Rental cars for western travel

[Teleskier]

Fingers crossed it's not another Utah (and being so close to SFO it probably isn't)

Lake Tahoe is my favorite destination so far. All of these areas are different but there’s no place like LT. Needs a direct flight from Boston, though.

Thanks, having never been there, that's good and encouraging to hear. Guess I'll find out. SLT is where I booked after the various unsatisfactory Kirkwood lodging interactions.

The Kirkwood slum-lord that cornered a huge number of rental places in the too-few buildings on-site to charge $400/night monopoly prices for his very dated single rooms with poor reviews, has the nerve to do so despite there being NO restaurants or supermarkets nearby. You'd have to bring 100% of your own food for the week by car and cook in every night, and be stuck in his drab dated room 24/7 with nowhere else to go, with a usually broken hot tub to boot. Sounds miserable, not luxury accommodation.

From the reviews, Kirkwood reads like a no-frills Cannon, yet charges Aspen prices. Guess I'll find out if it's truly worth that steep markup. I love no-frills Cannon, but would even I spend $400/night for nine days to ski it?

I reasoned that, either way, you're stuck driving an hour there and an hour back regardless:

1. Sleep at Kirkwood: walk to ski but drive an hour to dinner, and then drive another hour back, tired after dinner/drinks
2. OR
3. Sleep in SLT: Drive hour each way to ski, but you have both apres and restaurants next door at night (and casinos too if desired)

The place I ended up seemed clean, a good value, an always working hot tub, with apres, food, bars, grocery, nightlife nearby.

This seemed like a no brainer given all the skier risks (never been, so might not like it or feel it's worth $400/night, if there is no snow or Sierra Cement, at least I have dinner/apres/casinos/driving around the lake as fallback) versus the too-high financial risk of being stuck at the mountain with poor or no snow in a $400/night crappy room without any amenities around it, and hating it. I can read a book at home.

Of course, it could also dump snow and they close the road to Kirkwood for the week, and I'll be regretting it, but to me I'll play those odds and risk. I plan to explore the other nearby ski areas and drive the lake regardless, even if I stayed at Kirkwood.

Plus I can always go back to ski Kirkwood exclusively, if it really turns out to be THAT "pay any price" mortgage-your-house and cancel-all-your-summer-vacations amazingly rare-in-the-world fantastic. For $400/night it better be all that, versus for $100/night, it can just be a "good enough and fun enough" trip to be a success. For me. Your experience may vary. I like my odds where I booked.

 

[chuckstah]

South Lake Tahoe is a good choice, having stayed there several times. And yes, if it dumps you won't get to Kirkwood, or anywhere else for a while. I was stuck in SLT for 2 days with ALL ski areas closed after 96 inches. 3rd day we walked over a mile toHeavenly when it finally opened. Epic. 4th day the road to Kirkwood was open, and worth every white knuckle minute of driving. Oh, I've stayed in Kirkwood also, very convenient, and yes, there are indeed restaurant's bars and (overpriced) stores.

Sent from my moto e5 cruise using AlpineZone mobile app

 

[Edd]

South Lake Tahoe is a good choice, having stayed there several times. And yes, if it dumps you won't get to Kirkwood, or anywhere else for a while. I was stuck in SLT for 2 days with ALL ski areas closed after 96 inches. 3rd day we walked over a mile toHeavenly when it finally opened. Epic. 4th day the road to Kirkwood was open, and worth every white knuckle minute of driving. Oh, I've stayed in Kirkwood also, very convenient, and yes, there are indeed restaurant's bars and (overpriced) stores.

Sent from my moto e5 cruise using AlpineZone mobile app

I certainly enjoy Kirkwood, but in terms of SLT areas, I absolutely love Sierra-at-Tahoe. Great vibe and terrain. Good size. It just has it all.

But Kirkwood vs SAT is not a fair comparison. When it comes to big LT areas we’re talking about Kirkwood vs Heavenly vs Squaw.

Squaw wins it clear for me for the stunning geography although they’re all great for that. Heavenly, which I like quite a bit for its trees, is a shitshow with crowds. True locals know how to avoid them but Heavenly’s truly advanced terrain can be a bit much for me.

Squaw and Kirkwood seems to do a better job of dispersing crowds but there’s something about Squaw....

 

[chuckstah]

I certainly enjoy Kirkwood, but in terms of SLT areas, I absolutely love Sierra-at-Tahoe. Great vibe and terrain. Good size. It just has it all.

But Kirkwood vs SAT is not a fair comparison. When it comes to big LT areas we’re talking about Kirkwood vs Heavenly vs Squaw.

Squaw wins it clear for me for the stunning geography although they’re all great for that. Heavenly, which I like quite a bit for its trees, is a shitshow with crowds. True locals know how to avoid them but Heavenly’s truly advanced terrain can be a bit much for me.

Squaw and Kirkwood seems to do a better job of dispersing crowds but there’s something about Squaw....

