Slow Start to Sierra Winter
Although Grass Valley has a mild climate Wolf Creek Lodge is only an hour from very different climatic conditions in the northern Sierra. Both down hill and cross country ski areas are available around Donner Summit. During the hiking season members enjoyed hiking together on the spectacular trails in this area. We all looked forward to snow shoeing and skiing in the winter.
However, this winter was slow in coming. It has been an exceptionally dry season in the northern Sierra. Many downhill ski areas have been making snow to cover their trails. We hope that this week we have turned the corner. There has been significant snow in the last few days. Another few storms will establish a good base for cross country skiing. The downhill areas are probably now in good shape. We plan to soon find out.
Great down hill skiing today at Squaw. The recent storms provided plenty of snow cover. A limited number of lifts were open since they had to do avalanche control and get the runs ready. We skied Shirley Lake and the Mountain run. It was 26 degrees this morning but by 1:00 p.m. it was 37 degrees, which is a little too warm.
We will try the XC trails tomorrow.
The cross country skiing was great today. Trials were groomed – hard packed firm snow but no ice. No more snow in the immediate forecast so the question is “how long will this snow last?”