Question for the Lake Tahoe crowd...

[Ray]

Hi!

I was hoping to get some feedback to my questions in regards to Lake Tahoe and what better place to ask than here. Well… so, here we go

Which mountain does provide the best carving resort/conditions (Grooming!!!!!!!) in general?

Which of these resorts are on the Nevada site, if any?

What is the best town/area “of your choice” to spend/live a couple of years on the Nevada site?

That’s basically it, quite simple. I am planning a trip soon to explore the area, but believe your insight will help me to plan my trip a little better.

Thank you in advance!

Cheers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Loc]

I only ride in Tahoe once a year and have been to most of the resorts. Alpine Meadows is my favorite by FAR. Grooming is superbbb and it's not crowded. What more can you ask for carving? There's a great variety of terrain too.

Squaw is gigantic but there's so many people. Northstar is crowded too (I'll never go to that one again).

[skategoat]

I really liked Kirkwood for the wide cruisers. Great carving mountain if you're not looking for ultra steep stuff. I found Squaw confusing for a newbie. I got into the wrong areas a few times and found myself a tad challenged by monster, ice-covered moguls with no other way out.

Heavenly is massive too but it's really like 3 or 4 mountains with connecting trails.

[kipstar]

I don't get to do Tahoe too much these days, but based on my own experiences and my friends living there..... the towns to live in /spend time I guess you could consider the bigger cities which are Reno and South Shore, or a couple of little villages basically like Incline Village (which is very pretty, but there isn't exactly much there) or up around the north shore area, which is near the border of the states. Reno is pretty nice and quite close to many resorts. Cheap.

Resort wise, I haven't ridden them all, but yeah, Alpine was always the one I wanted to ride before they allowed boards - you can see Squaw and Alpine from eachother; great terrain although some of the lifts are kind of antiquated; cheap passes. Great grooming and some decent challenging runs with similar terrain to Squaw in many respects. Closest to Reno, Mt Rose is smallish but is carver central on the weekdays where you see 2 guys who go lower than anyone else I've seen in the EC style. ALmost every run is a good carving run.

Diamond Peak, Homewood, Bore-you-all, Donner etc are all nice enough as a diversion but you wouldn't want to spend more than a day or two a season there.

Squaw has some great terrain, Siberia Bowl is one of the best carving runs I can recall; however costs a lot and takes a bit of time to ride the whole thing; I think if you spent time there you'd get used to how it is laid out; there are some huge bumps there for sure. Some bizarre non sign posted drop offs and stuff I've seen as well, quite weird given how careful most resorts are about stuff like that, but might have just been my own bad navigation.

Not so familiar with the south shore resorts; if you live in Southshore then Kirkwood, Sugar Bowl, Heavenly are all at your fingertips, but I've not ridden enough of them to comment.

Northstar (or flat star as it is sometimes referred to) has that whole hi-so thing going on, but yeah, is supposedly crowded in the weekends. I guess the slower lifts on Alpine help for that; plus the mountain has this backside (or backside to me) that has a monster long run which seems to not have people on it. Off the top is pretty great as well. Love it.

Gotta love that prime reee-ab in Reno though. Man, I feel like eating it tonight now ;-(

[Wun]

From what I hear, Kirkwood is very great for southshore (this statement is made COMPLETELY by word of mouth and alpine carving websites). I'm not at all familiar with it though, and I can't name you the good slopes.

For Heavenly, there are things here and there that are acceptable for alpine riding but I would assume that there are better choices out there. As for Sierra-at-Tahoe, their West Bowl portion seems to be most preferable for carving (within the scope of the resort). IMO it's more preferable than Heavenly, but that's probably 'cause I have a small bias due to ALL of my friends that snowboard magically happening to go there and I don't personally know a single person that goes to Heavenly.

I'm a 2-year passholder at Heavenly since my mother bought a condo just a few minutes away two years ago. Before that, I was a 2-year passholder (though regularly went here for over 5 years) at Sierra.

[Algunderfoot]

Hi Ray,

I trust you two are doing well since you're planning ahead. I suggest you post up on the Tahoe Carvers web site www.tahoecarvers.com for more detailed local intel. But I would agree that Alpine (during the week) is cool. However, stronger local presences are found at Kirkwood and Mt. Rose. (My favorites) and the local carvers there are very cool and many have become friends. Homewood and Sugar bowl are sleepers and can be a hoot on powderdays, Squaw and Northstar will never see me again, except at Plumbjacks bar (base of Squaw). Reno is an obvious choice if you like the city, but I would spring for the Nevada side of the Lake Tahoe shoreline if I could afford it and didn't need to drive over any pass to get to work in Winter.