Agree. I have 3 days total at SAT. All low key and low crowds. One great powder day. Squaw has great terrain, but I've never caught it at it's best. Had some great days at Heavenly, but if you don't know what you're doing you can traverse all day. And yes, Mott's and Killebrew are gnarly, especially if you don't know where you are going. I remember skiing what looked like a too good to be true untracked line, and then realized it was. Granite. Ouch. I would also recommend Homewood for a nice, low key day. Great terrain and even better views.

Sent from my moto e5 cruise using AlpineZone mobile app

 

[dblskifanatic]

Yea, I wasn't naming the name in case he had an actual reason for changing it (although in that case he probably wouldn't have used the same name that he already uses elsewhere). :razz:

Got a new phone and the app on the old phone would not allow me to change my password so .... create a new account!

BTW when we rented and SUV we rented from Fox which a creep rental but it worked.


Sent from my iPhone using AlpineZone

 

[jaytrem]

BTW when we rented and SUV we rented from Fox which a creep rental but it worked.

I used Fox this year for my Tahoe trip. Had no problems at all. Did a one way from Oakland to San Fran. 10 days, total price $362 for a Jeep Renegade. It was mid April though.

 

[Edd]

I would also recommend Homewood for a nice, low key day. Great terrain and even better views.

Agree totally! Homewood is amazing, with the best views of the lake. I hope to return.

 

[abc]

Well if you didn't start your interactions as attacking, people might read it differently.

There was no hint of irony there.

You know another thing that might help, adding a Worcester-invented smiley face. Tends to be a clue in written media when it's faceless "I don't know you, and you don't know me" media.

Just say'in.

Its not my problem if you don’t get the irony. Other “people” gets it.

Keep spewing garbage as you always do. Or perhaps you don’t even understand the word “garbage”?

 

[abc]

Agree totally! Homewood is amazing, with the best views of the lake. I hope to return.

Homewood is nice.

Mt Rose is also very nice.

Squaw-alpine, Heavenly, Kirkwood we all know. Northstar if you know where to go.

Lake Tahoe mountains each has its own distinct character. And all are fantastic mountains.

Last but not least, Mammoth is only a couple hours away.

All in all, fantastic area.

Just don’t come expecting blower powder. Even when I lived in the Bay area and going up every other weekend for 2 years, I only got it once! Instead, I got lots and lots of Sierra cement, feet and feet of it!

 

[asnowmobiler]

I used Fox this year for my Tahoe trip. Had no problems at all. Did a one way from Oakland to San Fran. 10 days, total price $362 for a Jeep Renegade. It was mid April though.

Stay away from Fox Rental near SLT.
The two times we used them, it took nearly two hours to get a vehicle, they were way understaffed and this was on a tuesday.

 

[BenedictGomez]

Stay away from Fox Rental anywhere

FIXED.

You are playing the automobile rental version of Russian Roulette when you rent from Fox.

It is not a "normal" rental car company, they have a very old fleet that is not properly serviced. I've seen and heard horror stories, and your tale of it taking almost 2 hours to get your vehicle is not unusual. There's a reason their prices are by far lower than all competition.

 

[Dirty White Boy]

FIXED.

You are playing the automobile rental version of Russian Roulette when you rent from Fox.

It is not a "normal" rental car company, they have a very old fleet that is not properly serviced. I've seen and heard horror stories, and your tale of it taking almost 2 hours to get your vehicle is not unusual. There's a reason their prices are by far lower than all competition.

I don't know or care about any of that, but why does your signature indicate that you want to exterminate an entire species? Are you psychotic?

 

[skifree]

I don't know or care about any of that, but why does your signature indicate that you want to exterminate an entire species? Are you psychotic?

summer has arrived early this year.

 

[Dirty White Boy]

summer has arrived early this year.

What summer? It's 62 and raining.

I think that signature line is beyond bizarre.

 

[BenedictGomez]

I don't know or care about any of that, but why does your signature indicate that you want to exterminate an entire species? Are you psychotic?

Of course I'm not psychotic; we're not seeking extinction, merely extirpation.

 

[cdskier]

What summer? It's 62 and raining.

I think that signature line is beyond bizarre.

What's bizarre is that you just registered on a northeast ski forum yet your first two posts are about criticizing someone's signature.

 

[Dirty White Boy]

Of course I'm not psychotic; we're not seeking extinction, merely extirpation.

Well then you should change the name of your LLC. Where do you seek this bird's extirpation and why?

 

[Dirty White Boy]

What's bizarre is that you just registered on a northeast ski forum yet your first two posts are about criticizing someone's signature.

No, chumly, that's not what's bizarre.

 

[cdskier]

No, chumly, that's not what's bizarre.

Yes it is.

Well then you should change the name of your LLC. Where do you seek this bird's extirpation and why?

It is also bizarre that you apparently seem to know nothing about this bird and its relation to skiing in the northeast if you're asking this question...

 

[BenedictGomez]

Well then you should change the name of your LLC. Where do you seek this bird's extirpation and why?

There's nothing wrong with the name.

The problem is you don't understand the difference between extermination & extinction.

It costs $125 to register a business name, and an additional $275 for the Federal trademarking. I'm not ponying-up $400 because some keyboard warrior didn't pay attention in 5th grade English class.