One last hurrah for Eleven-12?

Figuring out whether to head out to grab a few turns Friday morning has been a colossal waste of internet time. My midday drive to get a workout in at the local pool told me more than perusing my fave local weather sites, including Tahoe Weather Discussion. I can hardly blame Bryan Allegretto, it is spring after all, the spring following an anemic winter in the Tahoe area and interest in spring skiing is at an all time low.

However, now that it’s spring the Tahoe area has seen more snow more regularly than we had while it was winter. So I’m relying on my gut and the fact that it was snowing a bit while driving to and fro in Truckee today to commit to heading out. Besides, I’m not ready to throw in the towel just yet. Spring skiing always delivers some delightful surprises and I think this weekend is going to be another one of those.

There’s still a decent base of snow above 6500 feet around Tahoe and scattered snow showers are going to make it colder and leave a bit of frosting on the surface for tomorrow morning. More importantly, the cool temperatures and wind overnight should help the snowpack to set up solid for a change. Can you say dust on crust?

Many of you won’t be able to get away for Friday, but the weather looks promising for Saturday. There are still a few resorts planning to be open this weekend, including Squaw, Alpine Meadows, Kirkwood and Sugar Bowl so get a few more licks in.

Best of all, there is a good chance the road up Tioga Pass, at least to the east entrance of Yosemite, might be open. The road has been cleared all the way to Olmstead Point, but is still gated a few miles west of the Hwy. 395 turnoff. If you go prepared you could at least head up the road on a bike. There are also reports of decent snow in high places like Virginia Lakes. The season is going fast so if you haven’t given up on winter yet, this promises to be a good weekend to make a few more turns before summer demands our attention.

© 2012