Thread: Skiing Reno Suggestions

I'll be going to school in Reno and I'm wondering where to get a pass at. I want a short drive so I was convinced Mt. Rose my place but I heard the winds are bad. Some said Northstar is awesome and I'd love a Squaw/Alpine pass but they're a little expensive. Any suggestions?

Suggestions for backcountry skiing are welcome too!


Thanks!

Here's my JONG to JONG input:
You've pretty much covered everything on the north side, only one missing is Diamond Peak. Don't know of much else.

Guess I'll be first to assume from your screen name that you might be female, and thus request naked pics. I'd also like to know what a diaster is. College pass is affordable for any of the mountains you wanna be at.

Look at the midweek and student pass options -- they're cheap.

Mt. Rose does get windy, but it also gets great snow. The areas that are farther east of the Sierra crest (Rose, Diamond Peak) get less precip than the ones closer to the crest (Sugar Bowl, Kirkwood, anything near Donner Summit).

Great backcountry skiing all over the place here too.

I thought the proper response around here was "Granilbakken."

Get the Rose pass. If you bc ski, then it will be all you need for the first year. Close and accessible. Sure, the winds can kill it at times, but the higher base means colder snow. If the winds are too strong, explore some lower angle trees with the skins.

Start with the Rose pass, and try out some of the other places your first winter and decide if the drive and terrain is worth it for the other areas. Don't bother with Flatstar.

Go Wolfpack!...I'm a UNR alumni. I agree with hutash. ^^^^ Stay away from Northstar. It is flat and full of gapers. -Although on a huge storm day when everyone else is shut down, the trees can be sublime there. Mount Rose is awesome. Plenty of BC gates, and the chutes area is plenty steep. Mt. Rose is really close, too. Squaw is just plain awsome, and you will want to get a pass there, eventually. Go check it out, for sure. It's a little further from Reno, thus is a litlle more committing as far as time. With Mount Rose, you can get plenty of runs in and be back in town for classes, work, etc. It's a great place.

Northstar sucks...horribly. Don't ever go there.

Mt Rose is pretty lame besides when the chutes are good, and probably isn't all that much closer than Squaw/Alpine when it comes down to it.

Get the Squaw/Alpine pass, and hang out mostly at Alpine. The college price is affordable and there are lots of fun hikes/traverses/sidecountry access from Alpine.

I'll probably get shit on here for saying this, but Squaw is a big overrated joke, and unless you have a need to huck inbounds 60 footers on a daily basis while eating rocks for breakfast and fighting people in the lift line, just stay at Alpine.

I bet anything will be better than China Peak (where I'm from) terrain isn't bad but I can't remember a single day when the chair was open all the way to the top on a powder day, but don't worry the sled hill was open and all the beach chair were clean!

I got the feeling that Northstar is a gaper resort just because everyone who told me to go there was from Las Vegas.

I'll probably end up at Rose but I'm tempted to get the Alpine/Squaw pass, but I hear Mt Rose is less crowded, is this true? because that's what I'll base a lot of my decision on.

If you are Well off, You get a pass for Mt. Rose and Squaw / Alpine.

If you are going to pick a place, It’s Mt. Rose.
The only reason you might prefer another area over Rose is if you are really into the park.
Historically the Mt. Rose Pass goes on sale during the month of September.
But it looks like the September price is available now.

http://www.mtrose.com/season-passes/12-13-season-passes
http://estore.squaw.com/estore/Conte...tegoryCode=231

Mt Rose and N* are the same distance from UNR. Rose is good when Northstar isn't and vice versa. Rose closes a lot from wind. Rule of thumb, if you cannot see Rose from UNR, chances are it is closed due to weather. N* is the safe bet when there is weather, as mentioned the trees are great but the rest of the mountain is lacking anything remotely like "expert" terrain. If you are OK with an hour (plus) drive each way...a Squalpine pass is an option.

And how was the Hans Saari ski camp? Do tell.

Ya I'll get a Rose pass it'll save me a hundred bucks and some driving. Thanks.

Originally Posted by homemadesalsa

And how was the Hans Saari ski camp? Do tell.

As for the Hans camp. Awesome.
Best thing I've ever done. I got to be scared out of my mind and I learned way more than I ever had. We skied all kinds of steep stuff and they definitely didn't just push us mentally, we skied all day everyday till we were exhausted. It was awesome. Wish I could do it twice!

Originally Posted by Powdurr

...Mt Rose is pretty lame besides when the chutes are good, and probably isn't all that much closer than Squaw/Alpine when it comes down to it...

