One day in Tahoe

[gmcunni]

I have business in Sacramento on Thrusday and was planning to sneak off to Tahoe for a single day of skiing on Friday before returning home.

If you had one day to ski in the Tahoe area where would you go? I'm looking for a variety of terrain: steeps, bumps and cruisers.

I've never been to Tahoe before and I was all set to go to Heavenly until reading a few comments here in some older messages. There was one note that Heavenly was just like Killington. I can ski Killington any time, I want the Tahoe day to be something "different".

Thanks,
Gary

 

[dmc]

Sugarbowl... Great smaller area... Near Donner... closer to Sac.
Alpine Meadows... Awesome - open... Steep...
Squaw.. Maybe a little more glitzy... Still really sweet...

 

[pepperdawg]

2nd for Alpine -


Heavenly=Killington then Alpine Meadows=Sugarbush

Not mentioned, but Mt Rose is a cool little joint too...

 

[SIKSKIER]

Definately Alpine Meadows and Kirkwood is fun too.

 

[tekweezle]

Just came back from a week in Tahoe. they haven;t had any new snow in about a week so luckily, we were skiing on the remmants of the last 6-8 foot dumping.

for the best variety, Squaw valley was my favorite. it had a right combo of steeps, cruisers and bumps all over the place and coverage was excellent considering the spring like conditions.

for steeps, I thought Kirkwood was great. the day I went, the snow quality did not degrade as badly. However, alot of the runs are straight up and down.

Heavenly was okay as it is the closest to town. however, I think they had the worst conditions due to skier traffic. maybe not so bad on a weekday though. the lift and trail layout was confusing though. I got stranded at a remote base area after making a wrong turn did not allow me to get back to the Gondola for downloading.

I see you are going to be there on a friday so I would avoid Heavenly. it was a madhouse with everything atypical of west coast skiing-lift lines and crowded slopes filled with beginners on the blue runs.

 

[billski]

march 2

I did the same thing as you (biz in Sacramento) ski on Fri/Sat (I stayed overnight till sunday) in early March.

Squaw was suprisingly empty on Friday 3/2 when I was there. (excepting 9am startup lines)
Alpine Meadows was uncrowded as far as I was concerned on Saturday 3/3.
Both areas are about 2 hours from Sacramento when roads are clear.
From a freeway point of view, you will have no problem with the times you select, mostly contra-commute. Watch your speed on I80.

Squaw has some very challenging terrain, I really liked the glades over at Snow King peak after getting my jollies on the other peaks. Lots of bumped up stuff in the bowls. I didn't care for groomers, where 90% of the skiers are. Limited choices with groomers which is where you'd be for cruising.

Here is my homework: http://www.firsttracksonline.com/boards/viewtopic.php?t=2887 and my trip report

 

[ts01]

I did the "one day in Tahoe" trip two yrs ago, coming from SF on business; skied Friday afternoon/evening at Squaw + Boreal, then flew back east on a redeye from Sacramento.

My impressions: you cannot go wrong with Squaw Valley, it's a classic, and it's closer to Sacramento than Heavenly or Kirkwood if I remember right. Even though it's HUGE you can cover it (in a superficial way) in a day -- I got there at lunchtime, managed to ski at least 2 runs on each lift and many more on my favorites (Sunbowl and Granite Chief ? Hazy ...) I'd really want several days to do it justice, but a one-day sample was nice too. I was there in March on a warm day and it was great; sunny but plenty of snow underfoot from December/January 10-foot storms ... Tekweezel just confirmed current conditions are OK.

If I did another one-day trip though, all other factors being equal, chances are I'd go to Sugar Bowl; it's even closer and with 1500 acres + 1500 vert, there's plenty for a day of skiing, and I've read that the terrain there is really nice.

You might also want to ask on epicski.com or firsttracksonline.com forums where more west-coast skiers can respond.

Have fun.

 

[dmc]

If I did another one-day trip though, all other factors being equal, chances are I'd go to Sugar Bowl; it's even closer and with 1500 acres + 1500 vert, there's plenty for a day of skiing, and I've read that the terrain there is really nice.

Sugarbowl kicks ass... it's got tons of soul and sick terrain..

I will never go to Tahoe again without a visit...

 

[jerryg]

Heavenly is NOTHING like KMart. I spent 8 days in Tahoe this winter and whereas Heavenly can be confusing if you don't read signs, too many people put it down because they get confused there. I didn't even need a trail map. It has a LOT of intermediate terrain and does get a lot of skier traffic on weekends, but I find that most people who put down Heavenly are looking for one thing, steeps. They don't have the extent of expert terrain that SV of Kirk have, (But Motts, Milky Way, and Killebrew are plenty for most people) nor do they have the extent of bowls that AM has, but they have everything. It is, however, too big a mountain to cover in one day. If you park at the wrong lodge, it can take up much of you day. This is a very large area.

For a one day shot. Alpine Meadows, Kirkwood, or Sugarbowl. For week, a different conversation altogether.

