TR: Tahoe - Seven days, seven resorts, seven feet of snow.

I spent a week skiing around lake Tahoe March 1-8 this year. We hit a
different resort each day, just to see what was what. Seven days. Seven
different resorts. And it dumped snow for three days.

A major storm (avalanches, I-80 closed, white-outs, etc.) came through
while we were there, making the conditions very different from day to
day (and hence place to place). I'm still not sure how much of the
varying conditions was due to temporal or spatial differences, so what
follows may not be applicable in general..


SUNDAY Diamond Peak

DP's a smallish resort on the Nevada side overlooking the lake. A good
place to go on weekends to avoid the crowds. Nothing particularly steep
or gnarly, but it's rumored to have some of the best tree skiing in the
area as few people ever venture into the trees there, making the
freshies last for days or weeks after the storm.

The day we were there DP was hurting for snow - large bare spots in
places, and anything that hadn't seen a groomer in recent memory was
refrozen crud.

Ouote of the day: "Dude, this looked a lot better from the lift." - one
snowboarder to another as they sat in the middle of a bunch of refrozen
crud under the lift.

PRO: low key, cheap, not crowded, great views of the lake
CON: smallish, not as challenging as others in the area, lower elevation
means thicker heavier snow and (sometimes) thin cover.



MONDAY Heavenly

The storm started the night before, leaving ~10 inches of heavy wet
stop-you-in-your-tracks sierra cement. The groomed stuff was nice, the
ungroomed was um... tedious.

The storm continued throughout the day, closing the upper lifts. This
meant that it was impossible to get back to the Nevada side if you went
to to the CA side, so we stayed in NV. I suppose we only saw about 20%
of the place. As the snow kept falling, the newer stuff was lighter
than the previous-night's snow, so by early afternoon there was enough
light stuff on top of the glop to go off the groomers. I found a very
cool easy tree run called "The Pines"

We parked at the Stagecoach lift to dodge the zoo at the Main base.
Good thing, as the Gondola was closed.

Quote of the Day: "I've had a season pass for 17 years, and these are
the worst conditions I've ever see here." - a local passholder who was
not used to skiing in low visibility.

PRO: Big. Terrain for all abilities. Allegedly great views of the lake,
though we couldn't see it. Vail Resorts (and all that entails)
CON: expensive. crowded. Inedible overpriced food (Seriously, how can
you **** up chili?) Vail Resorts (and all that entails)

NB: I thought I'd try to find our favorite Tai-Chi practicioner, but
didn't see him. From what I gather, he hangs on the CA side mostly, and
as we were stuck on the NV side, we never crossed paths. Next time,
perhaps?


TUESDAY: Homewood

Homewood is the forgotten gem of Tahoe. About half the time I mentioned
it to people at other resorts they hadn't even heard of it. I'm not
sure if it was just the day I was there, but Homewood stands out as one
of the best resorts I've been to. I'd unhesitatingly go back.

By this time, it had been snowing for 48 hours, and it continued to dump
throughout the day. Much lighter fluffier stuff than anything we saw the
rest of the trip - more like Colorado than the Sierras. It was snowing
so hard and the patrons were spread out enough that every run was fresh
tracks.

Meanwhile, Alpine Meadows was closed due to the storm. Squaw managed to
get two or three lifts running, but lost a patroller in an avalanche in
the process. What was a great day for us was not so great elsewhere.
Many thanks to lal for cluing me in to Homewood as a place to take
refuge from the wind: "If it's windy, head to Homewood or Flatstar"

Quote of the day: "WHOO-HOOO!" - heard from just about everybody...

PRO: laid back, inexpensive, friendly, good protection from the wind in
a storm, allegedly great views of the lake (but we couldn't see it)
CON: mostly fixed grip lifts, minimal facilities



WEDNESDAY: Northstar

Northstar, like Squaw and Heavenly, is a big destination resort. Big
destination resorts like to make just getting to the hill an
"experience" - so, it's park a mile away, take the shuttle to the
village, walk a half mile through the village, then get on the gondola
that takes you to the lift that takes you to where you can actually ski.
Sheesh.

