Not many chances left for skiing

The ski and snowboard season continues to slip away, as a glance at the mountains surrounding Carson City show. Alpine Meadows will close Sunday.

Until then, the resort will operate daily from 8:30 am until 2 p.m. Spring lift ticket rates will remain at $29 (adults, full-day).

Alpine Meadows is currently operating Summit Six high-speed detachable six-passenger chair, offering top-to-bottom skiing and snowboarding for intermediate and advanced ability levels. Call (530) 581-8321. Squaw continues operations with a kissoff of May 30 scheduled. Kirkwood is open this weekend but don't count on the next one.

Heavenly closed last weekend with skiing that was as good as midwinter. The snow held up well until noon and it was like there was no one else on the slopes. Only the gondola was open and at noon there was a long line of tourists waiting to catch a cab. The restaurant at the top of the gondola was doing fine business and it was quite nice to sit in the sun after a morning of skiing. Thanks, Heavenly.

So it's time to start putting skis and boards away. Remember to back off the ski bindings, put some oil on the edges. No need to block for camber anymore, but you might want to tone up the edges with a softstone or a file. Boots, well buckle them up and wipe off mud and the like.

My boots are going to the only shop I could find which would do a shaving job on the soles in South Lake Tahoe. I'm going to switch to having the boots cambered rather than the skis so that I can test replacements which I will have to buy for next season. The Machetes have been fine skis but that shovel de-lamination is worrisome. I figure the edge will peel off one of these runs and I'll do a faceplant.

Meanwhile, the snow on the trails is melting and pretty soon we'll be able to trek up to Horsetail Falls or around the Rim Trail. We'll take a break from a ski column and start on hiking in a few months.

Sam Bauman is a Nevada Appeal Statt Writer. Contact him at sbauman@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1236.