100 mile an hour winds
Posted on Nov 24, 2009 by Landon in Events, Interviews, Resorts, Reviews
Sunday was an insane day on the mountain at Meadows. A bunch of us were gathered around the fire at the Chale Ole! team house keeping warm and trying to figure out if the mountain was going to even open. We could see the gusts of wind outside and had heard the blizzard blow through during the night. They were claiming 13 inches, which on this day was an ominous sign. At 9 am we checked the report and they had only opened the magic carpet run. But the entire rest of the mountain was on lock down.
So we sat back watching the thirty-two team movie, (which is my favorite movie of the year so far) and talked about the old days of skateboarding. We reminisced about our favorite skateboard graphics from the golden era, how sick Matt Hensley was, and how we all used to wear chain wallets because of him. We talked about how day glow was cool in the later part of the 80′s when snowboarding was just gaining it’s footing, and how it’s cool again. We talked about the early Tahoe legends, like Noah Salazneck, Chris and Monty Roach, and Shaun Palmer. We cracked a few cold beverages and keep in tune with what the mountain was reporting. At 11am we got the official call. HWY 26 CLOSED. Guests to 100mph. Whiteout conditions. NO LIFTS ARE RUNNING. It’s a good day for a cocoa at home. Everyone felt let down, packed up and drive back to Portland.
The next morning I woke up and checked the report. No wind, blue bird conditions with 24″ of untracked powder. Needless to say, a few of us canceled meetings, rescheduled projects and went straight to the mountain. Bluebird freshies all morning = good times.