Anyway, Northstar is ok. The storm had abated, the sun had returned,
and the powderhounds were out in force. The thing is, the "powder" was
two feet of the thickest heaviest gloppiest stuff I've seen in recent
memory. We kept watching snowboarders getting stuck in knee-deep goo.
It was possible to take little nibbles of the untracked, but you had to
make sure you could dive back onto the groomed before you stopped and
sunk in the mire. The groomed was, well, groomed, but the abundant crowd
turned it into two foot high piles withing a couple hours.

Meanwhile, at Heavenly the snow was so deep and thick that a skier had
to be extracted from chest-deep stuff by helicopter.
http://www.rgj.com/article/20090304/...4060/1321/news

Quote of the day: "I should have brought my snowshoes." - skier hiking
back up out of an ungroomed run where he'd dropped in and come to a dead
stop in thigh-deep mashed potatoes.

PRO: fast lifts, lots of easy cruisers, good in a storm
CON: overpriced destination resort


THURSDAY: Squaw Valley

Squaw is humbling. If you think you're good, that you can ski anything
in-bounds with good form and with a smile on your face, go to Squaw.
High pucker-factor terrain is within easy reach of the base without
having to hike or look for it or anything. It'll put you in your place,
if it doesn't kill you first.

The real stuff at Squaw is out of my league. Let me just say that up
front. Fortunately, there's some lower angle terrain that the
powderhounds don't bother with, so I got to ski basically as much
untracked as I wanted. Of course, by this time what I wanted more than
anything else was to rip easy groomer-cruisers, so we spent most of the
morning in the Snow King area.


I had a good time, but Squaw is not my thing. Too crowded. Too "type
A". Too expensive.

Quote of the day: "The Cable Car is a neat way to excise 45 minutes out
of your ski day" - me, after riding it

PRO: Big. Lots of long cruisers. serious steep stuff, if that's your thing.
CON: big destination resort, snobbish attitude from the clientelle (most
were much better skiers than I, but still...), half hour wait to buy
tickets in the morning, very touristy feel.



FRIDAY: Alpine Meadows

This was the big day where I got to ski with lal. The storm had
re-appeared (or maybe it was another storm) so it was snowing and
blowing as we rode the lift in the morning. Not a big dump, but
visibility was poor. Especially at the top - ridge gusts of over 50mph
made for white-out conditions as we dropped into Alpine Bowl. I
couldn't see a damn thing, just white nothingness 360 degrees around me
- eventually I found a groomer track and followed it down, on the
assumption that the tracks wouldn't lead to a cliff (or if they did, I
would have heard about the groomer that drove off the cliff)

At that point, we decided to ski the bottom half of the hill. Good
cruisers, but the off-groomed pretty tracked up. Heavier snow that I
saw at Homewood, but much lighter than N* or Heavenly. Basically, the
snow was good, and we skied the easier groomer-cruisers as lal took some
detours or shortcuts to hit the ungroomed. I followed on occasion.


Once the weather cleared somewhat, Lal wanted to go hike for the good
stuff, but I explained that with the low visibility, avalanche danger,
our lack of beacon, shovel, probe it probably wasn't a good idea. (I
didn't mention that my emergency rum flask was low, but would have had
he pressed the issue.) So, mostly we stayed on the easier terrain. We
did make it back up to the ridge to drop in the Wolverine bowl.

By noon, it was Pilsner Urquel time. For lal anyway - I was bound and
determined to ski til four, and I knew that a beer at noon at 8000 feet
would make that unlikely or dangerous, so I abstained. After Lal left
to tend to the dogs, we explored the Lakeview area and the Sherwood
backside.

Nice place. Memo to self: next time, stay closer to Homewood / Alpine.

PRO: laid back vibe, nice people, good terrain, good snow, modern lifts
(mostly), no upper limit as far as challenging terrain.
CON: a littly pricey, food was sub-par



SATURDAY Mt Rose

I have mixed feelings about Mt Rose. On the one hand, it was the first
and only day of the trip where the groomers had flattened the snow into
the firm smooth conditions that I like to rip, so I was finally able to
ski fast (in my element, as it were). On the other hand, Mt Rose has
the steepest blue terrain of anywhere I've ever been, except *maybe*
Taos. There aren't many "cruisers" there.

