White Wolf will NOT be a part of the zone that is open tomorrow…but will be someday
UPDATE: SQUAW-ALPINE CONNECT = *POSTPONED*
Tomorrow, we will legally leave Squaw’s boundary for the first time and more importantly, get to ski some of the mysterious White Wolf zone for the first time ever.
We’ve always dreamed of being able to ski between Squaw & Alpine. To access one from the other and have access to 6,000+ acres of killer terrain on the same ski day. Tomorrow, that dream becomes reality (cliché necessary, of course).
Troy Caldwell, the owner of White Wolf (the area between Squaw & Alpine), has groomed a cat track from the saddle of KT-22 up the ridge that drops into Alpine’s Bernies Bowl. Troy also groomed a bit above that towards Estell Peak at Alpine to assist in the traverse. These cat tracks are within the boundaries of White Wolf.
Squaw in blue, Alpine in red, White Wolf in purple. Just left of White Wolf will be open tomorrow.
DETAILS OF THE SQUAW/ALPINE OPENING:
- Access gate at the saddle of KT-22 at Squaw
- Access from Alpine via Estell Peak (& nearby)
- Hiking will be required (you won’t be able to just ski from resort to resort)
- This opening between resorts will begin tomorrow and stay open until April 29th (Squaw’s closing date)
- Tomorrow will mark the first time Squaw has ever opened it’s boundary
- Tomorrow will mark the first time the public has ever been allowed to ski White Wolf
more White Wolf terrain you won’t get to ski tomorrow. photo: Travis Ganong
This will change everything. We can ski from resort to resort and that’s a big step towards connecting the two. In fact, this is the first ever out of bounds policy Squaw has ever adopted. For the first time ever, you can legally leave Squaw’s boundary tomorrow.
We’ll have someone out there checking it out for you all tomorrow and have a report up on how well this “connect” works.
Are you guys fired up about this? I am. It’s gonna be a trip to take a step into the forbidden no-man’s-land between Squaw & Alpine tomorrow.
Too,bad squaw is for str8 wannabee chump pretend skiiers. Sierra CEMENT. Glad I left
Haters gonna hate.
Haters = gapers
I love that this guy posts on every thread. Makes it so obvious that he’s got nothin’ else going on.
LOL go back to vail or where ever your from bro
http://youtu.be/e7z_ztMxBgk
Katt Williams says it best… its a haters job to hate!
People who complain about sierra cement usually just can’t ski for shit.
Hey thought you actually made it into a tree hole or something, what did your internet get shut off? We’re glad you left too.
We are too.
sounds like this douche hates for a few reasons.
1. he has no dick.
2. he sucks a everything, especially skiing.
3. his sticker “sponsorship” didn’t work out.
4. someone stole what he thought was his girlfriend.
5. more stuff.
my guess: his mom still pays his cell phone bill and sends him care packages when his vagina hurts.
Cool news, but not the first time we’ve been able to leave the boundary. We used to be able to sign out with patrol at the top of KT and ski down to the Alpine Meadows road. Also, there was the weekend (in 1995, if I recall) when we were able to sign out at Tower 2 of the Tram and access Shirley Canyon to the valley floor.
didn’t know that. Great info, thanks.
Glad someone else said it. We used to sign out and ski it. I forget which years it was. I think it was before Troy bought the land.. They had a clipboard at the ski Patrol shack. Fun, but a lot of bushwacking. Spring time only. Parked a truck on alpine road. More of a novelty. Never skied powder. All corn.
Definitely heard stories from my Dad’s group of friends of being able to legally ski down to Alpine Meadows Rd. during spring time back in the day. Hopefully this is the first step towards completely opening up Squaw’s boundaries. I also hope that a few idiots don’t abuse this opportunity as a chance to ski some more interesting terrain that KSL has yet to give us access to.
Good memory on them opening up Shirley Canyon to the bottom. That was a fun day! I’ve done it since then too from smoothie.
Yeah backside of Red Dog used to open from time to time. 2 high school kids skied it one day when it was closed, which they did every day to get home and died in an avalanche. Closed ever since.
back in the late 60′s – early 70′s – you just went – no need to sign out
Things are happening! We get to ski Squaw and alpine tomorrow on the same pass without having to take off our skis or sit in a car! And it will be a classic Tahoe spring day with powder stashes in the North facing trees off of Estell, and creamy corn on the other aspects! All on 17 feet of new snow since March!
^that guy is a donkey… I’m gonna be the first saucer boy to ever do this!
Legendary!!! I’m fired up!
will you be able to ride/ski back to squaw from alpine?
yep, you’ll be able to travel both ways.
So what is the return route from Alpine to Squaw?
There is no short bus back hugh……so retarded.
If I’m reading this right, the return would be to hike to Estelle/Bernies, then traverse toward Squaw and then hike up to the KT Saddle or somewhere thereabouts. But I could be wrong. Either way, much easier to go Squaw -> Alpine than the other way around.
This is AWESOME! I hope it all goes well and no DA screws it up!
Just flew in from Chicago, feigning for an altoid hummer from one of the legendary gnomes in the Enchanted forest – I have a comp 8 day pass to trade. Any locals want to get rad and play some gnar… I’ll buy you.
great for spring skiing, but on them pow days id rather make a strategic decision to avoid crowds. Now theres no way around the crowds cause everyone will be everywhere. Though I am excited as hell for this, will be interesting forsure, and maybe the far corners of both mountains will be less crowded cause people want to go back and forth.
I kinda doubt this will open on pow days. ‘twould be awesome though!
If you can’t ski any of the sick terrain… Where can you ski, just on the groomed tracks?
History.
