thimble Peak to the right) with Silver Lake in the valley
The back side of Kirkwood’s Glove Rock with Silver Lake in the valley