[metaldork]

thinking bout taking a snowboarding trip in a coupla weeks. looks like lake tahoe's gotten a few big storms lately. how are conditions?

also, can anybody recommend a good, cheap place to stay? maybe some place within an hour's drive of a few different resorts so i can sample a variety?

much appreciated.

 

[Brah]

Resorts are open, but it's sparce.

Basically, the resorts have just enough to be open. The good lifts aren't generally open.

We need another 2-3 feet for it to start getting good. Best place to go in these low snow conditions is Sugar Bowl -- they can have top to bottom runs with only a foot or two of snow.

Staying on the North Shore/Truckee will give you most variety: Squaw, SugarBowl, Alpine, Northstar, Mt. Rose, Homewood.

 

[kidwoo]

Best place to go in these low snow conditions is Sugar Bowl -- they can have top to bottom runs with only a foot or two of snow.
.

Yeah those sharp volcanic features make early season riding ideal.

Snow conditions........in a word.............poop.

We still haven't gotten "it" yet.

 

[metaldork]

damn. and i found a good deal shortly after posting this, so i went ahead and grabbed it. i'll be there the 24th to 28th. hopefully things'll pick up before then or i'll be spending my vacation losing money at reno.

 

[grrrah]

on one of the recent group rides, there was some mumbling about an mtbr snowboard trip. anyone interested?

when I used have a pass, we would usually stay in reno. Its 45 minutes from most of the bigger resorts on the north side of the lake (squaw, north*, sugarbowl, alpine), plus all the buffets, gambling, str.. , ummm the rooms are pretty cheap too. I usually got atlantis on hotwire for under $50 a night. motels for $35 are around too.

 

[imjps]

Christmas in Tahoe isn't bad. We might get another storm by then, but until then, it's been cold and most everyone is making their own snow.

If all else fails, bring your bike and head over the hills to Auburn for some killer trails.

In the mean time you can track the "Weather Discussions" for snow, storms, etc. here -> http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/total_forecast/getprod.php?wfo=sto&sid=sto&pil=afd

jps

damn. and i found a good deal shortly after posting this, so i went ahead and grabbed it. i'll be there the 24th to 28th. hopefully things'll pick up before then or i'll be spending my vacation losing money at reno.

 

[kidwoo]

damn. and i found a good deal shortly after posting this, so i went ahead and grabbed it. i'll be there the 24th to 28th. hopefully things'll pick up before then or i'll be spending my vacation losing money at reno.

I've lived here through 6 winters and it's snowed every one of them between christmas and new year's.

This is last years holiday dusting.

Banks were about 1 foot before the holiday goodness.

 

[metaldork]

sweet. hopefully that snow will come on the christmas side of christmas to new years.

anyhoo, someone else mentioned an mtbr snowboard trip. i'll be there with my girlfriend, but she'll stick to the greens. if anybody wants to ride the harder stuff (within reason. 99% of my riding has been on north east bumps), just pm me and we can hook up when I get to town.

 

[vuduvgn]

If you are interested in riding, Blue Lake Trail, Spaulding Lake, etc, are clear of snow as of right now (I don't know what this new storm will do). Nice big loop could be ridden up there this weekend. There is snow on Grouse Ridge.

 

[metaldork]

got flight and 4 nights at atlantis for 200 bucks per person less than the flight alone would have been had i bought off of orbitz. hope it's not a scam. but found it through sidestep.com, so must be legit.

 

[MDJ]

It's still thin everywhere but Kirkwood will be 100% open this Saturday. Now just if we can get another 20ft in 2 weeks like last year over the holidays.

 

[metaldork]

so it looks like you got a lot of snow over the weekend, but weather forecast says rain now? anyone know if that's staying snow at the resorts or is it raining there too?

 

[DMFT]

- I just spoke to a friend who's in South Lake NOW, conditions were good until yesterday.
Rain, rain, rain......

Warm storm, 56 degrees this morning at 6 am in Salinas Valley! Nice change from last week!!! Trails should be suuhhhhweeeeeeeet in a day or two.

 

[cohenfive]

so it looks like you got a lot of snow over the weekend, but weather forecast says rain now? anyone know if that's staying snow at the resorts or is it raining there too?

sounds like it may stay wintery at the highest elevations but anything lower may get some rain. too bad, my daughter is going up to heavenly today and i was thinking of taking a day with my son and going to sugarbowl. may still go, don't mind mediocre conditions for one day but don't like skiing in the rain....

 

[metaldork]

these weather forecasts are maddening. been checking it for a week, sunny every day as far into they future as they dare to forecast. then all of a sudden this storm comes out of nowhere. says it's gonna snow all week. now i wake up this morning and check the forecast and it's switched to rain? hope mother nature makes up her mind (and it's snow on her mind) before i get there saturday.

 

[kidwoo]

It's snowing up high.

Mt rose, Kirkwood, sugarbowl (Maayyyybe Alpine) should be fine. I skied mt rose yesterday, nuthin but snow. Base of that hill is like 8000 though.


Northstar, bottom of squaw, bottom of heavenly will be poop. It's raining right now but really only at lake level.

 

[cohenfive]

It's snowing up high.

Mt rose, Kirkwood, sugarbowl (Maayyyybe Alpine) should be fine. I skied mt rose yesterday, nuthin but snow. Base of that hill is like 8000 though.

Northstar, bottom of squaw, bottom of heavenly will be poop. It's raining right now but really only at lake level.

just checked the natl weather service for sugarbowl area...sounds like snow levels are way up at 7000 feet, sounds like it won't be all that good anywhere but certainly you will have to stay 'high'....

 

[K-max]

The Wood is Good.

Kirkwood is always a safe bet when condtions are mixed like this. 13 seasons of snowboarding has proven that to me! It consistently gets more and better snow because of its 7800' base elevation and strategic location in the Sierra range. And when its really dumping, Kirkwood is the place to find the secret stashes of over-your-head powder runs. Man, I'm getting all excited just thinking about it! We're going up to our family cabin in south Lake for Christmas and the following days and I'm definitely planning on a few trips there, seeing as how the storms are developing.

Lift ticket prices are probably going to give me sticker shock this year though, as always.

 

[wrinklefree]

Kirkwood is always a safe bet when condtions are mixed like this. 13 seasons of snowboarding has proven that to me! It consistently gets more and better snow because of its 7800' base elevation and strategic location in the Sierra range. And when its really dumping, Kirkwood is the place to find the secret stashes of over-your-head powder runs. Man, I'm getting all excited just thinking about it! We're going up to our family cabin in south Lake for Christmas and the following days and I'm definitely planning on a few trips there, seeing as how the storms are developing.

Lift ticket prices are probably going to give me sticker shock this year though, as always.

I agree 100%. The only downside to Kirk is getting there. Highway 88 gets pretty trecherous during dumping season.

 

[Scarpa]

Kirkwood is always a safe bet when condtions are mixed like this.

Lift ticket prices are probably going to give me sticker shock this year though, as always.

I've gotten a Kirkwood season pass for the past 5 seasons and it's always worth it. Decided not to this year though, but I may change my mind later. Only takes a few weekends to pay for itself..