Mount Rose
Saturday 9 March 2002

Weather

Conditions

I spent a long time trying to decide where to go. I was on my own, so the trees of Alpine and Northstar were out. I decided to try somewhere new. The roads were clear, so I headed up Nevada State Route 431 to Mount Rose.

Northwest Magnum Lift	Northwest Magnum and Mount Rose
The base area and Bonanza lift

Northwest Magnum (1440) : Northwest Passage

At the start of the day, there was no queue for the Zephyr six pack. At the base level, the sun was shining and it was quite warm. At the summit level, the wind was blowing and hats were most definitely needed. Northwest Passage graded black on the map was groomed and a relatively comfortable cruise. My skis were wallowing all over the place and then I realised that I had not tightened up my boots. Control (and pain) came!

Northwest Magnum lift	Looking towards Zephyr lift and a lake (not Tahoe)
The top of Zephyr lift and Mt Rose Summit

Northwest Magnum (1440) : Ponderosa Kit Carson Traverse, Ramseys

From the second run up Zephyr, I traversed across Kit Carson Trail. Because of a strond head wind, with blowing snow, the traverse was pretty unpleasant. Ramseys was an even more comfortable cruise to the bottom.

Northwest Magnum (1440) : Upper Silver Dollar Silver Dollar

By now, queues were building for the 6-pack. Some talkative youngsters on the lift recommended the East Bowl as having the best (and most difficult skiing), so I decided to give it a try. For the first run I took the easiest way down and the slightly steeper, but groomed, Silver Dollar.

Zephyr (1440) : Central Pacific

The Zephyr Quad is not detachable, so took about 8 and a half minutes to climb the 1400 feet to the summit. All morning, I never waited more than 2 minutes at the bottom, so the length of the ride was acceptable. I was not sure which way I would go when I got to the top. I was on the right of the lift, so I exited right and turned back under the lift. Central Pacific looked pretty good from below and there were a few people skiing it, which was reassuring. It was not groomed. It was a great run. The snow was soft and moguls were beginning to form. I was able to ski down under control and without a great deal of physical effort.

Central Pacific run	Central Pacific run

Zephyr (1440) : Central Pacific

The next run did not work out as planned. I dropped into Climax Bowl, a lightly gladed area almost under the lift. I immediately found that the snow conditions were not good. The top powder had blown off; rocks were showing. I traversed out and did a second run down Central Pacific.

Zephyr (1440) : Gold Run

Gold Run proved to be the most challenging run of the day. The top section was pretty flat leading into a relatively narrow entry to the slope proper. A sign at this point warned "Experts Only" - a little late, it was a long walk back to the top. Gold Run was a little steeper and the powder a little deeper than Central Pacific. The meant that the turns had to be tighter, and more precise (awith more physical effort).

East Bowl	Zephyr lift
Bonanza & Central Pacific	Zephyr lift and Gold Run
Bonanza & Central Pacific	Bonanza & Central Pacific
Fremont run	Blowing snow at the top of Climax Bowl
Blowing snow at the top of Climax Bowl	Looking up Gold Run
Looking down Gold Run

Zephyr (1440) : Zephyr South Rim, Bonanza Traverse

I shared a lift with someone who recommended the runs right over to the South of the bowl. I followed him from the top of the lift across a narrow traverse right across the top of the bowl. South Rim was a great run. It was almost deserted. Ungroomed it was not quite as steep as Gold Run, but had the same mixture of soft bumps and heavy powder.

Looking up South Rim	Looking down South Rim

Zephyr (1440) : Zephyr Bonanza Traverse, Washoe Zephyr

I tried to do the same again (after an entertaining lift ride, with two pretty heavy drinkers, who were also pretty heavy people). I traversed all the way across, but took the gladed run between South Rim and Washoe Zephyr. The snow was a little deeper and less cut up. I fell a couple of times .. the result of legs getting tired.

Zephyr (1440) : Slide Bowl Bonanza, Bonanza Traverse

After a coffee break, I took the easier Bonanza run, black but groomed. My legs were beginning to burn, so I decided that it was time to head back to the North side, where my car was.

Zephyr (1440) : Drop Off Upper Northwest, Kit Carson Traverse, Kit Carson Bowl Sharpshooter

On the lift, I was tempted to take another run in the East Bowl, but the wind was really getting strong and stopped the lift twice on the way up. With stronger winds than earlier, I had to stop and put goggles on for Kit Carson traverse. Sharpshooter, mogulled, looked good from the top. The top section was pretty easy, further down it steepened up. This was another run which demanded careful control (or a fast run with younger knees!).

East Bowl as winds start to rise	East Bowl
Bonanza and Central Pacific	The bottom of Pioneer Glade
Blowing snow at top top of Bonanza and Central Pacific

Galena (350) : Galena, Ponderosa

Before finishing for the day, I decided to try a couple of the slower lifts. Galena was a very slow triple chair serving only green runs. I got very cold and the run was not worth it.

Lakeview (1100) : Galena, Ponderosa Upper Lakeview Lower Lakeview

For the final run. I took Lakeview chair. As far as I could tell, there was no view of Lake Tahoe or any other lake from the lift. It was slow and with the windchill, I had decided to call it a day by the time I got to the top. Upper Lake View did not have any view of a lake either. Lower Lake View was marked as black on the map, but I could not work out why. It was not steep and it was groomed. At last there was a view towards Lake Tahoe in the distance.

Lakeview Chair

On the way back to the hotel, I stopped at a viewpoint overlooking the Lake (and Diamond Peak ski area) to phone Sue and eventually returned to my hotel room.

Snow covered tree near the overlook	North shore of Lake Tahoe
East shore of Lake Tahoe	Diamond Peak ski area
Roadside scene	View from my hotel room
View from my hotel room

Runs

Last updated: 10/03/2002