Beginner, Intermediate, and Beyond. . .
The Lake Tahoe ski resorts will always be special to
me. When I lived in California I
frequented Lake Tahoe every time I had an extra day off, or every time there was a
snowstorm. Lake Tahoe wasn’t just where
I learned to snowboard as a 20 something, it was the first time I interacted
with snow at all. It was the area where
I first went down a green, a blue, or a black run, or hit a jump in a terrain
park. Since I lived in California for 4
years and snowboarded there for 3 of them, I visited most of the ski resorts in
the area. Here, I will give a brief
review of each of them in my opinion of the skill level they are best suited
for. If you are advanced you can
probably skip the first section, as I am starting with. . .
Beginner
By beginner, I mean probably will not make it past the bunny
hill. This period of time may be shorter
for those learning to ski, but for snowboarding it can take up to a week as
snowboarding is more difficult to pick up.
For beginners I recommend Boreal.
Boreal isn’t exactly in Lake Tahoe, it is in Truckee, which is a short
drive to the northwest. Skiers and
snowboarders could easily stay in the immediate Lake Tahoe area and drive to
Boreal each day. Boreal is one of the
smallest resorts I have ever seen, but it is cheap to snowboard there. When I was first learning I did not make it
past the greens of the mountain, and at some resorts that is less than 10% of
the runs. So I refused to snowboard at Heavenly
and pay over $100 for a one day lift ticket when I would only be lapping the
same 3 runs over and over. Boreal offers
deal like $15 Fridays for students and military. I took three lessons at Boreal when I was
first learning, because at the time they had a great package deal. My first day included a lift ticket for the
bunny hill, my rental gear, and a lesson for $80, a steal as I only practiced on
the bunny hill. On the second and third
days, I got the same deal for $30 each day.
After completing three days of this program, the resort gave those who
completed it a season pass for the remainder of the season. I never got the season pass as by the third
day I was ready for longer runs at larger resorts. Boreal also has night skiing on the bunny
hill if you are not a morning person like my boyfriend. I usually stopped by 5 PM, because conditions
were so icy, but he snowboarded until they closed.
Also in the beginner group is the Donner Ski Ranch. This small resort is near Boreal ad across
the street from Sugarbowl. It is larger
than Boreal, although by no means large.
It also offered mid week deals, where rentals and lift ticket combos
cost $35. I had a bad experience in the
rental office as the employee kept giving me the wrong size board and putting
the bindings on completely different from how I usually rode. Despite my protests, he didn’t change it
until my boyfriend came over and told him to.
That was only one employee though, and seeing how I only visited Donner
Ski Ranch once, I can’t give a more in depth review. Another thing to keep in mind is that Donner Ski Ranch has no snow-making
abilities, limiting their dates of operation more than other resorts.
 |
| Enjoying the easy runs and fresh snow at Donner Ski Ranch. |
 |
| The small mountain at Donner Ski ranch. |
Beginner-Intermediate
Once I began exploring more of the mountain beyond just
greens, but was still not ready to drop a ton of money on lift tickets for the
Vail resorts, I frequented the resorts in this category. Mount Rose, Sierra-at-Tahoe, Sugarbowl, and
Homewood all fall into the Beginner-Intermediate category. We found many good deals for these
resorts. They routinely give out free
lift tickets to attendees of the snowbomb ski and snow festivals in San Jose
and San Francisco. Considering the cost
of admission is less than $20 to snowbomb, and we usually snagged lift tickets
to 2-3 of these resorts at a time, I would say that is a good deal. The resorts of this category all also offer
other independent deals. For example
Mount Rose used to have ladies day on Tuesday when lift tickets were $25, and
Sierra-at-Tahoe has had buy one day get one free specials in the past.
As for which of these resorts I would recommend out of the
four, I would definitely recommend Mount Rose and Sierra-at-Tahoe over
Sugarbowl and Homewood. Mount Rose and
Sierra-at-Tahoe have express lifts that go all the way from the base of the
mountain to the summit, and they are really easy to get off of, coming almost
to a full stop at the unloading ramp.
