Journeys›Photograph

Miracle March Storm Skiing at Squaw Valley

·California, United States·#winter#california#skiing#snow#lake tahoe
A person's lower body in bright yellow clothing is surrounded by deep, fresh white snow next to a dark railing.

The Miracle March storm delivered. The deck at the cabin was buried past the railings, so the day started with a shovel — punching through drifts just to get a path open, snow still coming down the whole time. The car had a wall of plowed snow behind it taller than I am.

Then up to Squaw Valley to ski it. Snow fell all day on the mountain, heavy enough that my beard collected ice in clumps riding the chairlift — full chunks of it frozen into the whiskers by the second lap. Squaw averages something like 400 inches a year and this March alone felt like it was trying to hit that number by itself.

By the time I got back down to the parking lot the cars were half-buried again. The Steller's jays were working the feeders at the cabin, knocking snow off the pine branches to get at the seed. It kept snowing after dark. The snowbanks along the street have swallowed the mailboxes — just the tops of the posts sticking out.

A smiling bearded person in a Squaw Valley beanie gives a thumbs up, with falling snow and a deep snowdrift.A person with an ice-covered beard and snowy jacket smiles on a ski lift during a snowfall.A person with an icy beard and blue goggles smiles while riding a ski lift in a snowy landscape.A person smiles with an icy beard and snowflakes on their face in a snowy outdoor setting with trees and cars.A person's lower face, featuring a dark beard and mustache heavily encrusted with ice, mouth slightly open.A deep blanket of snow covers a deck railing, ground, and trees at night, illuminated by warm light.A blue bird perches by a bird feeder in a snowy winter scene with a second feeder and icicles.A snowy winter landscape with houses mostly buried under deep snow, surrounded by snow-laden pine trees and bare trees.

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