 

[wa-loaf]

My Votes for Kirkwood, but I haven't been there since 1987 so my info is a little dated.:-D

Crap, i just realized that's twenty years! :blink:

 

[tekweezle]

my impression of Heavenly, having only skied it on a friday this past week is that it;s the most popular resort with the tourists by virtue of being in town with the least path of resistance. the other resorts require some travel time which could cause the least dedicated to not go. it was the easiest to get to and as expected, the most crowded. with alot of snow, it would have been awesome. I like the groomers that make you look like you are skiing into the lake. unfortunately, there hasn;t been alot of snow and I did ski it on a friday. I did hit the milky way bowl and it was good. I heard from others that Motts was not so good. Heavenly has got some nice glades with deep, untracked snow. unfortunately, the rest of the mountain was pretty skied off and the cruisers looked like the Belt Parkway/Great Eastern/Great Northern at times.

 

[thebigo]

another vote for alpine meadows, less crowded than the other larger resorts, lower priced, great terrain, friendly

dont even consider heavenly

 

[jerryg]

dont even consider heavenly

Unless you arrive and they get 7 feet of snow like when I was there and skied mid-week. I agree that weekends are a bad idea, but Heavenly's a great all-around resort with something for everyone. It's one of the few places I've skied where the locals were willing to share great places to ski and I actually got a guided trip from a patrol to some sweet stashes, but then again; I'm from Maine and they like people from Maine. Motts and Killebrew are only good after a storm.

Everyone likes resorts for different reasons. To tell someone not to go to a resort isn't the best way to approach the question. The better way is to ask what they are looking for in a ski experience. As I have noted, the bigger resorts are not the best for one-day trips, but a perfect one might be Sierra-At-Tahoe or Sugarlowl. Mt. Rose could be great, too, but it can miss the storms.

 

[Geoff]

Heavenly has nothing at all in common with Killington. The Mott's Canyon part of the resort is like Sugarbush Castlerock on steroids. It's loaded with intermediate terrain... something Killington has very little of. I like the place but it's not my first choice at Tahoe other than the view. South Lake Tahoe is also a butt-ugly town.

All my old ex-Killington friends who moved to the Bay Area tend to have season passes at Squaw. It's the same big brash sprawling kind of place. The best way to describe it is as a "mini-Whistler". The skiing is 100x better than Kmart. Midweek, I think this is your best choice.

Alpine Meadows is far more laid back than Squaw. It's much smaller but is still big by eastern standards. Great terrain and a good vibe. A better choice on weekends.

I've only done one day at Sugar Bowl. It skis far bigger than the number of acres. I was very entertained.

 

[bobbutts]

Can't really go wrong at any of the resorts in Tahoe for one day.
Heavenly is kind of like Killington in that it can suck if you don't know your way around and are the type that likes to try and hit everything. But that's about where the similarities end. There is more terrain than you can hit in a year with a pass.
Another comparison, The Face at Heavenly is like Bear Mt at Killington on Steroids

 

[gmcunni]

Wow, thanks for all the responses.. to think, i was hesitant to post a question about Tahoe in the "Northeast Ski Area" forum..

I'm less sure now about where to go but you guys have given me lots of great suggestions.. At this point i'll book a cheap hotel centrally located and investigate all my different options.

THANKS!!

 

[snoseek]

one day. i would go to squaw or kirkwood. both will kick your ass. kirkwood is a decent drive from sacremento. both have sections that can scare almost anyone.

 

[drewfidelic]

Out in Tahoe, I've only skied Heavenly, Kirkwood and Squaw. Between those three, I'd go with Squaw for one day only.

Heavenly, I'd skip because it skis like a series of interconnected little pods, with lots of traversing around. (I was last there a number of years ago-- before the gondola was installed and stayed at the tram base, so there was lots of riding lifts and traversing, particularly to get to Mott/Kilbrew, which have some nice legit terrain.)

Kirkwood is all legit terrain. Again, I was there before they had any HS lifts, so it a more old-school vibe and may ski differently now. It wouldn't be a bad choice.

Squaw has great terrain, feels huge and is easy to ski between the different peaks and lifts.
________
PORNSTARS BLOWJOB

 

[gmcunni]

An interesting twist has come up. I will be finished up in Sacramento around 3:00 PM on thursday. I found out Squaw has night skiing until 9 PM... i think i just got an extra 1/2 day of skiing added to trip !! ! !

 

[ts01]

An interesting twist has come up. I will be finished up in Sacramento around 3:00 PM on thursday. I found out Squaw has night skiing until 9 PM... i think i just got an extra 1/2 day of skiing added to trip !! ! !

Boreal also has night skiing, it's right at Donner Pass. I had planned my afternoon/evening trip to Squaw but found after I got there that they had closed night skiing that evening so I went to Boreal. You might want to call and confirm they'll be open that evening; if not, Boreal is fun in a "little place that rocks" kind of way; mostly boarders hanging around the park, I took tons of laps on a short steep part with some guy training for a masters race, we had that all to ourselves.

Also in the for what it's worth dept the terrain open for night skiing at Squaw is basically a long shallow cruiser that goes down the valley floor, not all that exciting: http://www.squaw.com/winter/nightskiing.html . But, if you hightail it out of Sacramento you've got natural light late in the day thanks to change in daylight savings.