Skiing Rag "Best Mtns in No. America"

Savemeasammy · Aug 30, 2016

bdfreetuna said:
I think Mt Rose is the furthest from SLT and that's just about an hour. That's peanuts.

I think my wife could do Mott from what I've seen on YouTube. That and the chutes at Mt Rose. Maybe not the most difficult ways down, but one or another line in the general vicinity.

So, 5 days, here's how attached I am to each one..

Heavenly: 100%. Staying at the base plus I have the itch to ski it.
Sierra-at-Tahoe: 90%. I hear the trees are something special.
Alpine Meadows: 90%. I do want the "wide open bowl" experience and this looks as good as any.
Mt Rose: 70%. Looks really fun chutes to me but I could be swayed.
Homewood: 70%. Trees look good but I could be swayed.

So at the expense of Mt Rose / Homewood

I am hearing I should ski Squaw on of those days instead. I think Kirkwood would be the other obvious choice.

So, in theory:

Heavenly
Squaw
Kirkwood
Sierra-at-Tahoe
Alpine Meadows / Homewood (wild card day, depends on weather and what we feel like skiing)

Does that sound like a more proper Tahoe experience? I feel bad leaving out Mt Rose for some reason. There's always a chance due to convenience and the fact we're doing 5 days in a row that Heavenly will get 2 days and knock another one off the list.

I lived in Incline Village, and never made the trip to Mt. Rose. It just didn't seem worth it. Homewood? Really? C'mon, Tuna.... If you ski north Lake Tahoe, and you want to be challenged, Squaw is a must. Period. I was a pass holder at Alpine, and you will find plenty of challenge there as well. If you are staying in south Lake Tahoe, then Kirkwood is a must.

Sent from my iPad using AlpineZone mobile app

deadheadskier · Aug 30, 2016

The Birch trees are typically the first species to come in when there's a hole in the canopy. They'll survive to grow big like that if evergreens fill in to block the wind. Wildcat screwed up cutting Mountain Jag glade by leaving pretty much only the Birch trees and they got crushed by wind. Hence why that area has been roped off for several years now.

That photo was taken out near T Brook. I took a walk through there this summer to see if there's any areas off the main river gully that might be skiable. As you can tell by the picture, the answer is No. When I got out of there my arms and legs looked like I got attacked by a bobcat.

Smellytele · Aug 30, 2016

Savemeasammy said:
I lived in Incline Village, and never made the trip to Mt. Rose. It just didn't seem worth it. Homewood? Really? C'mon, Tuna.... If you ski north Lake Tahoe, and you want to be challenged, Squaw is a must. Period. I was a pass holder at Alpine, and you will find plenty of challenge there as well. If you are staying in south Lake Tahoe, then Kirkwood is a must.

Sent from my iPad using AlpineZone mobile app

mt. rose is good when the lower evals are raining

Edd · Aug 30, 2016

To be clear, even though I'm pushing Squaw, Sierra and Homewood are both excellent ski areas, IMO. Sierra's trees should be seen, for sure.

bdfreetuna · Aug 30, 2016

Not even 100% sure we're doing Tahoe now. My wife and I were talking last night, it's basically a $3000 trip (plus 1 week of RCI time share usage @ ~30,000 points).

Having not bought tickets yet we could still back out of the time share with no penalty. Considering our options. We could take half of that $ and save it and put the other half towards trips to SL/SB(if it opens), Mont-St-Anne & Le Massif, Stowe/Smuggs, Whiteface/Gore..

Indecision time.

Jully · Aug 30, 2016

bdfreetuna said:
Not even 100% sure we're doing Tahoe now. My wife and I were talking last night, it's basically a $3000 trip (plus 1 week of RCI time share usage @ ~30,000 points).

Having not bought tickets yet we could still back out of the time share with no penalty. Considering our options. We could take half of that $ and save it and put the other half towards trips to SL/SB(if it opens), Mont-St-Anne & Le Massif, Stowe/Smuggs, Whiteface/Gore..

Indecision time.

That's definitely the biggest detractor for any western trip for me as well. The trips I've taken have been great, but going back is just so hard to justify the expense.

dlague · Aug 30, 2016

deadheadskier said:
These are what NH trees look like without human intervention. They're almost impossible to enjoyably walk through nevermind try and link turns on skis.

That is what I call tight trees - no fun at all!

bdfreetuna · Aug 30, 2016

It's a fine line between lots of fun and no fun at all

(bolton valley - lost girlz)

dlague · Aug 30, 2016

bdfreetuna said:
Not even 100% sure we're doing Tahoe now. My wife and I were talking last night, it's basically a $3000 trip (plus 1 week of RCI time share usage @ ~30,000 points).

Having not bought tickets yet we could still back out of the time share with no penalty. Considering our options. We could take half of that $ and save it and put the other half towards trips to SL/SB(if it opens), Mont-St-Anne & Le Massif, Stowe/Smuggs, Whiteface/Gore..

Indecision time.

Any trip to wherever that involves flights, lodging, food, rental car, etc. is definitely going to cost more than going local or even doing local weekend trips. Our Banff trip was expensive IMO when we went to CO it was about half the cost of going to Banff. But the skiing at both was much better than the Northeast IMO. to each their own.

deadheadskier · Aug 30, 2016

bdfreetuna said:
It's a fine line between lots of fun and no fun at all

(bolton valley - lost girlz)

View attachment 20599

I guess if you prefer slow, very calculated turns and frequent stops to reassess your line than something like that would be fun.