Sugarbowl and Homewood require skiers/riders to hop scotch from lift to lift to
reach the summit, and some of the lifts are challenging for beginners to
disembark from. Also, for some reason at
Homewood there is no green that connects the beginner area at the top of the
mountain and the main base, this created a challenge for me to get back to my
car. Homewood does have awesome views of
Lake Tahoe, and Sugarbowl had the best powder I have experienced, which may
make these resorts more attractive to more advanced snowboarders.
Snowboarding down a blue run at Sierra-at Tahoe, early in my snowboarding career.
Intermediate-Advanced
The resorts that I recommend for solid intermediate and
advanced snowboarders are all of the California Vail Resorts (Heavenly,
Northstar, and Kirkwood) and Squaw Valley.
By the time I got to the level where I could really enjoy these resorts I
bought a season pass, because it was by far the best deal for the amount I was
snowboarding. The pass I purchased was
good at all the California Vail resorts, and by buying it early, only cost me
$350. This may seem like a lot, but when
you consider daily lift tickets at Heavenly alone can cost $100, it puts the
price fo the season pass in perspective.
Northstar is by far my favorite California Resort. It offers long, wide, groomed runs, paired with long fast lifts that are easy to disembark from. Northstar was also less crowded than Heavenly or Squaw Valley every time we visited the area. I rarely had to wait in line more than one minute to board a lift, and many times I had a six pack chair all to myself. The runs on the backside experience sunshine from sunrise to sunset. This full sun developed a nice powdery layer by mid morning making the edges bite into the turns without catching. Burnout and drifter, a black and a blue, are my favorite runs at Northstar, both of which are locate on the backside. Burton has a progression park at Northstar, with some of the smallest/cutest features I have seen at any park. The progression park is a great way to try out going over a box or hitting a jump. It is also easily accessible off of the Vista Express lift. The staff at Northstar also engages more with guests than at other resorts I have been to. The only drawback of Northstar is that to park for free we had to park in a remote lot and take a shuttle in. Shuttles run fairly often, but at the end of the day when you are tired and just want to get your boots off, its an extra annoyance.
 |
| My boyfriend and I at the summit of Northstar. Lake Tahoe is in the background. |
Heavenly is located in South Lake Tahoe, or as close to it
as you can get. Heavenly has three
mountain bases in South Lake Tahoe, one of which is a gondola which is walking
distance to many hotels in California and hotel-casinos in Nevada. Heavenly resort actually spans areas in
California and Nevada. We could snowboard
in either state or in both. Be warned
the connector trails are rather narrow and can be flat at times, which may lead
to snowboarders getting stuck. I was not
the only snowboarder I saw pushing on these runs. Overall the blue runs at Heavenly run the
easier side of the difficulty spectrum, with mostly wide blue runs that range
from fairly short to rather extensive.
O’rion and galaxy are two examples of easy, wide blue runs at
Heavenly.
 |
| Upper California Trail at Heavenly. |
 |
| Heavenly the day after a snowstorm with beautiful Lake Tahoe in the background. |
Kirkwood may be my least favorite of the resorts in this
category, but that does not mean it is a bad resort. I have friends who love Kirkwoods mostly
ungroomed conditions and who do not mind that the chairlifts slingshot riders
down the unloading ramps at high speeds.
Kirkwood has a big mountain feel, with runs like the wall, while the
intimidating cliff face of the cirque presides over the valley below. Kirkwood also offers a number of hike in
gates for really advanced skiers/riders, and a snowcat service that for an
extra fee will transport riders into the back country. I have also been told that Kirkwood is hands
down the best resort for a powder day, which is not surprising due to its high
elevation. However, since Kirkwood
relies so much on natural snow, it does not have the snowmaking capabilities of
the other Vail resorts in the area. This
results in Kirkwood opening later in the season or having a rather limited run selection
for a longer period. Kirkwood is about
45 minutes south of South Lake Tahoe, and the road that connects it to the city
closes seasonally. This can make
Kirkwood a destination for an entire trip as getting to Lake Tahoe requires
driving completely out of the mountains, north, and then all the way back into
the mountains if the seasonal connecting road is closed.
