Last night wasn't exactly a replay of Wednesday night, but they're definitely related. My cat was giving 110%, clear, starry skies blazed overhead, and more than enough interesting Podcasts kept my mind tuned up and engaged.
It was the kind of night when everything you touched turned to Gold! After a couple of hours, I found myself thinking: "Can't this cat go any faster?" (I was running Full Stick ie Wide Open/Full Speed Ahead) When it's like that, speed becomes relative. There was nothing wrong with my cat, she hasn't "lost a step", it's just a question of perception. Last night was magic in other words!
Tonight it's "All Hands On Deck!" two more shifts than last night. We'll be investing all that extra horsepower on some major rebuilding, and a few re-contouring projects. Barring breakdowns, we should be one exquisite Mountain Saturday morning!
The next round of Winter Storms is due Sunday, though the latest AFD says there's going to be clouds and instability Saturday afternoon:
"THE HIGHLY ADVERTISED CHANGE FROM QUIET WEATHER TO VERY ACTIVE
PATTERN IS STILL ON TRACK FOR LATER IN THE WEEKEND. TODAY AND
SATURDAY WILL BE GENERALLY DRY WITH WIDESPREAD HIGH CLOUDS BOTH
DAYS. A TROF APPROACHING THE WEST COAST IS EXPECTED TO SPLIT AND
WEAKEN AS IT MOVES INTO THE SIERRA BY SATURDAY. SOME ISOLD SHOWERS
MAY FORM IN AREAS OF WEAK UPPER DIFFLUENCE AND LIFT SAT
OVER PARTS OF NERN CA AND MONO COUNTY...BUT LITTLE OR NO
MEASURABLE PRECIP OR SNOW IS EXPECTED WITH THIS SYSTEM. OTHERWISE
SOME MODEST INCREASE IN WINDS IS PROBABLE ON SATURDAY WHILE RIDGE
GUSTS GENERALLY RANGE FROM 50-60 MPH FOR THE NEXT TWO DAYS."
At this point in time, it's anybody's guess whether the MLK Crowds will come up for the Holiday Weekend, or stay home, hunker-down and watch some NFL Playoff Football, and avoid the mountains all together.
If you stay home, you'll miss the best skiing of the season...don't be dopes! Come up and enjoy our fresh-groomed slopes! Corduroy Galore! As far as the eye can see!
I can see Corduroy from my house!
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Friday, January 15, 2010
Good Times
My crew enjoyed one great shift last night! All the ingredients were on the table: New snow, cold ambient temperatures, trouble-free Grooming Fleet...even all the 2-Way Radios were working flawlessly!
The Weatherman was way off the mark, but to quibble over missing the Wind Direction, would only take away from the general good feeling spawned last night, besides the East Wind (that came despite the forecast of Mild Southerly Winds) helped to make the snow so sweet.
I even had to put on my Sunglasses for the drive home! I just doesn't get any better than this!
Well, perhaps it will get even better if the forecast for the weekend pans out.
Martin Luther King Jr is honored this weekend with a Monday Holiday, and the weather guys are saying the next round of storms will begin overnight Sunday. Two outta three days might be big, but it's also our first opportunity to guage just how strong the public's desire to ski really is this season...time will tell. I have a good feeling about Saturday and Sunday.
Monday's system will kick open the Storm Door...Big time! Weather Teasers have already been touting next week using "feet" as their buzzword. Feet would be good!
OK, I just viewed tonight's 10 o'clock News Forecast...everyone is moving the events up a day now, so now they're saying it all starts Sunday and continues for better than a week...I guess we'll "lose" the Holiday Weekend, but I expect we'll see huge crowds once the roads clear...more mid-week, more better I always say!
The Weatherman was way off the mark, but to quibble over missing the Wind Direction, would only take away from the general good feeling spawned last night, besides the East Wind (that came despite the forecast of Mild Southerly Winds) helped to make the snow so sweet.
I even had to put on my Sunglasses for the drive home! I just doesn't get any better than this!
Well, perhaps it will get even better if the forecast for the weekend pans out.
Martin Luther King Jr is honored this weekend with a Monday Holiday, and the weather guys are saying the next round of storms will begin overnight Sunday. Two outta three days might be big, but it's also our first opportunity to guage just how strong the public's desire to ski really is this season...time will tell. I have a good feeling about Saturday and Sunday.
Monday's system will kick open the Storm Door...Big time! Weather Teasers have already been touting next week using "feet" as their buzzword. Feet would be good!
