Weather

49ers Win Triggers Rare “Ocean Sunset” Visible from Bernal Hill

/ Todd_Lappin

Mike McCabe sent us this amazing photo of Saturday’s sunset:

On Saturday night, I saw the sun set just inside the tiny segment of ocean visible from Bernal Summit – a sight only visible for a few weeks each year. As the days get longer, it’ll set farther and farther north – hidden behind Twin Peaks.

After the sun went down, the city erupted in cheering and honking horns. San Franciscans love a good sunset!

Well, sort of. I happen to know that at right about the same time, the San Francisco 49ers were defeating the New Orleans Saints at Candlestick Park, in one of the craziest game-ending clinchers I’ve ever seen. And I know this because I was watching the end of the game (and the sunset) from my back yard — precisely because I love hearing the neighborhood erupt whenever these sorts of media-driven events happen. Indeed, while Mike was up on the hill savoring the sunset, here’s what the neighbors were seeing:

So while the sunset was great, it probably doesn’t quite explain all the hoopla. But a stunning ocean sunset… AND a 49ers victory? At the exact same time? Coincidence??? I think not.

PHOTO: Mike McCabe

Ski Bernalwood: Snow Report and New Upgrades

/ Todd_Lappin / 47 Comments

Hello Skiers and Snowboarders!

Thanks to all of you who bought a 2012 Ski Bernalwood season pass. As you know, your 2012 Ski Bernalwood season pass allows you to take unlimited advantage of Ski Bernalwood’s extensive lift and trail network anytime during normal operating hours. Thanks for helping to make Ski Bernalwood San Francisco’s premier wintersports resort destination.

We’ve made several exciting improvements for the 2012 season:

NEW TRAILS:

On the north face, we’ve opened up more advanced terrain for more adrenaline-powered ski and snowboarding excitement. The new run is called Stoney Grotto, and it’s accessible from either of Ski Bernalwood’s high-speed chairlifts via the eastern side of the Sutrito Summit Lodge complex.

NEW TERRAIN PARK:

On the southeastern slope, we’ve created Haunted House, a new terrain park equipped with epic tabletop jumps, steep jibs, and a full half-pipe.  Stow your tray table, fasten your seatbelt, and bring your seat to the full upright position, because there will be some Very. Big. Air. happening at the new Haunted House park.

NEW DINING OPTIONS:

We’re proud to welcome several new food vendors to the Sutrito Summit Lodge, to satisfy your hunger during an exciting day on the slopes. Inside, look for the new Pasta Bar operated by Emmy’s Spaghetti Shack, as well as hearty, seasonal fare offered at the Bernal Supper Club Cafe. In a hurry? Grab some tasty pastries from the Sandbox Bakery cart, located on the South Patio. Apres ski, have a cocktail with bartenders from the Royal Cuckoo as they mix it up for you and your pals.

NEW DOGGIE DAY CARE AND FITNESS CLASSES:


You asked for it, and we got it! Last year, dozens of Ski Bernalwood passholders asked us to provide a safe place to drop-off their doggies before heading out to the slopes. This year, FitBernalFit will offer doggie day care during our regular lift-operation hours, with Iditerod Fitness Classes offered for your dog daily at 11 am and 2 pm. The FitBernalFit drop-off area is located at the base of the Vista Pointe Lift.

SNOW REPORT
So many exciting new things. But let’s not forget the most exciting news of all: As you may have heard, Winter 2012 is getting off to a historically dry start in Lake Tahoe. As our friends at Squaw Valley put it last week:

Tahoe is really not looking good, humans. It literally hasn’t snowed yet this winter. I know that we all need to hold onto the hopeful idea that one big storm could change everything, but that one big storm is not on the horizon. There is nothing in the two week forecast, again. We are looking at nothing until at least mid-January…or later. I want to be optimistic, but we have to look at the numbers.

