A Timeline Of Tahoe Pow Dayz
A Guest Post and Photo Essay by Seth Lightcap, fellow splitter and friend of Spark R&D.
The joy ride fired up on October 22nd. That was the first pow day of the winter in Lake Tahoe this season. For the 100 days since then, the Northern Sierra have been firing day in, day out. We’ve had our fair share of storm days but it’s been the cold, sunny days in between the fronts that’s made the season really shine. The stable stretches have opened the window for incredible backcountry adventures. From multi-day deep peaks to roadside attractions, conditions have been prime to lay fresh tracks just about anywhere your legs and splitboard can take you in Tahoe.
In celebration of the season and in hopes of many more stormy days to come, here’s a taste of 12/13 Tahoe pow featuring the crew getting after it strapped into their Spark R&D’s:
Moss Holladay rips into a Donner Summit chute on October 24th – two days after it started snowing in Tahoe
Without a splitboard you were hosed on the first three weeks of the season. The first lifts didn’t spin in Tahoe until mid-November. Ryland Bell and Chris Galvin started their seasons in October on the splits.
To make matters perfect, the first two feet of snow in October came in thick. The second two feet (which came two days later) came in blower. We were blasting through bushes but not hitting rocks. Matt Clark kindly avoided crushing the flowers with this boost.
No doubt you’re gonna see some epic early Tahoe days in the season POV edits this year.
Mid-November brought another round of storms. Chris Galvin cashed in on the insane early season powder cycle touring around Donner Summit.
The mid- and late-December storms were a terrain game changer. Lines opened up on all sides of the lake. Toe side slasher staring at Tahoe for Brian.
With the new year came a new storm. Though this round was followed by a short rush of east wind that made pow hunting a bit trickier. Curtis Woodman searched for the stashes on his Arbor Abacus splitboard.
Sunny days and killer snow mean it’s time to send some lines. Curtis Woodman throws down a technical track under the eye of the RC heli cam.
By Tahoe standards this is ancient powder. Woodman rips into a twelve-day old virgin pow panel mid-January.
And the good times show no sign of stopping. Ryland Bell slashes pow in an untracked alpine line on January 21st – two weeks since it last snowed in Tahoe.
Thanks Seth, for sharing this with us and all of the Spark fans! Hope it makes everyone hungry for pow, and ready to get after it this weekend 🙂