OK, I just viewed tonight's 10 o'clock News Forecast...everyone is moving the events up a day now, so now they're saying it all starts Sunday and continues for better than a week...I guess we'll "lose" the Holiday Weekend, but I expect we'll see huge crowds once the roads clear...more mid-week, more better I always say!
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Done!
The "Evil Plan" worked perfectly! I made it up the hill with my new laundry stack, totally missed chain controls, unloaded the pickup, parked said pickup in the garage (for the first time since May!), and managed four hours of quality sack time!
The weatherman on the 10 o'clock news says "colder in Truckee, and the next storm might wait until Monday" now, followed by a week of storms. This just keeps getting better!
I'm fully recharged by my three day weekend, topped off with plenty of real sunshine. This morning, right after I loaded the laundry machine into the pickup, I was witness to a beautiful, whole rainbow over the freshly greened East Bay Hills, with a stunning background of patchy blue sky and mottled dark gray and vivid white cloud formations...a peak experience that made a big involuntary smile on my mug.
Shout Out PS: Thanks for checkin' in Julie! Good seeing you again, have fun in Greenland!
The weatherman on the 10 o'clock news says "colder in Truckee, and the next storm might wait until Monday" now, followed by a week of storms. This just keeps getting better!
I'm fully recharged by my three day weekend, topped off with plenty of real sunshine. This morning, right after I loaded the laundry machine into the pickup, I was witness to a beautiful, whole rainbow over the freshly greened East Bay Hills, with a stunning background of patchy blue sky and mottled dark gray and vivid white cloud formations...a peak experience that made a big involuntary smile on my mug.
Shout Out PS: Thanks for checkin' in Julie! Good seeing you again, have fun in Greenland!
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Christmas 2
Thank Heavens! It looks like my "Evil Plan" is working out fine! Christmas encores!
Winter has returned to My Mountain, even though I'm down in the Inland Valley visiting with my Mom at the Ancestral Digs. A little time to decompress after a dreary week of rain and freezing fog, and to take care of some chores that went undone before I started work in December.
With any luck at all, I'll be picking up a replacement Laundry Center to replace the Squirrel-Ravaged one from the DaveCave. Isn't craigslist wonderful?
As promised, I didn't waste too much time pouring over the Weather Pages during my weekend because the intel was available to the naked eye. Oh, I watched the KCRA News and watched the progress of the storms, and they inevitably lead me to the 'Net to check the webcam images...it's all good! You should have heard the rain pound the Ancestral Digs at about 01:30 Tuesday morning!
Back to the "Evil" plan...it's workin' like a Charm...I snuck down the hill Monday morning in time to see a little genuine sunshine before hitting the Valley Fog Deck, and early enough to miss the first little wave of rain, but late enough to avoid Sacramento's rush hour traffic. This morning, I'll procure the new-to-me craigslist laundry stack, and load the Pickup before crossing the Big Valley and heading up the hill behind the last wave of rain and snow. Threading the needle goes the old saying, I may miss chain controls if I play my cards right...and, I didn't have to wash the pickup to make it all happen. I lead a charmed life...even though I betray it sometimes like when I whine about rain on My Domain...High Ho, Ancient History now!
Now that the Storm Door has reopened, we're looking good going into Martin Luther King Jr Weekend. A cursory scan of the Reno AFD shows snow for Sunday, but the way things have been going so far this season, I don't think the snow will put the Total Kibosh on the Holiday Weekend. Hmm, I'd say the glass is Half Full again...cheers!
Winter has returned to My Mountain, even though I'm down in the Inland Valley visiting with my Mom at the Ancestral Digs. A little time to decompress after a dreary week of rain and freezing fog, and to take care of some chores that went undone before I started work in December.
With any luck at all, I'll be picking up a replacement Laundry Center to replace the Squirrel-Ravaged one from the DaveCave. Isn't craigslist wonderful?
As promised, I didn't waste too much time pouring over the Weather Pages during my weekend because the intel was available to the naked eye. Oh, I watched the KCRA News and watched the progress of the storms, and they inevitably lead me to the 'Net to check the webcam images...it's all good! You should have heard the rain pound the Ancestral Digs at about 01:30 Tuesday morning!
