Deep Powderhouse

Date: February 18, 2019
Skiers: Hannah Neville and Grant Oakley
Location: Powderhouse, Lake Tahoe, CA

As good as it gets

February in California has been one for the meteorological record books, and the President’s Day weekend storm cycle was no exception. As was the case nearly every weekend this month, the Sierras got hammered with epic quantities of snow. So epic, in fact, that we had to cancel our Valentine’s trip to Ostrander Ski Hut and look for alternatives. We opted to skip the insane weekend traffic and just head up for a Monday day-trip.

The fading storm had elevated the avalanche risk, so we opted for the mellower and somewhat sheltered Powderhouse area. As soon as we were in the skin track, we knew we were in for something special.

We struggled a bit with the steep skin track (which was cut by someone breaking through snow above their knees, so I’ll give them a pass). But it was all worthwhile when be topped out for the first lap.

We crammed down a few calories at the base and then hopped right back in the track for round two.

The weather cleared as we were reaching the top for a second time. We were treated to great views of the lake and bluebird skies for our second run.

These were some of the best turns of my life. We couldn’t suppress laughter as we blasted through it.

Doesn’t get much better than that!