Airport access from Tahoe?

[Dan]

Hi all,

I just picked up a freelance gig covering this panel discussion in Berkeley http://berkeleyabc.org/2005/panels.htm#Game in a few weeks. It's on Saturday, so I'm thinking that I'll crank out the article Saturday night/Sunday morning and head to Tahoe.

Many questions:

1) Assuming that I ride Tahoe on Monday, what would be a reasonable time to fly out? Can I make, say, a 7 p.m. flight?

2) Which airport is most convenient for Tahoe?

3) Which area at Tahoe do you recommend for carving and an airport-friendly location?

4) What are the chances of demoing/renting a carving board at Tahoe if I bring my own boots/bindings? (I'd prefer not to bring my own board, cause I'll already be lugging my laptop. and I'm a little paranoid of trusting my baby to the tender mercies of the airline baggage handlers - I only have a soft bag).

Thanks for your help - stoked for the chance to ride an area with some actual snow!

[Hagen]

Reno would be your airport of choice. The closest resort to the airport would be Mount Rose, which is also a great carving mountain.

Other resorts that are great for carving would be:

- Kirkwood Not close to the airport but one of the preffered resorts by the Tahoe Carvers.

- Squaw Valley has a really good race team and you might run into Mort there. Should be about one and a half hours from Reno.

- North Star. Great grooming, should be okay on Monday, not recommended on weekends (way too crowded). A little bit closer to the airport than Squaw.

- Alpine Meadows can be good - but quite often their grooming sucks... About 5 minutes further away from Reno than Squaw.

- I personally like Sugarbowl - but it's even further away from Reno than Alpine and Squaw, but should be closer than Kirkwood.

Demoing is a different storry - there might be one store (Dave's in Tahoe City) that still has a burton board or two. But I'm not sure if they have anything left...

I guess 7pm should work to fly out... ...unless we get another storm that day.

Hagen.

[Steve Dold]

Dan, you might also want to check out tahoecarvers.com and leave a message there.

I agree with Hagen, the Reno airport is about a half hour away from the Mt. Rose ski area, which is a very good carving mtn frequented by several of the Tahoe carvers. That would give you cheap lodging (Reno) near a ski place.

The South Lake Tahoe airport is much smaller than Reno, and I don't know if commuters fly out of there or not. It's close (15 mi) to Kirkwood, another good carving area. Many of us also ride there.

The Truckee airport is close to the North Shore, but I don't know if there are commuter airlines there either. Like Hagen said, Northstar is OK if it's not a weekend.

I don't know of any demos, or rentals. You could always wrap cardboard around your board to protect it though. I know that's not ideal.

There are a bunch of us down here that would gladly loan you a board if you want, many of us have boards just for that purpose (My F2 Speedsters 182 and 178, and a Wild Duck Knifer LTD 161 are purely loaners).

Hope to see you up there!

[RobRidesSquaw]

We (Squaw Team) don't train on mondays, but Squaw is a great mountain to ride, a lot of steep groomers. Squaw is also not as crowded as most of the other mountains but it is expensive. Alpine has cheaper lift tickets but is more crowded and not as big.

[Guest Randy S.]

Dan,

Shoot me an email or call me. I can probably hook you up with equipment. I'm not riding so you can pick whatever from the quiver. That is the weekend of the 26th, right? I'll probably be up there since its the tail end of ski week for my kids. I'd be happy to loan you a board to use for a day or two. If I were you, I'd try to fly down flying into Oakland or SFO and then fly home from Reno. If you can, rent a car one way from airport to airport.

Reno airport is less than an hour from Squaw/Alpine/Northstar. Even closer to Mt. Rose. It looks like its going to snow next week, which will add to our already impressive base. Given the short travel time from any of the Tahoe resorts, a 7pm flight will give you loads of time to ride all day and still catch the flight.

Randy

650-291-8582 cell

[Dan]

You guys rock. Gotta love the carving brotherhood.

Randy, thanks much for the offer - I'd love to take you up on it. I'll give you a call later tonight, when I get home. As a matter of fact, I was just looking at flights and car rentals to do exactly what you suggested. What are the roads like? Can I get away with renting a two-wheel drive, no chains, or should I splurge on an SUV? (Note that I am a cautious and experienced driver on snow - in fact, I drive like someone's 90-year-old maiden aunt.)

OT, but did you know the cheapest hotel I could find in Reno is $18/day?!? Damn, that's cheap. I'll have to find someone that's playing slots and thank them for paying for my room.

[FTA2R]

hey guys,

If I wasn't caring for a very ill family member, I'm pretty sure I'd be there (and throwing dice at the craps table, too!- maybe even winning money for you!). Weather here sux, 65 today. I may still be able to make it out there this season, who knows.

Does Tahoe still have that 19 feet of snow that fell in 2 days?

Until what date will Tahoe be ridable t his year, and is carving compatible with spring riding? Seems to me soft snow will suck, please lemme know. maybe I can meet ya'll....

also, is there snowmobiling out there?

many thx,

===

Barry

[Hagen]

Dan, I would make a reservation for a car with all wheel drive. You can always cancel that and switch to a 2 wheel drive car if there is no snow in the forecast.

The problem in CA is that they have chain controlls when there is snow on the roads - so you'll have to buy chains for a 2 wheel drive car if that's the case...

Barry, we still have plenty of snow and there is more in the forecast. But we also had somewhat warm weather so it's not quite 19 feet anymore.

Spring riding is usually pretty good for like an hour to two (i.e. betwen 9:30/10 am when it gets soft and 11:30/12 when it gets too soft... ...after that you can still stay on the mountain and enjoy the girls in their bikinis...

:D

[Guest dragon fly jones]

Hey as mentioned in anothe post I was just in Reno and there are few things to keep in mind, on the Nevada side they can be pretty lax on the chains required mandate - in Cali - chain up or PARK IT, even on a silly snow Friday, which was a light dusting they were pulling people over and chaining them up - IN THE SUN WITH NO SNOW FALLING.

Now having said that the Reno airport is a zoo on Monday's ohh my gawd every is either coming in for work or leaving for work (obvious) the place is hammered. So hairball it is funny. Now whenever I have to go for work I fly in late Tuesday and split early - like leave the hotel at 5 am for a 6:15 flight or I go for the latest flight out back to Denver.

Hotel deals are abundant in Reno, from the Hilton to Atlantis mid week is king I got a huge assed suite for 40.00 bucks along with a free ride to the airport, do the research on that one and you will hook it up mighty fine.