(See http://3dskimaps.com/mtrose/ for a topo/steepness map - the blue
runs approach 30 degrees, and it's sustained - compare, to, say
http://3dskimaps.com/alpinemeadows/ or http://3dskimaps.com/northstar/
where the blue runs don't get much above the low 20s)

I wouldn't recommend Mt Rose for anyone who's below solid intermediate.
Most of the other resorts have a bit more easy terrain.

Mt Rose basically gives season passes away to the locals ($200), so it's
crowded on weekends. If I go back, it'll be midweek.

PRO: good cruising, but not that much of it. steep terrain, if thats
your thing. great views of the desert
CON: steeper than I'd like, crowded on weekends


So that's it. More info availabe upon request.


//Walt

Walt wrote:
I spent a week skiing around lake Tahoe March 1-8 this year. We hit a
different resort each day, just to see what was what. Seven days. Seven
different resorts. And it dumped snow for three days.

A major storm (avalanches, I-80 closed, white-outs, etc.) came through
while we were there, making the conditions very different from day to
day (and hence place to place). I'm still not sure how much of the
varying conditions was due to temporal or spatial differences, so what
follows may not be applicable in general..


SUNDAY Diamond Peak

DP's a smallish resort on the Nevada side overlooking the lake. A good
place to go on weekends to avoid the crowds. Nothing particularly steep
or gnarly, but it's rumored to have some of the best tree skiing in the
area as few people ever venture into the trees there, making the
freshies last for days or weeks after the storm.

The day we were there DP was hurting for snow - large bare spots in
places, and anything that hadn't seen a groomer in recent memory was
refrozen crud.

Ouote of the day: "Dude, this looked a lot better from the lift." - one
snowboarder to another as they sat in the middle of a bunch of refrozen
crud under the lift.

PRO: low key, cheap, not crowded, great views of the lake
CON: smallish, not as challenging as others in the area, lower elevation
means thicker heavier snow and (sometimes) thin cover.



MONDAY Heavenly

The storm started the night before, leaving ~10 inches of heavy wet
stop-you-in-your-tracks sierra cement. The groomed stuff was nice, the
ungroomed was um... tedious.

The storm continued throughout the day, closing the upper lifts. This
meant that it was impossible to get back to the Nevada side if you went
to to the CA side, so we stayed in NV. I suppose we only saw about 20%
of the place. As the snow kept falling, the newer stuff was lighter
than the previous-night's snow, so by early afternoon there was enough
light stuff on top of the glop to go off the groomers. I found a very
cool easy tree run called "The Pines"

We parked at the Stagecoach lift to dodge the zoo at the Main base. Good
thing, as the Gondola was closed.

Quote of the Day: "I've had a season pass for 17 years, and these are
the worst conditions I've ever see here." - a local passholder who was
not used to skiing in low visibility.

PRO: Big. Terrain for all abilities. Allegedly great views of the lake,
though we couldn't see it. Vail Resorts (and all that entails)
CON: expensive. crowded. Inedible overpriced food (Seriously, how can
you **** up chili?) Vail Resorts (and all that entails)

NB: I thought I'd try to find our favorite Tai-Chi practicioner, but
didn't see him. From what I gather, he hangs on the CA side mostly, and
as we were stuck on the NV side, we never crossed paths. Next time,
perhaps?

The only good way to find him is to call the
day before. Or perhaps you'll hear someone in
a lift line howling like a coyote.

TUESDAY: Homewood

Homewood is the forgotten gem of Tahoe. About half the time I mentioned
it to people at other resorts they hadn't even heard of it. I'm not
sure if it was just the day I was there, but Homewood stands out as one
of the best resorts I've been to. I'd unhesitatingly go back.

By this time, it had been snowing for 48 hours, and it continued to dump
throughout the day. Much lighter fluffier stuff than anything we saw the
rest of the trip - more like Colorado than the Sierras. It was snowing
so hard and the patrons were spread out enough that every run was fresh
tracks.

Meanwhile, Alpine Meadows was closed due to the storm. Squaw managed to
get two or three lifts running, but lost a patroller in an avalanche in
the process. What was a great day for us was not so great elsewhere.
Many thanks to lal for cluing me in to Homewood as a place to take
refuge from the wind: "If it's windy, head to Homewood or Flatstar"

Quote of the day: "WHOO-HOOO!" - heard from just about everybody...

