December 19, 2008 at 10:31 pm
Another six inches is expected on Monday. That will bring the total to a workable four feet. I’m not used to this kind of dump in SoCal. Growing up, I remember twenty foot weekends in Tahoe (El Nino, anybody?), but four feet in SoCal is miraculous, like God giving sight to a blind man.
Unfortunately I was unable to get a Mt. Baldy VIP coupon book. I was told to call back the next morning for four mornings in a row before leaving my number with someone, who didn’t know what a VIP pass was and probably won’t call me back.
For those that don’t know, VIP passes go on sale once a year at the local ski expos. It’s a great deal: four anytime tickets, two monday-friday tickets, four 2-for-1 coupons and two learn-to-ski-and-snowboard coupons, all for $60. I got mine last year at SnowJam, but Baldy didn’t setup a booth this year. At least that’s what they told me on the phone before the show. If you attended Ski Dazzle in LA this year, you scored.
So what to do? $180 6-pack at Mt. High? It’s reliable, true. You get man-made snow, sometimes it’s real but rare. No steeps. A well-maintained park. The most crowded ski resort per square inch in America. The secret? Ski weekdays. Can I do that? No.
Next option, pay exorbitant prices for Mt. Baldy, which has steep skiing and no lift lines. Unfortunately, you never know what to expect from Mt. Baldy. I went last year in the Spring, and it was awesome. I went in the early winter and they were charging $50 to walk around on a little patch of snow in front of the lodge. In other words if it’s good, it’s the best in Southern California (Mammoth excluded). If it’s bad, you feel like you lost ten hands straight in blackjack and tipped all the rest of your money to the person who enabled your hangover.
So honestly, I hate to rip on Baldy because I completely understand their situation. See, Mt. Baldy has this real local mountain feel to it. The road getting up there is not easy. The patrol is straight out of a movie; last year they had a sign that said, “Be Careful, it’s hard dick out there.” About as helpful as a snowboarder patrolman who told my friend “Why the f*ck should I know?” when asked if he’d seen his lost camera. Plus, the biggest metropolis this side of the Mississippi is one hour from the base of the mountain. So why not charge the douchey Lakers fans who wear jeans tucked into their ski boots $50 a ticket for 60s style lifts? Gotta protect the mountain somehow. Makes you wonder why they even sell the VIP pass?
So I think this year might be a Mt. High year. I’m going up for a day this coming week and I need a guarantee and a cheap ticket. Hopefully working on Sunday and skiing on the 23rd won’t be as busy as a normal day. And hopefully there’s more to that mountain than what I’ve seen the past ten times I’ve skied there. Not likely as you can see the whole mountain from the parking lot.
February 20, 2008 at 8:59 am
I’ve uploaded the President’s Day photos of Tahoe to the Pictures section of my site. Check them out!
Here are some highlights:
We started out at Alpine Meadows.
The next day, we skied Squaw Valley. Towards the end of the day, we traversed over around Olympic Lady from KT-22 all the way to the west facing side of Red Dog. This is one of the chutes we took.
On the second Squaw Valley day, I skied with my sister and her family. This picture is the half-pipe which we did several times.
We also went down the east face of Olympic Lady (off KT-22) twice with my nine year old niece. It was bumped out and totally fun. She loved it.
On the final day, we hiked out the back of Alpine Meadows to the (in-bounds) back country area. I had Ross take this shot of me from above.
Until next year…
January 5, 2008 at 12:22 pm
I’ve been skiing a few times this season, all at the local, overcrowded bunny hills just east of Los Angeles. The snow pack averages about 1 foot of natural snow so you don’t really get anything worthwhile to ski on. I’ve been trying hard to pull together a few trips and now with all things planned and budgeted I’m heading up to Vail, Colorado in three weekends and Tahoe over president’s day.
Hopefully Vail will have the snow pack that Tahoe has, which is expecting up to ten feet of snow at the resorts this weekend. Man I wish I was there. Here’s a picture of Beaver Bowl at Alpine Meadows (clipped from their website):
February 24, 2006 at 7:54 am
During the month of February, Mother nature is one sexy lady. Sometimes she takes a vacation, goes somewhere tropical, but usually she's throwing down some crazy weather patterns that make my ski trips amazing. Lake Tahoe was definitely the latter this year, as we received two feet of fresh, fluffy snow to enjoy for days.
We started out at Heavenly. I'd never skied the Warren Miller/Glen Plake gem before, so I didn't really know what to expect. After three hours on Mott and Killabrew Canyons, I found my groove and a new mountain to add to my list. With the light snow and powder stashes abundant in the canyons, I'd ski Heavenly any powder day.
After a long drive around Emerald Bay- where we almost plunged into the Lake- we arrived in the less-ritzy, more-tipsy north shore for some authentic mexican food and margaritas. A quick drive back to my p's condo was all we needed to be out for the evening.
Look at that snow!
A wake up call at 6:30 am from my other 6 friends who made the 13 hour drive from LA (blizzard conditions + president's day = they're not too smart and should have planned better) was welcome in my so-humble opinion. It snowed all day and Squaw Valley couldn't have been better. We skied KT-22 and Headwall literally all day and it never wore on me. The crowds were non-existent (everyone was probably stuck on Hwy 80 at 5 in the morning) so we skied more than ever.
After another short night (we played some Jenga… 31 rows ain't too shaaabby), we cruised back up KT-22 and Headwall for another seven hour day. A little more crowded and little more clear, we added some to the group and skied some pretty incredible runs. Apres-ski was fun at the River Ranch and the 3-hour sleep seriously hurt me the next day.
Finishing up a 360 at KT-22.
Northstar in the morning was a good finish to a long weekend. We skied their newest addition, Lookout Mountain, all morning before packing up and heading out. I wish I could enjoy Mother Nature's wrath a little longer, but that's how it goes. What a great trip.
Nice Finish (L2R: Jelmini and I)