I prefer trees with more flow that allow you to let your skis run more.

Those trees remind me of a shot off Polecat at Wildcat that ive skied a couple of times for variety, but IMO don't flow well.

The first half of this video has the trees I'm talking about. (Not my video)

https://youtu.be/5orjRDdMIdY

bdfreetuna · Aug 30, 2016

Ah yeah I have seen that video of the woods off Polecat. Haven't skied it (been a long time since Wildcat) but it kind of reminds me of something like Chinclip woods at Stowe.

Another good example of that kind of thing is Exterminator Woods at Mt Ellen or Busted at Pico (left of Poma Line)

And yeah that's basically my favorite type of skiing, stuff like that, and then when it opens up eventually you can get a lot more speed going.

jimk · Aug 30, 2016

No doubt long distance ski travel is expensive, esp. airfares, motels and food. I guess one of the ways I rationalize my ski travel is by trying to keep costs down on things I can control. I usually brown bag my lunch even at super upscale resorts. I don't hesitate to stay at hostels when they fit my itinerary. I follow threads like skiing on the cheap for helpful deals. And I watch out for foolish extravagence.

Back in 2005 I was riding the super slow chair Galaxy chair at Heavenly and had plenty of time to chat with a young gentleman from Florida who was riding the chair with me. He was visiting Heavenly for 10 days of skiing. He had also made it clear that he'd come to gamble at the famous nearby casinos of Stateline, NV. I finally asked him bluntly, “up or down?” The answer wasn’t pretty. He was down enough to fund about five additional ski trips to Heavenly. I guess that is one of the hazards or joys of a Heavenly vacation, depending on whether - Luck Be A Lady Tonight.

deadheadskier · Aug 30, 2016

bdfreetuna said:

Too each their own, but I wouldn't call the first five minutes of that even skiing. (Didn't watch beyond that) Long stretches of just side slipping, tree hugging and occasionally a turn made.

But if it's what you like, go for it.

bdfreetuna · Aug 30, 2016

deadheadskier said:
I guess if you prefer slow, very calculated turns and frequent stops to reassess your line than something like that would be fun.

I prefer trees with more flow that allow you to let your skis run more.

Not everyone can be this guy :lol: (Mt Ellen footage)

deadheadskier · Aug 30, 2016

bdfreetuna said:
Not everyone can be this guy :lol: (Mt Ellen footage)

Impressive skiing

4aprice · Aug 30, 2016

dlague said:
Any trip to wherever that involves flights, lodging, food, rental car, etc. is definitely going to cost more than going local or even doing local weekend trips. Our Banff trip was expensive IMO when we went to CO it was about half the cost of going to Banff. But the skiing at both was much better than the Northeast IMO. to each their own.

I have always found the trip out west to be worth the money spent. Skiing wise you can't top it. Another factor for me is the weather. Its great skiing in nice weather then coming down the mountain (particularly in SLC, but in Denver too) to even nicer weather. We've now set ourselves up to where our housing and transportation needs are set up in both cities saving us a bundle when we go out. Got my Max Pass tickets too.

Alex

Lake Hopatcong, NJ

bdfreetuna · Aug 30, 2016

4aprice said:
I have always found the trip out west to be worth the money spent.

Hope so. Wife says "Let's go to Tahoe!"

I'll take that as an affirmative and order our Ski Lake Tahoe 6-pack tickets in the next couple days.

The Lake Tahoe Six-Pack includes:
• 1 ticket valid at Heavenly, Kirkwood or Mt. Rose–Ski Tahoe
• 1 ticket valid at Heavenly or Sierra-at-Tahoe® Resort
• 1 ticket valid at Sierra-at-Tahoe® Resort or Kirkwood
• 1 ticket valid at Squaw Valley, Alpine Meadows or Mt. Rose–Ski Tahoe
• 1 ticket valid at Squaw Valley or Northstar California
• 1 ticket valid at Alpine Meadows or Northstar California

$887.95 for 2 6-packs

So based on these tickets we'll do Squaw Valley, Alpine Meadows, Mt. Rose, Kirkwood, Sierra-at-Tahoe, and Heavenly (with possibility of 2 days at Heavenly at the expense of either Kirkwood or S-a-T if we get lazy)

She also says don't worry we can ski all we want not including Tahoe :daffy:

abc · Aug 30, 2016

I thought Squaw "terrain doesn't even appeal" to you, why go there? :roll:

The same holds true for Alpine too. It's just a smaller version of Squaw.:evil:

with possibility of 2 days at Heavenly at the expense of either Kirkwood or S-a-T if we get lazy)

Yeah right, Heavenly over Kirkwood.

bdfreetuna · Aug 30, 2016

I'm going out there to visit family, figure we'd ski some new mountains while we're at it.

Staying at the base of Heavenly so I could see doing a double header there out of convenience.

This is all mid week too so I'm not really worried about crowds at Heavenly or where ever.

dlague · Aug 30, 2016

bdfreetuna said:
It's a fine line between lots of fun and no fun at all

(bolton valley - lost girlz)

View attachment 20599

I do not consider that tight trees. That looks fun! In fact I can show you some great lines at Keystone from Dercum Mountain and also from North Peak or off Chair 8 or Chair 1 at Loveland or on the backside of Cooper. It is not all open bowls.

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