North Lake Tahoe. Where to stay?

[chrisk]

We'll be flying into Reno (02/28/2009), then riding in Northern Tahoe for a few days before driving to OES at Mt. Bachelor. Can anyone recommend a reasonably priced place to stay near NorthStar and Squaw Valley?

[Randy T.]

Do a search for hotels in Truckee CA, it's centrally located between the two resorts and lodging should be more affordable than at the resorts.

[Algunderfoot]

Hey Chrisk,

There are numerous options, but I prefer to stay in Truckee as it's most central to the North resorts. I usually stay at the Holiday Inn Express, but if you want something a bit historic and eclectic, try the Truckee Hotel with it's old west "charm", shared bath, celebs and characters alike) There is also a Best Western, and several Ma & Pa's. Just stay away from the Boreal Mountain Resort, that place was a way overpriced dump. Depending on how much you wish to spend and what kind of deals you can find, Plumpjack at Squaw is a great spot, nice Apres scene too.. Donner Lake Village resort is nice, on Donner Lake and reasonable.

With your choices of resorts, mid-week is best for the mainstream mountains, but follow the snow, no sense dropping mid-week coin for dust on crust. Don't overlook Sugar Bowl, Mt. Rose, (oops, I'm not supposed to mention those) and especially Homewood (if the weather is knarly and windholds are on, plus lift tix are under $30) Alpine Meadows is a trail crossing cluster F*%$, (Much like Breckenridge and Mammoth) I was hit there my first day, from behind, by an off duty patroller, not much fun when your head has to be on a swivel.

Anyway, a great stop when the opportunity presents itself, I hit this area every January for three weekends, while on calls in CA.

Another tip, rent a 4x4 even if it's just for the few days your up, that way you won't get stuck if the snow flys. Also, don't rent from the Reno Airport, they are 30-50% higher than if your rent form a Reno satellite facility. The airport has more recovery fees than I have ever seen. Just cab it there when you collect your bags. Most agencies will still let you return your rental right at the airport, if you need to.

Enjoy!

[tex1230]

Fantasy Inn - Reno :biggthump:biggthump

(edit: is that still there? just watch the first 10 minutes of "Hot Dog and you'll know where I'm talking about)

[Sinecure]

As AlG mentioned, Truckee can be a great option. The new Best Western is really close to Northstar and within walking distance of the new Brewery that opened a couple years ago. The Truckee Hotel is right downtown and has a terrific Jazz bar in it.

Another option to consider is Kings Beach. Its 10 minutes to N* and about the same distance to Alpine, Squaw and Homewood as Truckee (20-25 minutes). If you are single and want a great, cheap place to stay ($20-25/night/person), you could join the Apres Ski Club and stay at their lodge in Kings Beach. I know a bunch of people did that for USASA a couple years ago when it was at N*. It costs $55 to join and then you can stay at the lodge any time you want. The lodge has shared showers and either bunk rooms or "deluxe" rooms which have 2 twin beds in them (and cost an extra $5/night). There's a big shared kitchen, awesome hot tub, free wifi and you can walk to the bars and restaurants of Kings Beach or drive the 1 mile to the Casinos in Incline (then walk back if you are too drunk).

I have to disagree with Al about Alpine. Its a great place to ride, if you know where you are going (email me if you decide to go, I'd be happy to give you a tour). And Al, what was the name of the patroller who hit you? I need to give him a lot of crap about that at our refresher next month. Alpine has great steeps and amazing off-piste skiing, especially if you don't mind a short hike once in a while.

You know there's a Super G at Northstar that weekend? Clinic on Saturday (mandatory and the most fun part of the weekend anyway) and the race on Sunday. I guarantee you will absolutely love doing it. I think it costs $15 - $25, but you get a discount on your lift ticket and get to go as fast as you want down a closed course. You will be one of a small handful of snowboarders (last time I did it, I was the only one). Info at the Sierra League web site.

Check in over at Tahoe Carvers web site as the time gets closer and I suspect you'll find others who will be riding in Tahoe that weekend and heading up to Bachelor for OES as well.

Sounds like a fun trip. See you in February.

