 Poster: A snowHead
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Just back from the states and had the opportunity to get my first stateside skiing around beautiful Lake Tahoe in California.
We stayed in South Lake Tahoe near Stateline but managed to ski a different mountain everyday. The locals were complaining about the poor snow year but most runs were open and still managed to find some powder over the five days.
The open road of the Nevada desert
We drove up from Las Vegas, it was about 9 hours drive time including breaks, some might say that was a long drive but I'd never driven through a desert before so impressive for me. Stayed at the 3 Peaks resort, nice self catering very close to the lake and the Heavenly gondola, they had a great hot tub also.
Day 1 Wednesday Sierra at Tahoe
I woke to fresh snow, about 3 inches. I hadn't chains for the car so took the free bus, it's about 30 minutes up to Sierra but took longer as the driver had to put on chains and then take them off again after about 100 metres. Sierra is a little inland on the Southern side of the lake on the road to Sacremento. Sierra is a nice locals resort untainted by the commercial greed of Vail resorts such as Heavenly, in other words their lift passes are reasonably priced and they don't rip you off on food and drink. Was very quiet with lots of tree skiing although cover a little thin between the trees in some areas. The new snow meant some nice float on piste. Some nice steep mogulled runs off the top of the mountain to skiers right. With more snow there would be loads more potential. One thing that was very noticeable was how friendly all the staff were, definitely the friendliest place we were all week. Another oddity was having Mexican for lunch, beats sauerkraut!
The lake from the top of Sierra
Day 2 Thurs Mount Rose
The view of the lake on the drive up
We decided to ski in Nevada today as it was Ladies Day at Mount Rose meaning a discounted lift ticket and free lessons for all women. Mount Rose is also higher than most of the Lake Tahoe mountans so can have better snow. It was a very scenic one hour east shore drive to get to the mountain that is situated on the NE side of the lake, very close to the gambling town of Reno. From the mountain on one side you could see the dry barren Nevada desert and on the otherside the snow capped crests of the Sierra Nevada and Lake Tahoe, quite a contrast.
Compared to Sierra the calibre of slider was much higher in Mount Rose and the open terrain also a little more challenging. The most famous off-piste, The Chutes was not open, there are steep couloirs all inbounds but off-piste. They needed a little more snow. Around the rest of the mountain the groomed runs were perfect although the ungroomed stuff was hit and miss with crust and bare patches in moguled areas. My wife was delighted with her lesson as she got the race trainer. Had a chat with the head ski race coach, Chuck Harrison in the afternoon, his squad were preparing for the weekend trip to Mammoth. He told me they had a 20 hours return drive from Idaho in Snow and sheet ice a few weeks back, makes my drive up from Vegas a walk in the park.
The Chutes with a view of the Nevada desert
The Chutes from below
Day 3 Friday Squaw Valley
Squaw is one of the most famous resorts in the Tahoe area as it hosted the 1960 Olympics. You might often see ski and snowboard movie clips from here as they have some serious terrain. My first surprise here is a chair lift called KT 22 with only steep off-piste options to get down, hadn’t seen that before and glad I didn’t go up there with my wife! Next surprise was seeing former US ski race and skiercross legend Daron Rahlves in the cable car. He lives just up the road in Truckee so Squaw is one of his closest mountains, although he is an ambassador for Sugar Bowl. I had a chat with him as I had hoped to enter his Banzai skicross race that weekend in adjacent Alpine Meadows however it had been postponed due to insufficient snow on part of the course. He was in good form and was excited to hear his Banzai event was attracting international interest. He suggested I delay my return flight so I could enter the Kirkwood race the following week, a tempting offer...
Daron and I
Squaw was the first mountain we’d been to that also had accommodation. It had a nice village area with plenty of shops and a few nice bars and restaurants. It was busier than the other mountains but still no lift lines. Got great value for our day tickets as had night skiing until 8pm so this allowed us a longer more relaxed lunch break. Snow conditions on piste were again perfect although the off-piste was generally bullet proof in the shade but some soft stuff could be found on the sunnier faces. Squaw has 3600 acres so is a big resort by Tahoe standards, it’s based over 6 peaks and has 44 lifts so a big operation.
Squaw from the cable car 
Day 4 Saturday Homewood
On Saturday we skied the quiet west shore resort of Homewood. The 40 minute drive was the same direction as Squaw but shorter. We again drove around the very scenic Emerald Bay, I’m glad the roads were dry as it’s a steep road and would be a challenge in snowy conditions. Homewood is known for it’s amazing views of the lake as the runs go right to lake level and you can even get a boat over from South Lake Tahoe. Best powder of the week with the snowfall from Wednesday and earlier untracked over much of the mountain.