I live on the West side, and I'm 35min door to door for Rose and close to 1 hour to Squaw/Alpine. If you are downtown or south end of town it is an even bigger difference.

bottom line, Rose is closer and approximately 536 times less crowded.

Don't forget Boreal. Open til 9PM, you can go up after classes or work and still get a few hours of skiing in. If you like the park, this is definitely the choice.

Get a Rose pass to start and supplement that with a Snowbomb Card.

http://www.snowbomb.com/

You'll get discounts at most of the rest of the hills in Tahoe. Heavenly was out of that last year though, so N* and the Wood may or may not be included next year. We'll see.

Oh, and if Rose is shut due to weather, most everything else will be too. They'll be some lifts open elsewhere, but not much.

Phil is a little more balanced when it comes to describing the hills... I'm guessing an 18 year old chick from calaveras county would think n* was pretty fun and isn't a bro-ed out internet expert that is necessarily going to line-up on KT on big pow days. This isn't even a thread about bummin' in Tahoe. It's a chick going to school at Yoo-NeR.

Originally Posted by Flexon Phil

Rule of thumb, if you cannot see Rose from UNR, chances are it is closed due to weather.

That's not a totally perfect rule of thumb though...

Originally Posted by Arty50

Get a Rose pass to start and supplement that with a Snowbomb Card.

http://www.snowbomb.com/

You'll get discounts at most of the rest of the hills in Tahoe. Heavenly was out of that last year though, so N* and the Wood may or may not be included next year. We'll see.

Oh, and if Rose is shut due to weather, most everything else will be too. They'll be some lifts open elsewhere, but not much.

Snowbomb card isn't a bad idea -- if you buy it early in the season (like now), it usually comes with a free (but heavily restricted/blackout days) Kirkwood or Sugar Bowl day ticket.

Other local Tahoe discounts: Homewood usually has cheap ticket days for passholders from other resorts (Sunday and Thursday, IIRC), and Diamond Peak does a similar deal.

Have fun in Reno! It's good to have good ski options like you will.

Originally Posted by meggers

I want a short drive so I was convinced Mt. Rose my place but I heard the winds are bad. Some said Northstar is awesome and I'd love a Squaw/Alpine pass but they're a little expensive. Any suggestions?

If you live in South Reno, Rose would be a no-brainer. I assume you are going to UNR? If you live near the school it's pretty much equidistant. Northstar gets very crowded. If you want to find friends to ride with from UNR (carpool), it seems most get a pass to the north shore resorts. If you have any questions about the school, let me know - I'm an alumni and I work there. Welcome to Reno!

Squaw/Alpine college pass yo!

$389

no blackout

Originally Posted by meggers

I bet anything will be better than China Peak (where I'm from) terrain isn't bad but I can't remember a single day when the chair was open all the way to the top on a powder day, but don't worry the sled hill was open and all the beach chair were clean!

I got the feeling that Northstar is a gaper resort just because everyone who told me to go there was from Las Vegas.

I'll probably end up at Rose but I'm tempted to get the Alpine/Squaw pass, but I hear Mt Rose is less crowded, is this true? because that's what I'll base a lot of my decision on.

Do the Squaw/Alpine pass.
College prices are about $100 lower than a bronze and it has silver pass priviledges and those two resorts stay open way later.

Originally Posted by meggers

I got the feeling that Northstar is a gaper resort just because everyone who told me to go there was from Las Vegas.

I'll probably end up at Rose but I'm tempted to get the Alpine/Squaw pass, but I hear Mt Rose is less crowded, is this true? because that's what I'll base a lot of my decision on.

Can't argue with any of that. Squaw is huge with far more challenging lines and 'aw' factor than Mt Rose and is only a bit further from UNR relative to Rose. Squaw will turn the lower mountain on windy days ; powder days are always more crowded than Rose. Rose has a higher elevation and will get snow when Squaw gets rain.

Nstar is the most wind sheltered and will turn when all else is closed from wind but that's it's only riding perk IMHO.

You are in a pretty awesome place to get some great skiing in while you go to school.

Squaw/Alpine for 389 would be tough to pass up. Two great mountains, with the Alpine option for when Squaw is a zoo.

Mt. Rose college pass in 199 currently, to that might be the call. Rose is one of the really underrated mountains out there, as many here will tell you.

I'm a JONG and also not a local. I really liked Mt. Rose the couple of times I went there but having to take multiple lifts every time you want to lap the good stuff (chutes) might get old after a while. Tough to beat KT chair for easy laps of great terrain. I liked Alpine way more than Squaw.