[Algunderfoot]

I didn't mean to dump on your backyard Sinecure, as I am sure good days (weekdays likely) can be had at Alpine. Each time I have been there it's been crusty or slushy, sometimes both on the same day. I take it you are in Alpine's employment? I would review responsibility code # 2, the one every mountain needs to enforce. The last time was a Friday and I was riding with some locals, it was a "Gal" that hit me and I don't think she could remember her name as she was out cold. I only suffered a dislocated elbow and a separated shoulder, but definately a buzz kill. I had been lead on some rocky goat trail later in the day to hit the back side but dirt was showing though and the base damage was not worth the trip :(

To explain myself, as I am usually a weekend rider, not a local one. There are three main catagories of resorts in my book, Legendary, Premier, and Local. Sometimes the first two can be one in the same, often times legedary doesn't mean good. Even when I was a skier, I hated places that had cat tracks crossing double blacks, (eg. Breck or Mammoth) or large "General" unloading areas where traffic was encouraged to go in any direction. I prefer long and dedicated runs, or bowls, where there is no cross traffic, don't much care how I get there. The next pre-requisite is the snow of course, and the last is whether they understand the concept of Apres'. If I ever get to Alpine during the week, during a snow, I'd consider giving it another chance. But for me I'll take Mt. Rose, Sugar Bowl, Homewood, on any given weekend, although Homewood may never be the same when Apine gets done with it. Have you seen the renovation plans?? Your thoughts?

Here's to a "good" snow season...

[Sinecure]

No, not in their employ. Just a volunteer.

[outsider]

There are a few options if you would like to stay in the basin. In Incline Village there's the Parkside Inn, which is cheap and close to Diamond Peak. There is also the Hyatt, if you're looking for a nicer place. Moving to Crystal bay there's the Biltmore and the Cal-Neva, both nice hotel-casinos. There's a bunch of ghetto motels in Kings Beach I would recommend if you want your car broken into. There's always Northstar, but that is getting to be pretty expensive, or so I've heard. There's a few motels in Tahoe City that are pretty close to both Squaw and Alpine. I believe there is a bit of lodging up at Squaw, but I'm not too familiar with it. Hope I could help.

[chrisk]

It appears I've hit a snag. I wanted to rent a 4WD/AWD somewhere in Reno and then drive it to Mt Bachelor and return it at Redmond airport near Bend, Or. Unfortunately, none of the rental companies who have offices at both Reno and Redmond (Avis, Budget and Hertz) will let me rent a 4WD/AWD in Reno and return it at Redmond. It looks like they want to keep those vehicles local.

Maybe its time to consider flying into Portland and then driving down to Bend for OES. I guess we could ride at Mt Hood for a few days instead.

Any other ideas?

[Sinecure]

Bunches of options on that front chrisk.

First option: Reserve a 4wd in Reno for the time in Tahoe. Then reserve a one-way car from Reno to Redmond or Portland (wherever you are flying home from) for the trip up to OR. Its unlikely you'll need chains for the OES - the roads there don't really have steep nasty hills like in Tahoe. I also usually recommend to people that they reserve two cars for their arrival in Reno. One 4WD and one regular car. Then check the weather forecast right before you arrive and just pick up the car that makes sense (if its not going to snow much/at all while you're here, you won't need 4wd and cars are always cheaper than 4wd rentals).

Second option: See if there's a Southwest flight from Reno to Portland or Redmond. Rent cars accordingly.

Third option: Get over to tahoecarvers.com and see who from Tahoe might be going to OES - there will definitely be some folks. Some will be driving form the Bay Area, some from Sacramento and some from Reno. Work out a rideshare with someone from there. Fly home from Redmond (you'll be able to get someone at OES to get you there, or take a van service of somekind) or ride back to Tahoe/Bay Area and fly home.

[Mike T]

Yep, Sinecure has some good suggestions. Some additional info:

1) Only Delta, United and Horizon fly into Redmond. Nobody goes from Reno or Sacramento to Redmond.

2) In the event that it dumps during OES and you don't have a snow-worthy vehicle, and can't hook up with someone else for a ride, there is always the park-and-ride just outside of town. You should be able to get there in a rental car even if the roads are a skating rink.

3) Having said that, the road up to Mt Bachelor is sometimes in better shape than the roads in town during a storm. ODOT knows that more lives are spared getting the road to the mountain under control first

4) Getting between Bend and Portland is more treacherous than getting betwwen Bend and Mt Bachelor during a storm