It started snowing hard around 4:30 p.m., thoroughly snarling traffic leaving Northstar. We spent all evening dealing with cars stuck on the road, cars in the ditch, cars putting their chains on right in the middle of the road, etc. We had about a foot of new snow by the time I left work.

I’m very impressed by how the Subaru handles the snow. Even with regular tires it didn’t slip at all driving home on snowy, icy roads.

A gluey, gluey afternoon at Northstar, with big puddles at the bottom of every lift.

Nancy did her 4:00 a.m. to noon shift to get out for some turns, and we came out to find the snow extremely sticky on every aspect. My toes got sore from jamming into the front of my boots.

At least our legs got a good workout.

I finally broke down and bought a car built in this century. We got an ‘09 Subaru Forester in Reno. It has AWD (essential in Tahoe), gets almost 30 mpg and is pretty zippy.

We got another few inches of snow, enough to make tracks, not enough to be considered a powder day.

Having a coffee in the Zephyr Lodge.

Getting out for a few turns after working a graveyard before attending a meeting at 10:00.

… another peanut.

Another Friday afternoon at Northstar. There was a chilly wind which kept most runs from softening up. Here’s Nancy looking over at Squaw Valley.

Sigh…

One more sign that you’re not at Squaw.

We got out for some turns on a warm afternoon. The runouts were pretty sticky, but the main runs were nice and soft.

Nancy came out and met me in the morning for some turns. I went home at noon to sleep, but Nancy stayed out all day.

The only hard thing about working graveyards is staying awake.

The snow load has bent our aspens to the ground, so I’m knocking the snow off to keep them from ripping out or breaking.

The rain at the house turned to snow during the night. We got about eight inches at the house and about two feet on the mountain.

Skiers have been waiting all year for a good powder day, and unfortunately it happened on a Saturday. Yesterday there were three of us waiting for Patrol to drop the rope to open the Backside. Today, there were about three hundred people by the time it opened.

It was frustrating dealing with the crowds (though not as frustrating as Squaw), and there were chairlifts breaking down as well. We still managed to get some great runs, just not as many as usual.

I skied for about three hours after graveyard, only stopping because my legs were completely soaked and I needed to get some sleep. It was raining at the bottom, but storming hard and a lot of fun up top. Nobody was out—all of my runs were all fresh tracks.

The last two days haven't produced a lot of snow, but it's so heavy that all the rock and logs are covered and you can now ski the trees top to bottom.

Nancy came out in the afternoon after working 4:00—12:00 and skied until closing. She had a great time on the Castle Peak run, getting fresh turns as the wind kept filling in her tracks.

It’s rained almost non-stop at the house for four days. The lawn is almost bare, our trail is completely melted out, and there’s a local wussy dog who doesn’t like to get his paws wet.

It’s still raining at lake level, but Nancy came out early to meet me after a graveyard shift to check out the conditions up top. We had a fun half-day, getting fresh turns on about 6” of heavy snow.

Nancy on Rail Splitter.

We got drizzled on a little bit, but not enough to matter.

Working graveyard, watching the snow removal crew in Northstar Village.

It’s been almost all rain for the last couple of days below 7000’, but we got about an inch of slush during the night, just enough to require a clean up.

We’ve got a week of wet weather coming, so I’m using the last dry day to fill the wood bin. Haven’t skied the last couple of days—knees too sore.

Nancy drops the hammer on Stampede.

We did the Friday afternoon shuffle, and found spring-like conditions. Fun skiing.

We went out to Squaw for a blah afternoon of skiing. Same old story—thin snowpack, firmish conditions.

However, we did find some nice snow in Sun Bowl.

The Standens decided to tear themselves away from Squaw Valley for a day to come ski with us at Northstar. Rich Italiano—the skiing sensation of Mt. Rose—came along as well.

It was a beautiful day, cold enough to keep the snow dry but not cold enough to make you say, “Damn it’s cold!”

Nancy and Trish tore it up all day. When asked to describe the skiing, Nancy fell to her knees, reached both hands toward the heavens and exclaimed “It was awesome!”

The Standens tore themselves away from the beach for a few days to come up to Tahoe and get a few turns in. I met them at Squaw on a warm, windy day. The wind kept the snow from softening until the afternoon, but then it got pretty good.

Despite the recent storms, the snowpack is still meager. Mark found getting into North Bowl to be a little sketchy.

We skied a little bit of everything—Siberia, Granite, Shirley, East Face, West Face, Squaw Creek, etc. Here’s Mark finding some halfway decent snow in the Funnel.

I was not optimistic when I first got to Squaw and found Red Dog Face to be a sheet of ice, but it turned into a really good day.

After skiing until 4:00, I got a burrito in Truckee, drove to Northstar and took a nap in the back of my truck before starting a graveyard shift at 8:30.

Just doing a little skiing before work.

Another Saturday, another afternoon of traffic control. This season we haven't gotten any big crowds or storm days that clog up traffic, so the traffic control has been much easier.

I walked down to meet Nancy getting off from work for an afternoon of skiing. The Teichert gravel yard doesn’t operate in the winter, so you can walk through it to get to TTSA.

The ski areas are all claiming 4-6’ of snow from the recent storms, but down in Martis Valley there’s only 1-3”.

The temps stayed cold, so the skied-out powder was still nice and dry. We skied Northstar until 4:00—woo-hoo!

We got another foot of snow overnight. I worked an extra graveyard shift and then Nancy met me in the morning for some freshies on another snowy day.

There were a lot of locals out skiing, but we still managed to get a lot of untracked snow in the morning.

I don't know why my mustache produces such prominent stalactites, but it does.

We found a little bit of fresh snow in the afternoon on Hornet's Nest.