PRO: laid back, inexpensive, friendly, good protection from the wind in
a storm, allegedly great views of the lake (but we couldn't see it)
CON: mostly fixed grip lifts, minimal facilities

I wholeheartedly agree with your assessment of
Homewood. It's a gem. I only skied there once
and would indeed go back again.

WEDNESDAY: Northstar

Northstar, like Squaw and Heavenly, is a big destination resort. Big
destination resorts like to make just getting to the hill an
"experience" - so, it's park a mile away, take the shuttle to the
village, walk a half mile through the village, then get on the gondola
that takes you to the lift that takes you to where you can actually ski.
Sheesh.

Anyway, Northstar is ok. The storm had abated, the sun had returned,
and the powderhounds were out in force. The thing is, the "powder" was
two feet of the thickest heaviest gloppiest stuff I've seen in recent
memory. We kept watching snowboarders getting stuck in knee-deep goo.
It was possible to take little nibbles of the untracked, but you had to
make sure you could dive back onto the groomed before you stopped and
sunk in the mire. The groomed was, well, groomed, but the abundant crowd
turned it into two foot high piles withing a couple hours.

Meanwhile, at Heavenly the snow was so deep and thick that a skier had
to be extracted from chest-deep stuff by helicopter.
http://www.rgj.com/article/20090304/...4060/1321/news

Quote of the day: "I should have brought my snowshoes." - skier hiking
back up out of an ungroomed run where he'd dropped in and come to a dead
stop in thigh-deep mashed potatoes.

PRO: fast lifts, lots of easy cruisers, good in a storm
CON: overpriced destination resort


THURSDAY: Squaw Valley

Squaw is humbling. If you think you're good, that you can ski anything
in-bounds with good form and with a smile on your face, go to Squaw.
High pucker-factor terrain is within easy reach of the base without
having to hike or look for it or anything. It'll put you in your place,
if it doesn't kill you first.

The real stuff at Squaw is out of my league. Let me just say that up
front. Fortunately, there's some lower angle terrain that the
powderhounds don't bother with, so I got to ski basically as much
untracked as I wanted. Of course, by this time what I wanted more than
anything else was to rip easy groomer-cruisers, so we spent most of the
morning in the Snow King area.


I had a good time, but Squaw is not my thing. Too crowded. Too "type
A". Too expensive.

Quote of the day: "The Cable Car is a neat way to excise 45 minutes out
of your ski day" - me, after riding it

PRO: Big. Lots of long cruisers. serious steep stuff, if that's your
thing.
CON: big destination resort, snobbish attitude from the clientelle (most
were much better skiers than I, but still...), half hour wait to buy
tickets in the morning, very touristy feel.

The day I was there it was raining cats and dogs.
I asked a guest service droid where he would go
on a day like that. He recommended Granite Chief,
where it had actually snowed a foot the night
before and had good, though heavy, freshies.

I stopped for lunch and rung out my clothes.
Did same at 4 PM. Determined that skiing at
Squaw in the rain was almost as much fun as
skiing Killington in the rain.

FRIDAY: Alpine Meadows

This was the big day where I got to ski with lal. The storm had
re-appeared (or maybe it was another storm) so it was snowing and
blowing as we rode the lift in the morning. Not a big dump, but
visibility was poor. Especially at the top - ridge gusts of over 50mph
made for white-out conditions as we dropped into Alpine Bowl. I
couldn't see a damn thing, just white nothingness 360 degrees around me
- eventually I found a groomer track and followed it down, on the
assumption that the tracks wouldn't lead to a cliff (or if they did, I
would have heard about the groomer that drove off the cliff)

At that point, we decided to ski the bottom half of the hill. Good
cruisers, but the off-groomed pretty tracked up. Heavier snow that I
saw at Homewood, but much lighter than N* or Heavenly. Basically, the
snow was good, and we skied the easier groomer-cruisers as lal took some
detours or shortcuts to hit the ungroomed. I followed on occasion.

That's what we did this year in the blizzard.