That traverse from the KT saddle to Estelle Bowl (both ways) has been used for decades. Skins are the ticket and snowboarders aren’t going to like it much even with a cat track.
if only someone would invent a snowboard that broke apart into two skis, allowing snowboarders to skin
It’s called a Split Board, been around for awhile. Guy I work with has one, skins and all…
Good luck in the mush pole pokey, I’ll speed walk past you in my comfy boots whilst you skate like a madman on the cat track
It’s sweeping the nation and it’s called Nordic Snowboarding. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4w7sVSMbjyM
skinning to access lift served terrain? they have a bus people. if im puttin on the skins its to go BC.
Drop LoW off of summit…no hike traverse if you go low and deep around estelle and across 5lakes …. been poaching squaw for many years
As a snowboarder, I must say, I love hiking. I don’t mind unstrapping to find some goods. It’s why I have always loved Alpine. Will be an weird day when a hike to Estelle or Cartoonland isn’t a hike anymore but a simple Squaw/Alpine traverse.
Either way. I am totally strapping in to ride it tomorrow haha.
does this new “open boundary policy” meen I can go ski nat geo and not get fucked with by the douchy squaw red coats anymore???
I for one would never consider leaving the boundaries of Squaw in the spring. It sounds very dangerous to me and I would never ever cross those revered boundaries. I mean, come on, there are signs.
This is just a marketing ploy. The conditions arent set up to spit people out on top of The Buttress into mash potatoes. With out the proper farming and no White Wolf whats the point? Let it set up and give the corn experience that no one seems to understand. Market one of the best products the Sierra has to offer, corn. Cornology 101
Now you can get home to your cave on KT after getting all your perfect corn at Alpine.
So normally estelle/buttress would be closed for tomorrow’s conditions. Are we now letting marketing decisions dictate mountain management?
I can only imagine if Andy Wirth has his way we will have a surface lift to the top of estelle, ruining a classic hiking ridge.
It’s a ski resort dude, it was bound to get lift access sooner or later. Go ski the backcountry.
estelle is already ruined, lol. Did you see how wrecked it got this year with all the kooks hiking out there and side slipping the best lines in the castle. PRetty much alpines charm, hiking terrian and sidecountry have been ruined or squawified
Sweeeeeeeet
I was told that it takes about 25mins to get to Squaw from Alpine and 35 to 40 mins to come back. Sounds like the best way to get back to Alpine is still the bus, I personally have never taken the shuttle bus and never will.
15minutes top from alpine to squaw. No hike needed.
ummm, im looking at the topos, and you need to go uphill
Just for my understanding….
I’m from Austria and we have the “Open Ski Area” that doesn’t belong to the resort so you can go outside wherever you want and nobody can say anything against it. Do you really have to stay inside the public ski area at Squaw? I mean, do you have an official law that says you can not use the area outside/next to the resort?
We sure do, sheriff will be called if you go out of bounds. Welcome to ‘Merica, land of the free…
they wont call the sheriff unless you go into private property (white wolf)… you can skit the back country, just not if you are wearing a squaw pass and using their lifts… they will clip your pass and u loose it for the season… if you have a daily ticket they will clip it too… Alpine used to have an open boundary policy, but not sure what the new Squalpine rules are.
Whitewolf was open to skiers coming from Alpine for
years before the boundary was closed.
Thanks,Andy, Troy and everyone for making this happen!!
Noting better than a few new line to ski this spring!!
How about Tram tower 2 again too???
From today’s Central Sierra Avalanche Advisory
Today’s Primary Avalanche Concern: Wet snow
Near to above freezing air temperatures last night and some cloud cover is expected to have allowed for a poor to marginal overnight refreeze of wet surface snow. Areas of wet snow instability are expected to quickly become widespread today on all aspects at most elevations. Roller balls, wet loose snow avalanches, and wet slab avalanches are possible in sun exposed areas. By mid morning, wet snow is expected to become widespread in sun exposed areas and will also form on northerly aspects that receive fairly direct sun exposure under high sun angles this time of year. Any areas where storm and wind slab instability lingers from the most recent storm event may allow for wet slab avalanches to occur up to 2 feet deep in the snowpack.
Should be like thick glop if it even opens. Be careful out there especially on sun baked aspects.
Yer,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
gonnna,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
Die!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
good point, how is the PWL doing way deep down there? Large wet slides are very possible this year… remember when KT slid to dirt? its been a few weeks since we’ve had a snow tragedy. Sadly, the way this season has gone I wouldnt be surprised to hear more bad news soon.
O sweet and maybe it will snow and they will be cool and keep that shit open.
I too remember skiing down to the Alpine Meadows Road in the spring, back when KT was a double chair. Some years you could go from behind Eagles Nest, but the usual takeoff was from Red Dog RIdge.
I also remember skiing Shirley Canyon to the Valley from the top of the tram in several springs. The last time I remember it being open, after my second lap, there was a big slide between the top of the tram and what is now the Land Bridge entrance to SIlverado. If I had to guess, I would say it was in the early 80s.
In the seventies we skied from Squaw to Alpine every spring and took turns driving an old beater pickup from Alpine road back to Squaw, that was when you could ride in the back of a truck and no one cared. 10 pairs of skis in the bed along with seven skiers in the back and three in the cab along with plenty of cold beer, God I am feeling my age.
A belated thanks for picking me up!!
All the info is great and thanks Squaw and Alpine for making this happen. Can’t imagine what it took to achieve this.
Now can we go back to picking on that douche bag that opened the treat!
What a crock of Sh–tttttt, drove over form Incline, announced the fact to my friends, brought my Randonee skis and skins, and it was all for nothing!!! I could of stayed home and skinned the shoots, get your facts straight before you get us all excited, very disappointed UN.com!!!!
Maybe you should have brought your rondenet skis of maybe just stayed in incline and gone to diamond peak.
did this ever actually happen?