I thought you said you guys were staying in South Lake...?

And if you're staying in North Lake, and it's been snowing, the reason why you didn't go to Kirkwood is because it's a royal PITA to drive there especially when you have other resorts (which have more snow right now) closer to you.

 Yer not alone, bruddah.

 

And your post is a nice reminder that I still need to hook you up w/ some info in your thread. There are already some good recommendations in there. Like you, I'll be doing my best to appease the snow gods for some good pow during your trip. It's very possible that I can sneak up for a day to give you a li'l tour of my fave spots/runs.

 

Pray for powdah!

 

Hmmm.... I used slang, and this post seems fairly comprehensible. Just saying...

+1 to this!

 

Whenever I get tha jonesin' to huff paint, I just open this thread.

So if I get this straight, y'all had a place rented out in South Lake, yet despite the sage advice from myself & countless others, you rode Northstar? Plus, you had a pre-paid ticket to Kirkwood in your possession? There aren't enough Picard facepalms in cyberspace to express my WTF?-ness.

 

Btw, Piranha has it right that ya got no business referring to it as "Flatstar." Along w/ the reason he stated, you've got what... less than a dozen or so days in your entire snowsports career under your belt? Like the ESPN's NFL analysts say... C'mon Man!

 

Sorry so harsh, brah. I'm still on your side and would be happy to help out w/ suggestions & recommendations in an alternate universe & dimension. (Kidding about the last part.) But ya gotta, as The Rock says, KNOW YOUR ROLE!

 

yes, there is. the storm a week and half ago gave the resorts about 3-4 feet of snow. that opend up bunch of terrain that have been closed due to the lack of natural snow. some resorts, like kirkwood, has all of their runs open. i'd estimate that maybe 75% of the runs in the tahoe area are open. unfortunately, it's all pretty icy by now. another storm is supposed to hit in a couple weeks.

 

Did you screw yourselves over & do the opposite of what any of us recommended?

 

Again, keeping in mind that you've mentioned "not wasting time" a few times as well as making the most of your day on the mtn, I suggest riding Sierra on Fri & Sat, then Kirkwood on Sun.

 

According to this forecast (http://www.snowforecast.com/HeavenlyMountainResort) as well as others, we're in for some serious wind during these storms. Sierra is one of the 3 spots to go to when the winds pick up, so that's already one "plus." Through the Costco deal I mentioned, lift tix are only $80 a pair--i.e. $40 a pop or almost half off. That's another "plus" when compared to Heavenly where the deepest discount I've seen is only $10 off thru SaveMart supermarket--or $80-something a pop. !... esp. when you consider that their upper elevation lifts will likely be on wind-hold.

 

Finally, get as early a start as you can making y'all way to Kirkwood on Sun. Actually, this should be the case on Fri & Sat for Sierra, too. Luckily, Sun's snowfall will be less than what's supposed to dump on Fri & Sat (and the winds somewhat calmer), but it will take a bit more time to get there than it does for Sierra.

 

That's all I got. Good luck battling the elements as well as any sense of logic you may possess. And no excuses that your friends wanted to go in a diff. direction. I'll Tebow that you take heed of all the suggestions we've hooked you up w/. Stay safe, brah!

 

**EDIT** Here's the info on Costco's Sierra tix... Though it states that the promo ends today, I got an email that said tix will be available (while supplies last) til Jan. 29th.

 

 Nice! Guess I was right by phrasing it as "no love for Mt. Rose" then, eh?

 

Yes!!! HanaBanana's touch is needed in here. I suggested the same no-no abt cruising N*'s parks as a novice, but I don't think I was as delicate as you.

 

JAMM0N: Listen to Hana. A few yrs, I recall she got the scoop fr: helpful folks here abt doing Tahoe right when she & her crew rolled up fr: SoCal.

I don't EVEN want to bring Reno into this mess.  he'll try to walk there since its so close to Northstar on the map.  

 

P.S. Woohoo! Snow inbound!

 

 

I <3 the sarcasm. It's one of my blessings/curses.  It's been tough for me to resist.

 

JAMM0N: Your naïveté & geographically-challengedness (Yes, that's so a word!) are just like my sarcastic wit (when I choose to unleash it). That is, it has been a source of delight & annoyance. I'm trying my best not to be harsh, but it can be frustrating when your thought-train flip-flops & contradicts. We really are trying to help, but like Jerry McGuire pleaded...

 

 

I understand that you're not the trip planner, but you need to let whoever that is know that the only 3 resorts that should be on your radar with a rental cabin in South Lake are: (from closest to furthest) Heavenly, Sierra & Kirkwood. Period.

 

The only way a North Tahoe resort could factor in is if y'all leave the Bay @5am to ride Sugar Bowl or N* (only because you mentioned them 1st), then head down to check into the cabin after shredding.

 

Re: your post about wasting time, I'm sure you meant having to wait in line as a bummer. Since NOT wasting time is a priority I'll reiterate that Heavenly, Sierra & Kirkwood are the only resorts you should consider treking to. As I mentioned, the forecast is looking more likely that Tahoe will be getting steady snowfall throughout your entire trip. That means traffic will be slow-going--i.e. taking more time than usual.

