Tahoe Feb 18-23

[Erin808]

I haven't been back to Tahoe in the winter since 1996 or so... We are taking this trip with my sis and brother-in-law who are not really experienced. They are in charge of accomodation which is not even booked yet I def want my husband to hang out in South Lake so we will stay there 3 nights and probably closer to North Lake the other 2 nights. I want to ride at Northstar, Kirkwood, maybe Mt. Rose, maybe Alpine. I've actually never snowboarded in Tahoe -- the last time I was there I was a skiier

 

We've got time to plan. I told my sis that I was going to ride for all four days and she laughed, then said something about going to the spa.

[ColoradoHigh]

I thought you booked this for the 18th of December...if you hadn't booked accommodation yet, then you're fu*ked!

 

Then I saw you booked it for Feb. 18th-23rd. Have fun out there!

[Brian]

I haven't been back to Tahoe in the winter since 1996 or so... We are taking this trip with my sis and brother-in-law who are not really experienced. They are in charge of accomodation which is not even booked yet I def want my husband to hang out in South Lake so we will stay there 3 nights and probably closer to North Lake the other 2 nights. I want to ride at Northstar, Kirkwood, maybe Mt. Rose, maybe Alpine. I've actually never snowboarded in Tahoe -- the last time I was there I was a skiier

 

We've got time to plan. I told my sis that I was going to ride for all four days and she laughed, then said something about going to the spa.

Nice! I'm real jealous.

 

It's strange to think of a Tahoe trip w/o Heavenly or Squaw mentioned. I don't blame you for skipping out on one or the other .. maybe to avoid the crowds. But in my humble opinion.. it isn't a trip to Tahoe for me without going to Kirkwood, Squaw, AND Heavenly. Northstar is also a great pick.

 

As for toting around the sister and brother-in-law who aren't that experienced, you should be fine at every resort. They all have their challenging terrain, but plenty of easier areas... cept for Squaw now that I think about it. Their easier areas are kinda all right there by the upper lodge area... and then that long ass trail down to the lower lodge area...

[Erin808]

Everyone's done Heavenly bunches except my husband and it's expensive. Unless we get snowed in which would be too much to hope for I always forget about Squaw. I've only been there like twice but I remember it being far. When we would stay with friends in Truckee or Carnelian Bay they'd always go to Alpine, Homewood or Mt. Rose but not Squaw. But again could be crowds and cost. Thanks for the tip about the beginner area being mid-mountain. It means better snow but also they have to get down. They might not be that bad but I really don't know.

[Erin808]

Leaving Wednesday. Have a bunch of new gear meeting me there so it's like Christmas in February with a vacation thrown in. Going to play it by ear with the resorts.

 

They are getting a storm right now so I hope that makes up for a super dry January out there.

[CaptDave]

Thanks for the tip about the beginner area being mid-mountain. It means better snow but also they have to get down. They might not be that bad but I really don't know.

 

They can ride the tram up and down.

[rummy]

I have two friends who just got back from a week in Tahoe on Sunday. They got hammered with snow you should have a great time. They said South lake where they stayed was pretty dead and were very surprised at the lack of crowds. They skied Heavenly, Alpine Meadows, Homewood, and Sierra at Tahoe. First time at Sierra and were very surprised at how nice it was. They took advantage of a $35. mid week special there too.

[Brian]

Leaving Wednesday. Have a bunch of new gear meeting me there so it's like Christmas in February with a vacation thrown in. Going to play it by ear with the resorts.

 

They are getting a storm right now so I hope that makes up for a super dry January out there.

 

Have fun Erin, and remember to rub how much fun you had in my face when you get back!

 

 

They skied Heavenly, Alpine Meadows, Homewood, and Sierra at Tahoe. First time at Sierra and were very surprised at how nice it was. They took advantage of a $35. mid week special there too.

 

Sierra is actually one of my favorite mountains up there. But the key is to do it first or last.

 

Doing it first will let you "pregame" before you hit the REALLY big mountains out there (the less challenging terrain will give you a day to build up the strength in your legs.. yet it's still big enough to wow you coming from the East coast).

 

If you do it last you're probably beat from a week straight of skiing, so you can just chillax and have yourself a fishbowl and enjoy the Cali sun!

 

 

[Brian]

lmao.. that'd be me.

I think I had that done when I was like 19-20.

 

I had to answer the same question a million times to my friends and family: "What does it mean when both ears are pierced??"

lol... it means you don't want to have extra earings laying around your bedroom.

 

 

EDIT: Actually I'm not sure about my buddy in the middle (he *may* have both).. but me and my cousin do. I'm the one on the right with the noticeable earrings.

Edited February 17, 2009 by Brian

[Brian]

Haha.. it really doesn't mean anything. That whole symbolism thing went out in the late 80s early 90s and I don't think there's a gay guy out there that only has his right pierced. Only guys that are really afraid of being confused as being gay are the ones that do the single (left) ear.

[Melissa]

Hey Erin, hope you have a blast out there! Take some pictures and please post them. I like to live vicariously through others!

 

Brian, congrats on drinking faster than your friends. Did the fishbowls have swedish fish in them?

[Brian]

Brian, congrats on drinking faster than your friends. Did the fishbowls have swedish fish in them?

 

Haha! Thanks. They didn't.. just fruit.

They normally don't serve more than 1 to a person... but they served us two. They got us tarded... and when we went up for our third, they cut us off completely.

 

 

 

 

 

But a funny story...

Before that all happened (getting cut off), the tiki roof caught fire. So what better to do than take pictures from within the ashy mess.

 

[Erin808]

I don't think we are hitting up Sierra but we used to go there TONS growing up. We used to have a house in Strawberry However I would rethink that if they served a drink with swedish fish in it Compared to Brian my trip report would be weak. No smoking tikis or multiple ear piercings among the males in our group.