Beautiful lake view 
Even though it was Saturday the mountain was quiet, I don’t think it ever gets too busy as it’s in the middle of the West Shore in a low population area. The views were indeed amazing and combined with some great pockets of untracked powder made for a fabulous day. The on mountain restaurants weren’t great but luckily the resort has also bought an old restaurant just across the road with amazing lake views. We had a five star lunch here for the same price as we’d have paid on the mountain.
Fine dining by the lake
Another beautiful lake view and empty piste
img]http://a7.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/404902_10150566803594317_584929316_9068024_554736896_n.jpg[/img]
Day 5 Sunday Kirkwood
Sunday was Super Bowl day and it was the day we were packing up and leaving the shores of Tahoe. Kirkwood is about one hour south of Tahoe. Kirkwood is meant to have the driest and most plentiful snow in the Tahoe area. It also is a fairly big mountain with 2300 acres and some serious steep stuff as well as nice intermediate and beginner terrain. The village itself is small with only one sports shop, maybe two pubs and one supermarket and a small amount of apartment accommodation. It’s also in a fairly isolated area with no real settlement less than an hour drive away. The shaded sections of the mountain were very firm off-piste but the backside of the mountain had some nice soft off-piste on the far right. They even installed a little drag lift to make this off-piste more accessible, how thoughtful.
As the Rahlves Banzai was going to Kirkwood the following weekend had to test the race track which was meant to start at The Wall. This is a steep off-piste run that was very firm the day I was there, would definitely separate the men from the boys on race day. After skiing watched the Super Bowl in the resort and then had a traffic free 3.5 hour drive down to the Bay Area.
View of the Golden Gate Bridge 
Summing Up
We had a great 5 days skiing in Tahoe, although the locals call it a snow drought year there was between 100 to 150 cm at the tops. This is nothing compared to what they normally get but because all the resorts are above 2000m it stays cold so there really isn’t any melting at this time of year. South Lake Tahoe is a fairly big place that stretches a long way down the south shore, you really need a car unless you are staying near Stateline and only want to ski Heavenly and Sierra. Tahoe City looks like it has a bit of life also and if you want to pay more Squaw could be fun to stay in. Would definitely recommend Tahoe, it’s a beautiful area, has great variety of terrain, endless tree skiing opportunities and would have awesome snow most years. To save some money either buy a season pass for a little at $299 at Kirkwood or use discount website Liftopia or with 10 gallons petrol purchase can get 2 for 1 tickets at some Shell stations on Nevada side.
Last edited by Poster: A snowHead on Thu 16-02-12 0:52; edited 3 times in total
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Some more photos added
Last edited by Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person on Wed 15-02-12 17:09; edited 2 times in total
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Nice trip report - but you could have got a free beer at Squaw if you had told me you were coming! 
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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skinanny, Sorry I should have announced my arrival! Is Squaw where you are based, a nice mountain.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Peter Ross, Great report. I skied this area some years ago, and this especially was the view that I have never forgotten:
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From the mountain on one side you could see the dry barren Nevada desert and on the otherside the snow capped crests of the Sierra Nevada and Lake Tahoe, quite a contrast.
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I found it just gobsmacking.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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Nice report and great pics, bring back some memories........ It's crazy being up on the mountian with a view of the lake (2nd largest alpine lake in the world I think?) and the desert on the other side.
I'd say CA as a holiday destination is my fav place in the world and have spent a few holdiays driving around the state doing 'a lap' in what is a relatively short distance where else can you have deserts, lakes, mountains, beaches etc? As for Tahoe it's a bit sprawling for my liking as a ski town and doesn't really work unless you have a car as you say I just thought it was shame to stick some high rise casinos in amongst an area of such natural beauty.
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Grizwald, Agree the casinos really don't fit in and South Lake Tahoe really goes a long way but at least it's hidden by the trees. Would definitely be better if it was more compact.
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Just thought i'd add a bit of Tahoe trivia.
The 'Bonanza' tv series was filmed in the area around Lake Tahoe and the 'Ponderosa' Ranch took it's name from the Ponderosa Pine tree that grows in these parts.
I agree that the contrast of opposite views of snow capped mountains one way and desert the other way is staggering.
I enjoyed skiing at Heavenly and staying in Tahoe City in a casino hotel. The pub outside the bottom gondola station witth the open flame flres and excellent food was my 'Local whilst there.
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Peter Ross, I live in the Lake District so it's kind of like sticking a great big high rise next to one of our lakes but the Americans may feel they have so many areas of outstanding natural beauty they don't mind?! I just remember standing on the shore and looking over and thinking that-we were welll over on the CA side. We took one of the boat trips over to Emmerald Bay, there was a travel show on C5 one day last week when they were in SLT-sadly they showed more snow shoeing than sliding.....
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Peter Ross, yes, Squaw is my home mountain. Can't say I notice the high rise casinos, when you live at the north end of the lake going to South Lake Tahoe is a long way! Lived on the north shore until last summer, then bought a house in Reno - it's a little different!
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