We got a few inches of new snow on a crusty base. After a few runs on Lookout, we went looking for some deeper snow.

We slid in the side of the Backdoor cat track to sneak into the White Rabbit area for some freshies. Not a poach, per se, since we didn’t cross any CLOSED signs.

The skier’s left side of White Rabbit is a big open field with lots of humps and rocks to play on.

Since no one had been in there for several days, we found some nice powder to bop around in.

We went out skiing in the rain, why I don’t know.

Oh yeah, now I remember. Today’s my birthday.

Nancy skiing upper Break-It-Out at Squaw Valley.

Mark and Steve were a little sore after skiing Squaw yesterday, so we journeyed to the mellow slopes of Northstar for some R & R.

Northstar does a “Töst” every day at 2:00 where you get a third of a glass of champagne to toast the winter gods.

Dave the Wave gave Mark and Steve comp tickets for Squaw, so we spent the day skiing excellent dry snow on the upper mountain.

We did a few runs with Don Lowder, who took us on the short hike to Mainline Pocket.

It was a bittersweet day for Dave, who was skiing Squaw for the first time since leaving to work at Northstar. After 26 years, it’s hard to let go.

I took Ryder down to the creek to try out some GPS apps on the iPhone. According to the apps, it’s a 2.3 mile walk with 420’ of gain.

Ryder is getting to be almost too old for it, especially when he goes postholing in the snow to pursue some smell. He can barely move after he gets home and lies down for awhile.

I went out to Squaw for some telemark skiing. The skiing was remarkably good, with all the steep runs (The Slot, Headwall Face, etc.) soft and smooth.

I thought KT-22 would be a sheet of ice because of the rain event last weekend, but a guy on the Headwall chair said that Chute 75 was great, at least until you get to the throat. I had to check it out.

It was great, in rare form with no bumps and a slough of soft snow in the middle. Until you got to the throat and ran into the slide rubble and ice bumps, which necessitated a traverse out to the Saddle.

It rained all yesterday morning and then froze overnight, so we were worried about how bad the skiing would be today.

We went out to Squaw, where the lower mountain was a sheet of ice. It was so bad that Ski Patrol had roped off and put “Experts Only” signs on the groomers.

However, the upper mountain had great wind buff snow. It was a little slabby until it got skied out, but then it was like skiing on soft chalk.

Here’s Nancy on Siberia Ridge and Hogsback.

After four years of drought, it’s strange seeing everything covered with snow and runs filled in from a normal snow year. A vibe of joy permeates the mountain—every chair ride is full of happy, happy skiers.

More storms ahead.

It rained all weekend, and our light fluffy snow turned into ice and crust with a couple inches on snow on top.

You had to stick to the groomers, except to take a picture to make it look a lot better than it was.

Nancy with her new glasses and a new hairdo while at work.

Another terrific powder day with nearly a foot of new snow, except today there were a lot of people out so it got cut up in a hurry.

Northstar opened the White Rabbit run, which rarely opens because it is west-facing and doesn’t hold snow.

People get excited whenever it opens because it has the allure of forbidden fruit, but the glades off of Lookout offer better skiing.

We had a great day at Northstar with untracked runs all morning. About 10” of new snow and nobody out.

I got first tracks on all my favorite lines off of Lookout, and then we took a bunch of laps in the glades, bopping and hopping through the trees.

We drove down to ski Heavenly, and I finally got to ski Gunbarrel after years of it being closed due to no snow and icy conditions.

The groomers were firm, but the off-piste was chalky winter snow.

We did laps in the Pinnacles, where the throat was thin, but excellent skiing below.

There’s enough snow on our trail for me to ski back home on cross-country skis.

Nancy and I went skiing and ran into Dave “The Wave” Pierce, who we used to work with at Squaw, and who has just started working at Northstar.

Dave was handing out Snickers bars to kids to promote wearing ski helmets.

I went to Squaw for a minor powder day while Nancy went to Northstar. Here I'm looking back at my tracks in Tower 16.

Yesterday, this whole area was nasty wind slab, the kind that grabs your edges and sends your skis every which way. I made my ugliest turns all year, fighting the slab the whole way down.

Much better today.

Mark and Nancy had a great powder day at Northstar (where Mark has a pass). It snowed all day and there were few people out, so they were skiing untracked snow all day.

I came and met them for a couple hours of skiing at Northstar after an insane day at Squaw. It was a very, very rare day of untracked powder all morning.

You have to luck into lots of freshies at Squaw. Today was the result of:

1) There was a lot more snow than anyone expected or saw in their driveways, and thus there were very few people out skiing.

2) Yesterday was icy, so everyone thought the new snow would just be dust on crust.

3) It was raining in town, but snowing on the mountain.

4) It snowed all day, and thus you couldn’t see what was untracked from the chairlift.

There was still ice underneath, but it was manageable. I had about 20 untracked runs, and on half of those I was setting off slough slides and skiing down in front of the micro-avalanches. Crazy day.

Nancy skiing Horse Trails at Squaw.

A stormy day without a lot of accumulation. There’s an ice layer under the new snow, and with the flat light it was tricky skiing. Sun Bowl was nasty, a sheet of ice with a few inches of dry snow on top, and you couldn’t see a thing.

A friend put a new toilet in their bathroom, only to discover that the door wouldn't close. Or open.

She gave it to us to put in our bathroom because our toilet was the old kind that uses a lot of water, and the new one only uses 1.2 gallons.

So now I now longer flush, I suck.

I got some cool Dynafit backcountry gear at the Truckee ski swap, so I skinned up the Hole-in-the-Ground trail to Andesite Peak to try it out. Works pretty good.

Olympic Lady was actually running at Squaw, so I took a few laps for old time’s sake. Good snow, too.

Our passes were blacked out through the holidays, so I’m getting back out after a non-week of skiing. This is the top of Oly looking down into Alpine Meadows.

We’re actually having a normal snow year after four miserable years of drought. You forget how much fun Squaw Valley is when everything is covered.