The Line of the Week
Alpine Meadow’s, California
Marhanken’s
The plan was to shoot sicky park shots at Squaw. With the help of Mike Weiner it was all lined up. The only issue was that none of the double corked, 920, misty flip brothers showed up. One slept too late, the others no showed and there we were, Mike, Dan and myself slashing slush turns at Alpine Meadows. The good news was that the weather was epic. It was about 70 degrees and the mountain was empty, so we took some runs. It was after a run or two that Weiner said, “I’ll ski Marhanken’s”.
The hot sun had been burning off the snow by the second and there was a rock in the choke of the chute. I thought it looked like a great line. After scoping it out from all angles Weiner was a bit worried about the sticky nature of the snow.”After looking at the chocolate chips hidden from above and barely under the surface, I was a bit hesitant with the snow so soft. My concern was the choke. I was worried about landing on super soft snow and getting launched forward into a punch front at the bottom (This almost happened several times on groomers). It wasn’t the best place to for this to happen.” – Mike Weiner
After some conversation we called it off.
I got a text later that night from Weiner that said he was definitely going to ski it first thing in the morning. The only issue was that it was gray and raining. Luckily, this is the Line of the Week and we don’t hold back because of a little rain.
“Even though it seemed more like a day to lie around and watch movies I had the line in my mind from the day before though and had to go back up there. I was surprised at how much the snow had changed from Tuesday morning. It was now hard pack and fast. Even though it was the exact opposite as the day before, it was more of what I was hoping for. We took a quick look from below after heading up Summit Chair and I went to hike Keyhole.” – Mike Weiner
I watched from the chair as Weiner hiked Keyhole without a soul around. There was a storm building over the lake and visibility was questionable. I skied to a spot to shoot. I was joined by a friend, Will, who asked me if it was a good day for photos. I laughed a bit when I thought about how bad the light was compared to the bluebird day before.
Weiner dropped in, made a slight turn and pointed it through the choke, through the chute and over the cat track at the bottom. He greased it, no problem.
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The Line of the Week is a weekly photo piece by Ryan Salm featuring some of Tahoe’s finest athletes doing whatever we deem rad. We will be using the term “Line” loosely to describe anything resembling chutes, big airs, pointers or any general madness. All images are the property and copyright of Ryan Salm Photography. All images are only to be used in conjunction with the Line of the Week. Any other usage must be cleared in writing by Ryan Salm.