Once the weather cleared somewhat, Lal wanted to go hike for the good
stuff, but I explained that with the low visibility, avalanche danger,
our lack of beacon, shovel, probe it probably wasn't a good idea. (I
didn't mention that my emergency rum flask was low, but would have had
he pressed the issue.) So, mostly we stayed on the easier terrain. We
did make it back up to the ridge to drop in the Wolverine bowl.

Down low you could have gone over to gunner's knob.

By noon, it was Pilsner Urquel time. For lal anyway - I was bound and
determined to ski til four, and I knew that a beer at noon at 8000 feet
would make that unlikely or dangerous, so I abstained. After Lal left
to tend to the dogs, we explored the Lakeview area and the Sherwood
backside.

Nice place. Memo to self: next time, stay closer to Homewood / Alpine.

PRO: laid back vibe, nice people, good terrain, good snow, modern lifts
(mostly), no upper limit as far as challenging terrain.
CON: a littly pricey, food was sub-par

Hey, I got a good deal with my old fogie discount.

Too bad. We both missed the best stuff at Alpine
this year. I was hoping that at least you get some
goods there with LAL. Scotts at least. Down through
the woods is neat there too.

SATURDAY Mt Rose

I have mixed feelings about Mt Rose. On the one hand, it was the first
and only day of the trip where the groomers had flattened the snow into
the firm smooth conditions that I like to rip, so I was finally able to
ski fast (in my element, as it were). On the other hand, Mt Rose has
the steepest blue terrain of anywhere I've ever been, except *maybe*
Taos. There aren't many "cruisers" there.

(See http://3dskimaps.com/mtrose/ for a topo/steepness map - the blue
runs approach 30 degrees, and it's sustained - compare, to, say
http://3dskimaps.com/alpinemeadows/ or http://3dskimaps.com/northstar/
where the blue runs don't get much above the low 20s)

I wouldn't recommend Mt Rose for anyone who's below solid intermediate.
Most of the other resorts have a bit more easy terrain.

Mt Rose basically gives season passes away to the locals ($200), so it's
crowded on weekends. If I go back, it'll be midweek.

PRO: good cruising, but not that much of it. steep terrain, if thats
your thing. great views of the desert
CON: steeper than I'd like, crowded on weekends


So that's it. More info availabe upon request.


//Walt

JQ wrote:
"Walt" wrote in message

(trim)

So that's it. More info availabe upon request.


//Walt


Very nice TR, wish I could have been there to share in the fun...

Yes, very nice TR, sorry I didn't say so
in my earlier reply.

JQ
Dancing on the edge

I had fun with Walt when he came to Killington,
Are you going to make up this way before
everything melts JQ?

"Walt" wrote in message
...
I spent a week skiing around lake Tahoe March 1-8 this year. We hit a
different resort each day, just to see what was what. Seven days. Seven
different resorts. And it dumped snow for three days.

A major storm (avalanches, I-80 closed, white-outs, etc.) came through
while we were there, making the conditions very different from day to day
(and hence place to place). I'm still not sure how much of the varying
conditions was due to temporal or spatial differences, so what follows may
not be applicable in general..


SUNDAY Diamond Peak

DP's a smallish resort on the Nevada side overlooking the lake. A good
place to go on weekends to avoid the crowds. Nothing particularly steep
or gnarly, but it's rumored to have some of the best tree skiing in the
area as few people ever venture into the trees there, making the freshies
last for days or weeks after the storm.

The day we were there DP was hurting for snow - large bare spots in
places, and anything that hadn't seen a groomer in recent memory was
refrozen crud.

Ouote of the day: "Dude, this looked a lot better from the lift." - one
snowboarder to another as they sat in the middle of a bunch of refrozen
crud under the lift.

PRO: low key, cheap, not crowded, great views of the lake
CON: smallish, not as challenging as others in the area, lower elevation
means thicker heavier snow and (sometimes) thin cover.



MONDAY Heavenly

The storm started the night before, leaving ~10 inches of heavy wet
stop-you-in-your-tracks sierra cement. The groomed stuff was nice, the
ungroomed was um... tedious.