The last resort I will review here is Squaw Valley, home of
the Olympics so long ago it is irrelevant when determining the quality of the
resort. Squaw Valley is larger than most
resorts in Tahoe, except for the Vail resorts.
It can be a nice choice for beginners who can afford to spend more on
their snow vacation as the beginner area is extensive and at the summit, with
downloading to the base via a gondola.
However, most of the more intermediate and advanced runs funnel into a
single intermediate run which brings all skiers and riders together into a
traffic jam which inevitably destroys the conditions of that run by mid
day. I downloaded on the gondola at the
end of the day, because the run was just so torn up.
Hotels
When we snowboarded at Northstar, we stayed in Reno,
Nevada. It’s a 20 minute drive from
Northsatar to Reno compared to an hour to South Lake Tahoe. Reno also has a plethora of cheap
hotel–casinos for less than $50 a night.
The main road we drove between Reno and Northstar is I-80, which is well
maintained and quickly plowed after a storm.
Other resorts that are more convenient to access from Reno include,
Mount Rose, Sugrabowl, and Boreal.
Most other resorts can be easily accessed from South Lake
Tahoe, especially Heavenly and Sierra-at-Tahoe.
South Lake Tahoe is a fun little town, half located in Nevada and half
in California. We almost exclusively
stayed on the Nevada side, because the casino-hotels were cheaper than regular
hotels in California. The casino-hotels
were also walking distance to the Heavenly gondola, although the casino-hotels
are all serviced by complimentary shuttles that carry skiers/riders to many
local resorts. Our favorite place to
stay was Mont Bleu. Usually we could get
a room for $30 a night. The rooms were
always large with giant bathtubs that looked like they belonged in the house of
a drug king pin. The pool are in and of
itself is an attraction, with giant fake rock formations and waterfalls. The entire pool area is indoors, allowing
access 365 days a year. South Lake
Tahoe, despite how expensive Heavenly is in general has delicious food and
drinks at reasonable prices thanks to extensive happy hour menus, favorites
include the Gunnbarrel Tavern in the Heavenly Village and Off the Hook for sushi. When I got up at 6 AM to go snowboarding for
7 hours, I always ate an early dinner usually well within happy hour time.
Rentals
I rented for the first two years I snowboarded, and except
for Boreal and Donner Ski Ranch, never in the Tahoe area. I always rented locally, as in near my
home. Rental prices were a fraction of
the resorts, and they never charged for the day I picked up or dropped
off. The rental shop I went to
exclusively was Helm of Sun Valley, which has locations in Santa Cruz and San
Jose. Even after buying my own gear (bought
my boots from them and the rest online), I still went to Helm for tune-ups and
waxes. There were many other rental
shops I considered in between my home and Tahoe, located in San Jose or
Sacramento, which offered similar prices.
I trusted the employees at Helm to rent me a set up indecent condition
and tweak the settings just how I liked them.
Getting to Tahoe
The closest major airport to the Tahoe area is in Reno, and
there are shuttle services that transport visitors from the Reno airport to
hotels in South Lake Tahoe. I have not
used these services, but if I return to the Tahoe area I would seriously
consider using one of these services.
Last I checked they were less than $50 round trip per person. Pairing this shuttle service with a hotel
that has a shuttle service to resorts in the area eliminates the need to rent a
car.
 |
| Driving my car in a snowstorm in the Lake Tahoe area. |
Other Random Things
Other activities do exist in the Tahoe Area other than
snowboarding and skiing. Snowparks
provide an arena to build snowmen and launch snowball fights. Cross country ski trails cover the summer
golf courses. One unique experience that
I especially enjoyed was taking a curling class, as in that sport we watch in
the Olympics every four years where men and women in track suits slide stones
across ice while their teammates sweep the area in front of the stone to
regulate the speed. The Tahoe curling
club teaches learn to curl lessons once a month, where novices gain an
introduction to the rules, and get to practice their new skills. We joined the learn to curl class on our last
trip to the Tahoe area, and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. The cost was equivalent to that of a movie
ticket, but I am sure more memorable.
Trying my hand at curling in South Lake Tahoe.
No comments:
Post a Comment