Palisades Tahoe - Mr. Toad’s (Silverado) | February 20, 2025

Mr. Toad’s – it’s always a treat when Silverado opens (usually only mid-week), and today was literally the best experience I’ve ever had on Silverado. Other than some skinny straightlines, Mr. Toad’s is the narrowest chute I’ve ever “skied.” It’s also probably my favorite chute at Palisades. The entrance is so steep, the only way to control your descent is by cranking hard hockey-stop turns; but, the crux is so tight, slashing hard turns will get you low-centered and cause your tips & tails to snag the walls of the chute (usually resulting in a forward catapult)—an obstacle further complicated by the fact that there’s a step-down smack-dab in the center of the crux, which must be hopped over to make it through the chute.

Despite our lackluster ski season, thanks to our recent snow, I got to hit Mr. Toad’s today in the best snow conditions I’ve ever skied. I hit it 3x, with mixed success, but totally DIALED my first run. I got to ski some steep pow into the chute, "cold smoke" blowing up into my face with each turn, then popped a pretty decent airplane turn over the step-down in the crux—magically avoiding getting low-centered and snagging my tips & tails—and then had the pleasure of skiing shin-deep powder through the rest of the chute.

Pretty happy about this, so posting.