The storm continued throughout the day, closing the upper lifts. This
meant that it was impossible to get back to the Nevada side if you went to
to the CA side, so we stayed in NV. I suppose we only saw about 20% of
the place. As the snow kept falling, the newer stuff was lighter than the
previous-night's snow, so by early afternoon there was enough light stuff
on top of the glop to go off the groomers. I found a very cool easy tree
run called "The Pines"

We parked at the Stagecoach lift to dodge the zoo at the Main base. Good
thing, as the Gondola was closed.

Quote of the Day: "I've had a season pass for 17 years, and these are the
worst conditions I've ever see here." - a local passholder who was not
used to skiing in low visibility.

PRO: Big. Terrain for all abilities. Allegedly great views of the lake,
though we couldn't see it. Vail Resorts (and all that entails)
CON: expensive. crowded. Inedible overpriced food (Seriously, how can you
**** up chili?) Vail Resorts (and all that entails)

NB: I thought I'd try to find our favorite Tai-Chi practicioner, but
didn't see him. From what I gather, he hangs on the CA side mostly, and
as we were stuck on the NV side, we never crossed paths. Next time,
perhaps?


TUESDAY: Homewood

Homewood is the forgotten gem of Tahoe. About half the time I mentioned
it to people at other resorts they hadn't even heard of it. I'm not sure
if it was just the day I was there, but Homewood stands out as one of the
best resorts I've been to. I'd unhesitatingly go back.

By this time, it had been snowing for 48 hours, and it continued to dump
throughout the day. Much lighter fluffier stuff than anything we saw the
rest of the trip - more like Colorado than the Sierras. It was snowing so
hard and the patrons were spread out enough that every run was fresh
tracks.

Meanwhile, Alpine Meadows was closed due to the storm. Squaw managed to
get two or three lifts running, but lost a patroller in an avalanche in
the process. What was a great day for us was not so great elsewhere. Many
thanks to lal for cluing me in to Homewood as a place to take refuge from
the wind: "If it's windy, head to Homewood or Flatstar"

Quote of the day: "WHOO-HOOO!" - heard from just about everybody...

PRO: laid back, inexpensive, friendly, good protection from the wind in a
storm, allegedly great views of the lake (but we couldn't see it)
CON: mostly fixed grip lifts, minimal facilities



WEDNESDAY: Northstar

Northstar, like Squaw and Heavenly, is a big destination resort. Big
destination resorts like to make just getting to the hill an
"experience" - so, it's park a mile away, take the shuttle to the village,
walk a half mile through the village, then get on the gondola that takes
you to the lift that takes you to where you can actually ski. Sheesh.

Anyway, Northstar is ok. The storm had abated, the sun had returned, and
the powderhounds were out in force. The thing is, the "powder" was two
feet of the thickest heaviest gloppiest stuff I've seen in recent memory.
We kept watching snowboarders getting stuck in knee-deep goo. It was
possible to take little nibbles of the untracked, but you had to make sure
you could dive back onto the groomed before you stopped and sunk in the
mire. The groomed was, well, groomed, but the abundant crowd turned it
into two foot high piles withing a couple hours.

Meanwhile, at Heavenly the snow was so deep and thick that a skier had to
be extracted from chest-deep stuff by helicopter.
http://www.rgj.com/article/20090304/...4060/1321/news

Quote of the day: "I should have brought my snowshoes." - skier hiking
back up out of an ungroomed run where he'd dropped in and come to a dead
stop in thigh-deep mashed potatoes.

PRO: fast lifts, lots of easy cruisers, good in a storm
CON: overpriced destination resort


THURSDAY: Squaw Valley

Squaw is humbling. If you think you're good, that you can ski anything
in-bounds with good form and with a smile on your face, go to Squaw. High
pucker-factor terrain is within easy reach of the base without having to
hike or look for it or anything. It'll put you in your place, if it
doesn't kill you first.

The real stuff at Squaw is out of my league. Let me just say that up
front. Fortunately, there's some lower angle terrain that the powderhounds
don't bother with, so I got to ski basically as much untracked as I
wanted. Of course, by this time what I wanted more than anything else was
to rip easy groomer-cruisers, so we spent most of the morning in the Snow
King area.


I had a good time, but Squaw is not my thing. Too crowded. Too "type A".
Too expensive.