Keep us posted if you pull the trigger. I plan to be out at June Mt. the first weekend in 2010 and in Tahoe every other weekend in January. I am sure you could find plenty of willing, pesky carvers who'd love to crash at the new digs..:)

Take Care!

Al

[MR. JOHN DEERE !]

IMO, squaw has always been my favorite. never mind in the tahoe area, north america.

find the granite chief double chair, steeep and good grooming when ive ben there.

pricey but worth a day trip.

[shawndoggy]

For carving steeps nothing beats Mt. Rose. It's the highest and has the longest sustained pitches (though not most vertical... no long traverses though). It's in Nevada and only 25 minutes from most locations in Reno. Closer if you want (15 minutes not out of the question depending where you live).

If there is a problem with Rose it's that it's pretty small and it's pretty challenging (essentially flat or pretty freakin' steep). Also it's on the far eastern edge of the Sierra, so it gets the least moisture (though usually all snow given the elevation).

Nevertheless, I've gotten bored with Mt. Rose and got a Squaw pass for next year. Not really a carver's mountain, but lots and lots of terrain. Will end up skiing lots and probably riding bumps alot too.

Mt. Rose in March:

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[Sinecure]

If living in NV is important then your town choices are pretty limited. There's Reno if you like the 'big' city. And a few towns between Reno and Tahoe - notably Verdi which seems like a weird place to me. And then there's Incline Village on the Lake right at the Cal/Neva border. There's South Lake Tahoe, notably Stateline, but I'm not real keen on living near the Casinos so I'd rule that one out. I'd suggest checking out Incline. You get the tax advantages of NV while still living the Tahoe life. Its really close to Rose - sort of the Reno/Tahoe locals hangout, plus not far to Northstar Alpine and Squaw.

If you choose the south shore, then your ski area choices are basically Heavenly and Kirkwood. Kirkwood is the other popular spot with Tahoe Carvers and is a great mountain, albeit a bit less accessible than some of the others.

I assume the NV thing is tax related. If not, I think Truckee would be a great town to live in.

[Randy T.]

Hi Ray,

I live in Reno/Sparks and I primarily ride at Mt. Rose but I also have a pass to Kirkwood. Both resorts have good grooming and good carving runs. Everyone has different reasons for liking different resorts, personally I don't like crowds which make Rose and KW a good choice for me. And the proximity of Rose to Reno is awesome. Reno to Kirkwood is about 1.5 hours.

You asked about a resort in Nevada. Rose is the only Tahoe area resort all in NV. Heavenly spans the border and has a lodge on the NV side and one on the CA side.

As for the living part the only places not already mentioned are Carson City (smaller than Reno) and the Minden/Gardnerville area (rural farming area). Both of those are south of Reno and would put you closer to Kirkwood.

[shawndoggy]

Hi Ray,

I live in Reno/Sparks and I primarily ride at Mt. Rose but I also have a pass to Kirkwood. Both resorts have good grooming and good carving runs. Everyone has different reasons for liking different resorts, personally I don't like crowds which make Rose and KW a good choice for me. And the proximity of Rose to Reno is awesome. Reno to Kirkwood is about 1.5 hours.

You asked about a resort in Nevada. Rose is the only Tahoe area resort all in NV. Heavenly spans the border and has a lodge on the NV side and one on the CA side.

As for the living part the only places not already mentioned are Carson City (smaller than Reno) and the Minden/Gardnerville area (rural farming area). Both of those are south of Reno and would put you closer to Kirkwood.

Living in Gardnerville would also put you A LOT closer (time wise) to Mammoth and June Mountain. Probably under 2 hours to June and barely over 2 to Mammoth. Have to add another hour to both times from Reno.

[Randy T.]

And I forgot to mention that if you decide you want to ride at Rose you need to buy your pass during the month of September to get the best deal.

$333 for an unrestricted pass!

[Pokolikrat]

Hi Ray

I like to going to various resort, they are all pretty close to each other. My home mountain is Kirkwood for last couple years. Nice terrain, but slow lifts. Quality of grooming is various, but it is similar in all Tahoe resorts, depends how drunk were groomers last evening, that is my guess. I also have pass to Squaw, but I am not considering it the best carving mountain and it can be a ZOO. Sugar Bowl, Alpine are nice too. Even North Star has some nice and surprisingly steep slopes. Rose is too far for me. My least favorite resort is Heavenly. If you need more info about specific resort send me e mail.