 

I am totally stoked to see my sister and ride Tahoe (I've only ever skiied there). Leaving in about two hours, I keep getting calls from my sister who is already there gambling and drinking cocktails. I will def post a trip report and will include at least a few pics when I return. I am not really an on-mtn picture taker so we shall see.

Edited February 18, 2009 by Erin808

[Erin808]

Back home, it was a great trip. My camera was not working -- I swear -- so no pics. Hit up Kirkwood for two days and Mt. Rose for one. Have to get through work today and will post some trip reporting later.

[Brian]

Welcome back! I'm looking forward to your report.

[toast21602]

no pics? not cool at all.

[Erin808]

Yeah no pics and in fact this is all made up. I was sitting at my apt in Philly all last week.

 

We got in Wednesday night late, our flight was delayed and we got to the hotel in Reno about 1AM which is past my bed time in any time zone. I had to convince my sister to get up early and hit the road. She is not an early riser and we were staying in Tahoe Thursday night so we all had to check out and leave. We finally left around 9AM and got to Kirkwood around 10:30. We had discount tix for $44 which was awesome. There was no new snow in 24 H but there was 26" in the last 72 and it was 35 at the base with blue skies. We got my borhter-in-law set up in the beginner area and checked out the front side. There were some really good runs off of the Cornice Express chair. The locals were SUPER nice. Everyone who I spoke with on the chair was a fount of knowledge on the different runs and conditions. The snow was as good as it gets without being powder but by the end of the day the warmth was starting to wear and it was a bit heavy. Helped out my bro-in-law for a few hours in the afternoon in the beginner area. Then just took some more front side runs on the Wall and Chair #11. There are some great wide open gullies that were not too steep and really fun. The tree cover on the front was nice too, very open.

 

Finished up and made our way to Harveys' in Tahoe (you know its where the party is, right?). Sweet room on the 17th floor with awesome lakeviews. Grabbed some dinner, did a littel gambiling -- mainly slots and roulette but lady luck was not with me so we hit the hay around 10PM.

 

Friday made it to the hill around 10AM but forgot our discount vouchers -- oh no! But my sister was able to fax them from the hotel (she skipped riding altogether) so overpayment was averted. We immed went to check out the backside and I was SO upset that we didn't make it there the day before. It's kind of a pain to get there, three lifts to get to the top and mainly just traverses between those lifts. And I am a total complainer but they could use some more detachable lifts. With the exception of the Cornice Express on the front side, all the lifts we took were fixed grip. The backside was serviced by one main lift and there was a t-bar along the ridge. I only took the t-bar once, the terrain it serviced was good but not great enough to make me want to traverse over there and take it up. There were two ridge-top surface lifts that are new this year. I guess all of that was only accesible by hiking. I heard more than a few locals joke about where they were going to install new t-bars. There was still a lot of in-bounds hikable terrain and there were a lot of people hiking it.

 

All in all I really, really liked Kirkwood. The people were super nice and the terrain was great. I thought some of their signage was off, like some blacks should be blues and some blacks should be double diamonds. But those are pretty minor. When we move back, I wouldn't mind getting a season pass to Kirkwood.

[ectobar]

If only you got there a day sooner. Wed was easily the best day of riding I've ever had. The mountain was entirely closed Monday, and the back remained closed on tuesday due to wind, so wed had days a fresh untouched everywhere. Completely insane.

 

My week was epic to say the least....

Sun, Mon @ Sierra (around 10inches each day)

Tues @ Squaw (first time the back was opened in a couple days, waist deep for most of the morning)

Wed, Thurs @ Kirkwood (wed was the first day the back was opened in a couple days)

Fri, Sat @ Alpine (thought I was in for a mediocre day but we found a couple fields of fresh that lasted the whole day)

[Erin808]

Awesome ecto! Sounds like you hit it right. I am still totally happy with what we got. With how dry January was out there it was just nice to get some fresh snow even if it was tracked out.

 

Saturday we took a bye. We were going to hit up Heavenly since we were checking out and going back to Reno (and its close to the hotel) but I heard conditions sucked and I didn't want to miss my spa appointment at 3. And we stayed out gambling late on Friday night. Some friends came into town on Saturday and we hung out, ate, drank and gambled I went to bed around midnight but the rest of the crew was at the tables until 7-9am.

 

We scrapped Northstar and opted for Mt. Rose because it was close and would be uncrowded. Also, there was an avalanche there the day before we arrived so my theory was -- if they had an ave, they have snow. But it was raining at the higher elevations and it snowing at the Rose base but just barely. It was a really wet system. The terrain at Rose is all pretty similar. Moderate steeps with some really good bumps. They have this area called the Chutes that is super steep in parts but the run out is really bad and you have to take a lift to get out and another lift to the top. It was great terrain and more protected from the storm. The light was FLAT outside of the trees. It was a day of Sierra Cement but still super fun.

 

And I was glad we went to Rose b/c I heard from some peeps at the hotel that it was raining at the base of Northstar and 2/3 of the lifts at Squaw were closed due to high winds. It was as much fun to hang with my family and friends as to ride. And we didn't make enough to pay for our trip but we did walk out of the casino up for the weekend

[ectobar]

They have this area called the Chutes that is super steep in parts but the run out is really bad and you have to take a lift to get out and another lift to the top. It was great terrain and more protected from the storm.

 

Good job hitting the chutes. I didn't make it to Rose this year, but last year I was only able to drag one of my buddies into the chutes because of how steep there where. Not sure which ones we hit, but they were definitely intense.

[Brian]

Excellent TR!

I'm so f'n jealous!