 

Another quick question: is anyone in your group familiar with the Tahoe area?

Isn't that the point of paying the money for a lift ticket? Going up the lift, and riding down?

Anyway, I feel like you and your friends have absolutely no idea what you're doing. Sugar Bowl is a farther drive from South Lake than it is to Northstar fyi.

 

Luckily, I was able to stay on track w/ you through all those crazy bounces. I got that y'all are set up w/ a cabin in South Lake Tahoe for a few days starting around the 20th or so. Also, from what I peeped of your profile & some of your other posts, I see that you're just starting out. (Nice! Welcome to the family.) Are the others in your group beginners, too?

 

Like others have mentioned, why does your group want head to N* each morning when there are much closer options for you? Did they score some N* tix already?

 

From what others also noted, you should know that the 3 closest are Heavenly, Sierra-at-Tahoe & Kirkwood. "N* is huge" compared to the hills you've been learning on out in WI. These 3 spots compared to N*... Heavenly is twice as big and Sierra & The Wood are only slightly smaller in acreage.

 

I can kinda understand wanting to hit up N* to see if the parks are as dope as the kudos & props they've been earning over the past few years. But y'all should see plenty of that type of stuff in SoCal, esp. Bear Mtn. And if most of y'all realistically have no business venturing into all those features, I'd say pass on N* and instead enjoy the beginner parks at Sierra & Heavenly. Imho, they are great for starting out, esp. the Progression Park at Sierra!

 

I also see that you scooped up at least 1 Kirkwood ticket via the google offer. (Killer score!) Y'all can also hit up one of the Bay Area Costcos to grab tix: 2-pak for $100 to Kirkwood and 2-pak for $80 to Sierra. Essentially, they're 50 & 40 bucks a ticket respectively. Still a helluva deal!

 

-b

 

http://www.swaf.com/ 

 

And I'm not yet a SWAF.com member but I intend to join soon . . . I can't wait to adopt me one of those Ukrainian girls. 

 

-b

 

 

so you're staying in south shore, but going to ride at northstar all three days?

rough drive...

all the trails are NOT open, but they have the best/most terrain available right now anywhere in Tahoe.

 

i think as of last weekend, they opened the backside where some good black and blue grooms runs are. but, since you're still falling all over the place, it doesn't really matter that all the trails are open. you just need 1 green run, which has been open since november. don't know any current deals..but REI might have some slightly discounted tickets.

epic pass is vail resorts only - heavenly, northstar, vail, arapahoe basin, breckenridge and keystone...the other one they own is for skiers only, so we won't talk about that

 

General Admission is usually only on non-holiday weekdays unless it's early season or late season. It's a good deal for people who are starting out and can get there on weekdays.

 

Sugarbowl has had this "general admission" deal for a couple seasons now, where you pay the regular lift tix price and they give you rental & lesson for free!  I think Diamond Peak is trying to do this too this season, but I'm not positive.

 

i would recommend the nevada side of heavenly, sierra, and kirkwood for snowboarding. the rest are either smaller or longer drive.

 

in southern california, mt. high would be the closest to pasadena unless you want to try mt. baldy (a very small operation there if they're still open). you can also go to big bear and hit summit.

 

i would recommend just going to mt. high. shorter, easier drive and the snow is just as crappy.

 

you really need to figure out where you're staying to start asking questions about the location...

"i thought the travel would longer??" 

If it isn't, my bad. If it is, and you talk/type like that, christ man, get an education.

With that said, if you're going to South Lake in CALIFORNIA/NEVADA there are really only 3 resorts in the general vicinity, and only two within close driving distance from Stateline. Heavenly has a gondola right into the middle of downtown, which is awesome. Sierra at Tahoe is about 20ish minutes away, by car (weather conditions pending), from downtown. I'm sure there is a shuttle, but you cannot walk from Heavenly to Sierra. Kirkwood is also in the general area, but it's a farther drive (not exactly sure how long since I never go there).

There are more resorts on the North Shore (Sugar Bowl, Boreal, Alpine, Squaw, Northstar, Mt Rose, Homewood, etc) but it's going to take you a solid 45 min - 1 hour to drive to the closest one, if not longer. You can make a day trip out of it if you truly want to, but if I were you, I'd just stay and ride Heavenly.

 

Those aren't mutually exclusive squaw . . .

 

-b

 

you're either an extremely clueless person, or just plain dumb.

Salt Lake City.  Well you have Snowbird, Alta, Brighton, Park City, The Canyons, Deer Valley.  I'm not from the area, so I don't know much about them, just planned a trip for PC/Canyons this January.

There's a South Shore Utah?? or do you mean tahoe??? Where are you staying in Utah? Do you have a car? If you have a car you can easily access a bunch of resorts. In Utah, I would hit up Snowbird, Brighton, Powder, Snowbasin, and the Canyons. And California's a big place... are you talking so-cal, mammoth, Tahoe (or someplace else)?