Skategoat wrote:

“I really liked Kirkwood for the wide cruisers. Great carving mountain if you're not looking for ultra steep stuff.” :confused:That why the best groomed run is called Wall, probably because it is flat. Kirkwood has some pretty hairy runs.

[kamran]

I would second almost everything Ladia mentioned above

[skategoat]

Hi Ray

I like to going to various resort, they are all pretty close to each other. My home mountain is Kirkwood for last couple years. Nice terrain, but slow lifts. Quality of grooming is various, but it is similar in all Tahoe resorts, depends how drunk were groomers last evening, that is my guess. I also have pass to Squaw, but I am not considering it the best carving mountain and it can be a ZOO. Sugar Bowl, Alpine are nice too. Even North Star has some nice and surprisingly steep slopes. Rose is too far for me. My least favorite resort is Heavenly. If you need more info about specific resort send me e mail.

Skategoat wrote:

“I really liked Kirkwood for the wide cruisers. Great carving mountain if you're not looking for ultra steep stuff.” :confused:That why the best groomed run is called Wall, probably because it is flat. Kirkwood has some pretty hairy runs.

I guess I should have said there are lots of great wide cruisers in *addition* to the steeps. Being from Ontario, I'm not in a position to criticize any Tahoe resort for being flat.

[r_starr]

Hi Ray, I live in Incline and would be glad to try to give you the local info. Rose and Diamond Peak are my winter hangouts, Rose being the favorite. If you can work it in please stop by for a beer when you're in the area. Rob

[Ray]

Thank you all so much for all the information, really appreciated.

Not sure yet what the plan is and when exactly we will make the “exploring” trip to Tahoe, but will keep you posted… In general, the idea is to look out soon enough for the next “stop” in life. Since snow is still a big factor for us and we are pretty flexibly we like to find a mountain place, or a place close to the mountains for now… CO and CA (Vancouver) are also on the list, maybe even NZ one day, but that sure has to wait for for some more time…

[kipstar]

Thinking about it some more, Rose really is a great hill.

if you have a chance to ride with Rob and James at Rose, then you should take them up on it; I've yet to ride with guys that crank every turn so low; prior to that I had assumed EC style was simply the same as how I ride, just on hero snow. Seeing in person it was something else again.

The best day in Tahoe is right up there; I don't hold NZ in quite the same regard the resorts there are smaller, the snow is worse, the visibility is worse..... Tahoe is pretty tough to beat. The thing NZ has going for it is the hemispheres bit.

Mammoth is also great, lived there for a while and knew it mid 90s; the last time there was probably the most crowded mountain I have ever ridden on (including in Korea and NZ) on presidents weekend; it was totally insane to the point of dangerous. Kind of expensive and wasn't so good that weekend; however in general midweek it is a great mountain as well. June is not really anywhere near as big or interesting (for me at least) and I think you'd be bored within a couple of days.... Mammoth, Squaw, Alpine are way bigger and for Mt Rose is smaller but almost every run off the chairs on both sides are a great carving run.

[www.oldsnowboards.com]

Thinking about it some more, Rose really is a great hill.

if you have a chance to ride with Rob and James at Rose, then you should take them up on it; I've yet to ride with guys that crank every turn so low; prior to that I had assumed EC style was simply the same as how I ride, just on hero snow. Seeing in person it was something else again.

.

I couldn't agree more!!!

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[shawndoggy]

Thinking about it some more, Rose really is a great hill.

if you have a chance to ride with Rob and James and Patrick and Tae and Randy and Jami and Russel and Danielle and ....

Lots of carvers can throw down at Rose....

[Ray]

Ray, you're not done with Aspen, are you?

Jim, Noooo! Coming back 12/1 for the next season (can't wait!). But, thinking of moving away from where I am right now (Vegas) and be able to maybe cut the Aspen stay shorter in the years to come, so looking at all options...

[James Ong]

There are a lot of very nice places in the foothills of Reno if you want to be close to the biggest little city. In the tahoe basin you might also want to check out Stateline and Zephyr Cove.

If you come around don't hesitate to contact me , be glad to play tour guide.

[kipstar]

Lots of carvers can throw down at Rose....

indeed. BUt when I was there back in 2004? I think it was, Rob and James were the guys I met; I think Danielle I saw once; rest people mentioned to me there were more carvers, but never saw most of them; a couple who were at my level who maybe now are in the group you mention as well ;-)

Great hill.