Quote of the day: "The Cable Car is a neat way to excise 45 minutes out of
your ski day" - me, after riding it

PRO: Big. Lots of long cruisers. serious steep stuff, if that's your
thing.
CON: big destination resort, snobbish attitude from the clientelle (most
were much better skiers than I, but still...), half hour wait to buy
tickets in the morning, very touristy feel.



FRIDAY: Alpine Meadows

This was the big day where I got to ski with lal. The storm had
re-appeared (or maybe it was another storm) so it was snowing and blowing
as we rode the lift in the morning. Not a big dump, but visibility was
poor. Especially at the top - ridge gusts of over 50mph made for
white-out conditions as we dropped into Alpine Bowl. I couldn't see a
damn thing, just white nothingness 360 degrees around me - eventually I
found a groomer track and followed it down, on the assumption that the
tracks wouldn't lead to a cliff (or if they did, I would have heard about
the groomer that drove off the cliff)

At that point, we decided to ski the bottom half of the hill. Good
cruisers, but the off-groomed pretty tracked up. Heavier snow that I saw
at Homewood, but much lighter than N* or Heavenly. Basically, the snow
was good, and we skied the easier groomer-cruisers as lal took some
detours or shortcuts to hit the ungroomed. I followed on occasion.


Once the weather cleared somewhat, Lal wanted to go hike for the good
stuff, but I explained that with the low visibility, avalanche danger, our
lack of beacon, shovel, probe it probably wasn't a good idea. (I didn't
mention that my emergency rum flask was low, but would have had he pressed
the issue.) So, mostly we stayed on the easier terrain. We did make it
back up to the ridge to drop in the Wolverine bowl.

By noon, it was Pilsner Urquel time. For lal anyway - I was bound and
determined to ski til four, and I knew that a beer at noon at 8000 feet
would make that unlikely or dangerous, so I abstained. After Lal left to
tend to the dogs, we explored the Lakeview area and the Sherwood backside.

Nice place. Memo to self: next time, stay closer to Homewood / Alpine.

PRO: laid back vibe, nice people, good terrain, good snow, modern lifts
(mostly), no upper limit as far as challenging terrain.
CON: a littly pricey, food was sub-par



SATURDAY Mt Rose

I have mixed feelings about Mt Rose. On the one hand, it was the first
and only day of the trip where the groomers had flattened the snow into
the firm smooth conditions that I like to rip, so I was finally able to
ski fast (in my element, as it were). On the other hand, Mt Rose has the
steepest blue terrain of anywhere I've ever been, except *maybe* Taos.
There aren't many "cruisers" there.

(See http://3dskimaps.com/mtrose/ for a topo/steepness map - the blue runs
approach 30 degrees, and it's sustained - compare, to, say
http://3dskimaps.com/alpinemeadows/ or http://3dskimaps.com/northstar/
where the blue runs don't get much above the low 20s)

I wouldn't recommend Mt Rose for anyone who's below solid intermediate.
Most of the other resorts have a bit more easy terrain.

Mt Rose basically gives season passes away to the locals ($200), so it's
crowded on weekends. If I go back, it'll be midweek.

PRO: good cruising, but not that much of it. steep terrain, if thats your
thing. great views of the desert
CON: steeper than I'd like, crowded on weekends


So that's it. More info availabe upon request.


//Walt


Very nice TR, wish I could have been there to share in the fun...

JQ
Dancing on the edge

"VtSkier" wrote in message
...
JQ wrote:
"Walt" wrote in message

(trim)

So that's it. More info availabe upon request.


//Walt


Very nice TR, wish I could have been there to share in the fun...

Yes, very nice TR, sorry I didn't say so
in my earlier reply.

JQ
Dancing on the edge

I had fun with Walt when he came to Killington,
Are you going to make up this way before
everything melts JQ?

I would like to but my knees have not been doing to good. They have been in
major pain
since the beginning of February. My left knee (the most damaged) is really
bad, if I sit more than a few minutes I can't put full weight on it about 30
seconds to 1 minute when I get up. I only got out twice to ski this year,
getting off the lift is painful and scary.

If I decide to get up there I'll let you know, I know my son is dying to get
out there.