Back to the "Evil" plan...it's workin' like a Charm...I snuck down the hill Monday morning in time to see a little genuine sunshine before hitting the Valley Fog Deck, and early enough to miss the first little wave of rain, but late enough to avoid Sacramento's rush hour traffic. This morning, I'll procure the new-to-me craigslist laundry stack, and load the Pickup before crossing the Big Valley and heading up the hill behind the last wave of rain and snow. Threading the needle goes the old saying, I may miss chain controls if I play my cards right...and, I didn't have to wash the pickup to make it all happen. I lead a charmed life...even though I betray it sometimes like when I whine about rain on My Domain...High Ho, Ancient History now!
Now that the Storm Door has reopened, we're looking good going into Martin Luther King Jr Weekend. A cursory scan of the Reno AFD shows snow for Sunday, but the way things have been going so far this season, I don't think the snow will put the Total Kibosh on the Holiday Weekend. Hmm, I'd say the glass is Half Full again...cheers!
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Light at the End of the Tunnel
There's few things more depressing than rain on a ski hill. It's becoming like a stuck record this week. I woke up to watch the NFC Wildcard Game and passed my time in the futile fourth quarter checking the weather forecasts and AFD's. There's hope next week.
Of course, I'm doing my part...I'm taking a three day weekend to visit the Ancestral Digs, and rolling up the hill on Tuesday or Wednesday, so Chain Controls are assured! If the models and forecasts waver, I'll wash the pickup!
My crew needs a respite from the rain, mist, and drizzle on the Mountain, and from the freezing fog and black ice on the roads. Personally, I haven't seen the sun all week, though it has been shining after I go to bed.
Last night, the swing shift was pretty upbeat considering the damp conditions. They enjoyed "fast" conditions, and advised that we'd have the work orders wrapped up in no time! Looking at the glass as Half Empty, I thought: "great...another early morning, when I have to ask for a volunteer to go home early"
An hour later, I saw the first star in the sky, the lower mountain flats turned from goo into porcelain, and suddenly our work orders doubled in size as our production fell by two thirds! From bored resignation to impending doom in 60 short minutes!
On the Up-Side...the fleet and crew performed flawlessly, and Mother Nature even kicked in after sunrise and warmed things up enough to help speed the stretch run! My crew pulled the proverbial Rabbit Outta the Hat, and we held our heads high on our way home.
Look, all this rain with warm daytime temperatures has played havoc with the Snowpack. We're looking at the double whammy of hard pack and thin coverage now. Remember that all the early snowfall was of the "Champagne Powder" variety. My guys reported that the first 30 inches packed out to about eight inches!
Compounding our troubles, all this wet and warm weather has sidelined our Snowmakers all week too. Looking at the forecast for the next five days shows the clouds will be overhead most of the time. Not looking good for Snowmaking...
I'm going to enjoy this Three Day Weekend, and not give the weather any thought. See ya Wednesday! Could ya maybe do a little Snow Dance or pray or something?
Of course, I'm doing my part...I'm taking a three day weekend to visit the Ancestral Digs, and rolling up the hill on Tuesday or Wednesday, so Chain Controls are assured! If the models and forecasts waver, I'll wash the pickup!
My crew needs a respite from the rain, mist, and drizzle on the Mountain, and from the freezing fog and black ice on the roads. Personally, I haven't seen the sun all week, though it has been shining after I go to bed.
Last night, the swing shift was pretty upbeat considering the damp conditions. They enjoyed "fast" conditions, and advised that we'd have the work orders wrapped up in no time! Looking at the glass as Half Empty, I thought: "great...another early morning, when I have to ask for a volunteer to go home early"
An hour later, I saw the first star in the sky, the lower mountain flats turned from goo into porcelain, and suddenly our work orders doubled in size as our production fell by two thirds! From bored resignation to impending doom in 60 short minutes!
On the Up-Side...the fleet and crew performed flawlessly, and Mother Nature even kicked in after sunrise and warmed things up enough to help speed the stretch run! My crew pulled the proverbial Rabbit Outta the Hat, and we held our heads high on our way home.
Look, all this rain with warm daytime temperatures has played havoc with the Snowpack. We're looking at the double whammy of hard pack and thin coverage now. Remember that all the early snowfall was of the "Champagne Powder" variety. My guys reported that the first 30 inches packed out to about eight inches!
Compounding our troubles, all this wet and warm weather has sidelined our Snowmakers all week too. Looking at the forecast for the next five days shows the clouds will be overhead most of the time. Not looking good for Snowmaking...
I'm going to enjoy this Three Day Weekend, and not give the weather any thought. See ya Wednesday! Could ya maybe do a little Snow Dance or pray or something?
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