Fortunately, we have no such problems here in Bernal Heights. After the epic snowfall last week, followed by the bluebird skies last weekend, conditions at Ski Bernalwood have never been better. We’ve got at 48″ base with powder or packed powder on 100 percent of our trails, and the forecast calls for continued sun and fun throughout the week.

Come on out to ride with us at Ski Bernalwood, enjoy steep verticals, and don’t forget your sunscreen!

PHOTOS: Telstar Logistics

Saturday’s Lunar Eclipse, As Seen from Bernal Heights

/ Todd_Lappin / 2 Comments

So, did you happen to catch the lunar eclipse that took place at around 6 am last Saturday, December 10? It was a total lunar eclipse, which means that the moon seemed to disappear for a few moments as it passed through the Earth’s shadow.

Neighbor Joe Thomas woke up early to capture the cosmic event from his apartment in Bernal Heights (so you didn’t have to). He then compressed the results into the fabulous time-lapse video you see above.

It’s like, totality, dude.

UPDATE: La Lengua rebel leader Burrito Justice also arose early to watch the eclipse, and he took some great photos from atop our Bernal Hill homeland. Sutro Tower and a disappearing moon… together at last!

The Yin and Yang of Safeway After the Rains

/ Todd_Lappin / 2 Comments

Sutro Yin and Yang

Walking out of the Safeway on Sunday afternoon, I felt the sun on my face for the first time in days, and I noticed that our Safeway’s familiar yin-yang mosaic was interacting nicely with the wet pavement — and Sutro Tower beyond.

It was so Zen. And in that moment, I realized that the universe is truly composed of opposites, such that there can be no One without the Other. No Sun without Rain. No Good Life Grocery without a Safeway nearby. No Sutrito Tower without a Sutro to aspire to become. You get the idea. Ommmmmmmmmmm.

Then, upon my return home, I looked to the north, and found Rainbow Enlightenment:

Rainbow Enlightenment

UPDATE:

My friend @lbm was taking at walk on Bernal Hill when the rainbow appeared. Check out this full-spectrum amazingness:

PHOTOS: Telstar Logistics, @lbm

A Celebration of Last Night’s Superb Sunset

/ Todd_Lappin / 2 Comments

Reader Winston just sent this along to the Bernalwood hotline:

Yesterday my partner and I decided to take an impromptu, post-nap, sunset stroll up Bernal Hill, and we were rewarded with an amazing sunset; I thought Bernalwood citizens might enjoy if they missed (even though I’d been to groggy to grab my dslr, and just had my iPhone cam).  We sat on the west slope of the “peak” to watch the actual sunset, and then the first two pics of Bernal Hill and the amazing “Titian”-hued skies were taken from the lower, eastern slope.

The great thing about last night’s sunset: we were serenaded by two separate “troubadours,” one young man facing southwest, and one young woman singing to a young man on the northeast, both quite good; you can actually barely pick out their tiny silhouettes in these pics, the man to the left of the trees, and the woman right under the tree at right.  I’ve also included some pics I’ve played with to give an “oil painting” feel to highlight the amazing color yesterday evening.  Enjoy!

So great, and you can click any of the images above to embiggen. Fool that I am, I was in my garage around sunset, so I missed the whole thing. Doh!

PHOTOS: Reader Winston


Tour the Trees of Bernal Heights This Weekend

/ Todd_Lappin / 3 Comments

Redwood silhouette

Attention arborphiles! Friends of the Urban Forest will lead a free “tree tour” of Bernal Heights this weekend, on Sunday, November 13, at 10 am.

Friends of the Urban Forest invites you on a free two-hour walking tour of the trees and other plants of Bernal Heights. Bring your questions, a note book, and a good pair of walking shoes, as we will be covering a lot of ground, a lot of trees, and a lot of great information. Tour leader Mike Boss is a founding owner of the award-winning San Francisco landscape company Rock & Rose Landscapes, and is a former member of the Urban Forestry Council of the City of San Francisco.