JQ
Dancing on the edge

On Tue, 17 Mar 2009 17:25:48 -0400, Walt
wrote this crap:




THURSDAY: Squaw Valley

Squaw is humbling. If you think you're good, that you can ski anything
in-bounds with good form and with a smile on your face, go to Squaw.
High pucker-factor terrain is within easy reach of the base without
having to hike or look for it or anything. It'll put you in your place,
if it doesn't kill you first.


Been there done it, Walt. Didn't have any problem. Didn't even drop
my rum flask.

Amateurs. Amatooors! I say.

And on the way home, I shot out the windows of that dumbass behind me
at the stoplight while I was taking notes, and discussing important
business on my cell phone. He was honking his horn at me when the
light changed green like he was in a hurry to go somewhere.




A mighty Hungarian warrior
The blood of Attila runs through me

A mighty Hungarian warrior wrote:
Walt wrote this crap:

Squaw is humbling. If you think you're good, that you can ski anything
in-bounds with good form and with a smile on your face, go to Squaw.
High pucker-factor terrain is within easy reach of the base without
having to hike or look for it or anything. It'll put you in your place,
if it doesn't kill you first.


Been there done it, Walt. Didn't have any problem. Didn't even drop
my rum flask.


Well, now that you mention it, I did notice that doing laps on the Gold
Coast Express lift bore a striking resemblance to doing laps on the
Heather Express at Boyne Highlands. Similar terrain, similar vertical.
I felt at home for an hour or so.

//Walt




Amateurs. Amatooors! I say.

And on the way home, I shot out the windows of that dumbass behind me
at the stoplight while I was taking notes, and discussing important
business on my cell phone. He was honking his horn at me when the
light changed green like he was in a hurry to go somewhere.

VtSkier wrote:
Walt wrote:

Down low you could have gone over to gunner's knob.


The Kangaroo lift was closed. It would have been quite a hike.


Too bad. We both missed the best stuff at Alpine
this year. I was hoping that at least you get some
goods there with LAL.

I think that we missed the good stuff more by choice than by timing. It
was there, we just whimped out when it came time to go hit it.

When ski patrollers are dying in avalanches and the locals are skiing
with shovels, beacons, and probes I tend to be a bit cautious. Must be
getting old...


Scotts at least. Down through the woods is neat there too.

We did a couple of runs off the Scott chair - the stuff in the trees was
a little crusty, so I only ventured there once. Otherwise it was
pretty good.


//Walt

JQ wrote:
"VtSkier" wrote in message
...
JQ wrote:
"Walt" wrote in message
(trim)

So that's it. More info availabe upon request.


//Walt

Very nice TR, wish I could have been there to share in the fun...
Yes, very nice TR, sorry I didn't say so
in my earlier reply.
JQ
Dancing on the edge
I had fun with Walt when he came to Killington,
Are you going to make up this way before
everything melts JQ?

I would like to but my knees have not been doing to good. They have been in
major pain
since the beginning of February. My left knee (the most damaged) is really
bad, if I sit more than a few minutes I can't put full weight on it about 30
seconds to 1 minute when I get up. I only got out twice to ski this year,
getting off the lift is painful and scary.

It's almost time for new ones.

If I decide to get up there I'll let you know, I know my son is dying to get
out there.

JQ
Dancing on the edge

VtSkier wrote:
JQ wrote:
"VtSkier" wrote in message
...
JQ wrote:
"Walt" wrote in message
(trim)

So that's it. More info availabe upon request.


//Walt

Very nice TR, wish I could have been there to share in the fun...
Yes, very nice TR, sorry I didn't say so
in my earlier reply.
JQ
Dancing on the edge
I had fun with Walt when he came to Killington,
Are you going to make up this way before
everything melts JQ?

I would like to but my knees have not been doing to good. They have
been in major pain
since the beginning of February. My left knee (the most damaged) is
really bad, if I sit more than a few minutes I can't put full weight
on it about 30 seconds to 1 minute when I get up. I only got out
twice to ski this year, getting off the lift is painful and scary.

It's almost time for new ones.

Yep. Locker neighbor got a new knee last spring; been skiing since last
fall opening without problems. She's late 60s now, so JQ, don't be
deterred by age.

(When it comes time I'm going for a whole body transplant.)


If I decide to get up there I'll let you know, I know my son is dying
to get out there.

JQ
Dancing on the edge