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All Hail the Atmospheric River!

Excited skiers raise their arms in the air while enjoying backcountry skiing in the woods of Japan.

private backcountry ski guiding in lake tahoe with professional mountain guides

Something is Coming

Let’s be real, it’s been weeks and weeks of religiously checking the weather, and waiting for “the big nuke”. But it seems our luck might be changing for the better, as an atmospheric river is forecasted to flow our way starting Friday. Hold your excited horses for one more minute though, because as of now the forecast calls for higher temps, potentially meaning rain at lower elevations. Moving through the weekend, we see fluctuating snow levels from 8,900 ft all the way down to 6,500 on Monday. Wind is also in the mix.

It’s Likely to Be a Mixed Bag With Goods Up High

It should come as no surprise that we aren’t looking for rainy backcountry days here at Alpenglow, and I’m betting many of you are quite disappointed by the atmospheric river looking a lot more like a “river” than a snowstorm. We could certainly get deep into potential avy problems too, and at the end of the day that is the reality. But there are also solutions. It may be a longer drive to higher zones, such at Mt. Rose, or searching for juuust the right aspects, but we know that there is absolutely still fun to be had.

What Do We Do With It?

So what to do with all this information about the atmospheric river that may or may not be what we actually see out there? Hire a professional, of course! And that’s exactly what our guides are here for. In the last few months they have been running AIARE courses, teaching people the basics of backcountry travel, taking private clients out to find surprisingly good snow stashes, and generally putting smiles on people’s faces – all in these challenging conditions.