While the record breaking snowfall we received in March made for fantastic powder skiing at Squaw, it provided far from ideal conditions for a film contest on the steep, exposed, and highly avalanche prone terrain of Donner Peak.  The mountain,  like the rest of Tahoe, was pounded with storm after unrelenting storm during March, which left over twenty feet of new snow.  Donner Pass road, between the West end of Donner Lake and Sugarbowl,  remained closed almost the entire month, limiting access to the mountain, making matters even worse.

After deliberations, a difficult decision was reached to cancel the event.  The conditions that we had hoped for never materialized during the event’s four week window, and with warm, unsettled weather forecasted for the next week, extending the deadline for entries did not seem like a prudent coarse of action.  Due to the adverse, and at times very dangerous conditions throughout event’s window, athletes were not able to get out on the mountain and throw down the lines they are capable of.  We know everyone was looking forward to watching all the amazing skiing and snowboarding that this mountain and the local athletes can combine to produce, but alas, it was not to be this year.

This is a photo from late February 2011, with an ideal snow level, one week before the event was to commence.  In the following  5 weeks, an addtional 25 feet of snow fell on the mountain, burying almost all visible rock!

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