Meet at 10:00 a.m. outside Progressive Grounds Coffee House, 400 Cortland Ave at Bennington St.

PHOTO: A tree in Bernal Heights, by Michael De Boer

Fashion Report: Winterish Weather Comes to Bernal Hill

/ Todd_Lappin / 8 Comments

New neighbor Rally P moved to Bernalwood recently from Boston, and he is justifiably fascinated by local meteorological and sartorial trends:

WINTER HAS HIT THE CITY! How do I know? Everyone is suddenly wearing their winter hats! Check out that sky… that’s not the fog, those are WINTER clouds that have swooped in from the great frigid North plummeting our temps to a bone chilling… 50 degrees :P.

Oh snap!

FAB PHOTO MONTAGE: Rally P

Sunday Drizzle Offers Preview of Winter Attractions

/ Todd_Lappin

Winter Preview

It was strange to wake up on Sunday morning to wetness outside, wasn’t it? But I  kind of liked it — better the real rains of winter than the foggy chill of late “summer.” It’s almost time for Bernal Hill to again change color again from brown to green. But until then, here’s a snap I took looking south while crossing a damp South Van Ness at 24th Street.

PHOTO: Telstar Logistics

All Clear on Bernal Hill Last Night

/ Todd_Lappin / 13 Comments

Ephemeral Summer

Ephemeral Summer

Ephemeral Summer

There are many clear nights on Bernal Hill, but nights that are both clear and warm are a rare treat. We hit the meteorological jackpot last night, so after eating dinner with a friend on my patio (another rare treat), I headed up to Bernal Hill to take a few snapshots.

No clouds. No wind. No chill. No noise. Just a sparkling city below, Sutro Tower blinking lazily from Twin Peaks, and an orange half-moon rising over Oakland.

Ephemeral Summer

Here’s another one from the same vantage point, with a passing car tracing the route along Bernal Heights Boulevard:

Ephemeral Summer

Let’s enjoy this while it lasts, people.

PHOTOS: Telstar Logistics

The Thin Line Between Fog and Not-Fog

/ Todd_Lappin / 6 Comments

There Is No San Francisco Without The Fog. It Defines Us.

Last night, photostar Bob Horowitz snapped the amazing photo you see above. It was a clear night in Bernal, but when Bob looked downtown from Bernal Heights Boulevard, he saw that the skyscrapers were shrouded in a thin layer of spooky fog that covered the ground like a whispy blanket.

I know this because I happened to drive down Bernal Heights Boulevard just a few hours later, and the spectacle impressed me so much that I also stopped to take a few photos of my own:

Fogliner

DSC_0658.jpg

But the funny thing is… I didn’t know that Bob had captured a similar shot; it was only after I got home and took a peek inside the Bernalwood Flickr group that I noticed we’d both been beguiled by the same phenomenon. Great minds, blah blah blah…

PHOTOS: Top, Bob Horowitz. Below, Telstar Logistics

Fog and Sun: Two Flavors of Bernal Hill Time-Lapse Video

/ Todd_Lappin / 17 Comments

Joe Thomas lives in Bernal Heights, and from his house he’s got a nice view of the tower atop Bernal Hill. He recently used that to good advantage by creating this chiaroscuro time-lapse video that shows the tower coming in and out of view amid the all-encompassing fog that is our fate this time of year.

For something a little warmer, Joe also made a sunny-day video taken from the same spot:

Also, following up on our previous post about how Bernal’s microwave tower needs a name, Joe proposes that we call it “Sutrito.” I quite like that, actually. “Sutrito Tower.” (The mini-me resemblance is undeniable.) Thoughts?

UPDATE: 23 Aug 2011

Rebel La Lenguan Burrito Justice shot some superb time-lapse video recently that shows Sutro Tower (aka Sutro Grande) floating in a river of fog. Behold: