Tahoe in April

[Edd]

Went to Whistler 2 seasons ago for the first week in April. That worked out pretty well. No major dumps but great coverage and more skiing than I could handle.

This year I've got an offer for free lodging at Northstar in mid-April. Probably free lift tickets, too (for Northstar). Of course, I'd hit Heavenly for a couple of days and whatever else is worth trying.

Tahoe is far south of Whistler, however. Anyone familiar with conditions typical for that time of year? Any advice for an April trip to Tahoe is welcome. I've never been.

 

[deadheadskier]

Only advice I have is to take a neighbor with you :grin:

 

[Edd]

Only advice I have is to take a neighbor with you :grin:

Hey, hey, a buddy of mine from town may go, also! Newmarket invades Tahoe...

 

[deadheadskier]

Hey, hey, a buddy of mine from town may go, also! Newmarket invades Tahoe...

definitely kidding....but ....would love to join up, unfortunately west trips won't happen again for a couple of years until I pick up some extra vaca time. I earn my weekends skiing throughout the winter through taking the better half (non-skier) south for vacations in April.

 

[Geoff]

Went to Whistler 2 seasons ago for the first week in April. That worked out pretty well. No major dumps but great coverage and more skiing than I could handle.

This year I've got an offer for free lodging at Northstar in mid-April. Probably free lift tickets, too (for Northstar). Of course, I'd hit Heavenly for a couple of days and whatever else is worth trying.

Tahoe is far south of Whistler, however. Anyone familiar with conditions typical for that time of year? Any advice for an April trip to Tahoe is welcome. I've never been.

I've never bothered with Northstar. I have close friends who live on a golf course above Truckee who told me it's very intermediate. If you're staying there, you have some driving to do to get to the other ski areas. For free, it's not a huge hardship.

I've skied Squaw quite a few days in April and May with a smattering of other Tahoe areas at that time of year. Expect fantastic corn snow most of the time. Tahoe has 300 sunny days per year and most years, probably 25 days in April are sunny.

At Heavenly, Motts is like Castlerock at Sugarbush on steroids. A double chair serving steep fir trees. It's short but it's sort of like Outer Limits, the midmountain Blackcomb trail off the Crystal lift that drops down to the infinitely long runout from the glacier. Gunbarrel on the lower mountain of the California side is steep bumps. Almost all of the rest of Heavenly is intermediate. From Northstar, it's a haul to Heavenly since it's on the opposite side of the lake. Personally, I wouldn't bother. I'd focus on Squaw and try to catch a day at Alpine Meadows and Sugar Bowl or Mount Rose.

Squaw is like a mini Whistler. It spawls over several peaks so you can follow the sun around all day. You only have less than half the vertical of Whistler but it's loaded with good terrain. Californians seem to do other things in April and it's not particularly crowded on weekends. Like everywhere else around Tahoe, Squaw can be pretty busy on midwinter weekends.

I've always flown into Reno. It's a good desert airport with almost no weather issues. Rental cars are right there. The traffic in the Bay area is staggering. Unless you get a fantastic deal on a JetBlue flight to Oakland and land outside of rush hour, Reno is much better.

 

[loafnut]

What Geoff said. I used to live in Tahoe City.

Be aware that Tahoe is an oven in April. Its hot during the day and expect early morning corn and slush by early afternoon. It does snow a lot in april but the skiing is only good during the storm, as soon as it stops snowing , it immediately turns to mashed potatoes.

Ignore Northstar, its pretty flat and groomed, unless that is your thing. If you are in to backcountry, Alpine Meadows and Sugar Bowl are clear choices. Squaw has the best inbounds terrain and the lifts take you directly to the steeps. heavenly has great views, but I skied there a few times in april and mostly found boilerplate up top while the bottom had melted out. Big vert if there is still snow at the bottom. If you don't want to drive to heavenly and still want great lake views, you can try homewood. It is also flat and groomed like Northstar but it has great views and its cheap. Mt. Rose is decent, not as many steeps as sugar bowl/alpine/squaw but still pretty good, can have less snow than the others.

 

[Edd]

That's the kind of info I can use. Thanks fellas.

 

[billski]

I skied Alpine Meadows and Squaw at the end of March two seasons ago and I can only testify that all the above it true. As an easterner, I had a lot to learn AGAIN, (I never learn no matter how many times I've been out west....) My ski parka simply wasn't necessary, I was sweating beads. Some people were in t-shirts, I opted for a fleece vest. Even my helmet was steaming. Bring lots of suntan lotion. There were really no crowds or lines to speak of (the parking lots seem full, but there is so much skiable terrain you'd think you have the place to yourself) other than the initial opening.

In good driving weather (which it is, that time of year) It's not that far a drive from Truckee to south of the lake, I was stunned at how many ski resorts are so close to each other (like 10 minutes apart.)

Tahoe Dave's shop (at Truckee and Squaw) have excellent demo rentals (I bring my own boots) and the guys know their stuff. I spent time talking to them about what areas and where to ski once I got there (these guys are out everyday). From there, I decided which resorts to go to.

I was pretty amazed at the snow depth given the temps (in the 50's, but it felt warmer.) 99% of the skiers seemed to stay on the groomers (!) which made it a lot of fun for me, I had a zillion acres to myself, or so it seemed.

At that time of year, not all the on-mountain facilities may be open, so plan ahead.

In the end, I wished I had been there on a powder day, these places must be spectacular.

There was an excellent Mexican restaurant in Truckee. It's the real deal, it's home made Mexican comfort food. It's on a corner, set back about one block from the main drag.

Agree on Reno commute. I had business in Sacramento and was flabbergasted at how large the highway was going into the mountain.

 

[bobbutts]

Squaw and Alpine should still be open with plenty of terrain/lifts. Flatstar isn't all that exciting, kind of like an eastern resort transplanted out there.

 

[ta&idaho]

Squaw and Alpine should still be open with plenty of terrain/lifts.

Agreed. I skied six inches of fresh in Mid-May a few seasons ago at Alpine. Tahoe typically gets a huge base and it takes many weeks of sunny, 50+ days to melt away the slushy goodness at higher elevations.

Flatstar isn't all that exciting, kind of like an eastern resort transplanted out there.

To be fair to both eastern resorts and Northstar, I'd say that Northstar is kind of like Mount Snow transplanted to the Sierras. Highly commercialized, crowded and boring runs on the front, with a somewhat underrated and fairly interesting back side. I wouldn't turn down a free ticket, but I definitely wouldn't spend more than a day there given all the other options.

Heavenly is a long but scenic drive around the lake from the North Shore, but I think its worth it for a day. The views are unmatched (except perhaps by Diamond Peak and Homewood, small mountains that may not be open that late), the terrain is better than people give it credit, and its a huge mountain to explore. Probably the closest parallel is Killington.

If I were you, I'd ski a new place each day until I had hit Squaw, Alpine, Heavenly, and Kirkwood (caveat: very long drive from the North Shore), with a free day at Northstar if that works out. Sugar Bowl and Mt. Rose also have some sick terrain, though I'd say they're a bit more snow quality-dependent.

Enjoy...