Squaw Questions

[dre66]

Former Whistler ski bum here who moved to the bay area a few years ago; now live in the south bay.

I'm debating a seasons pass to Squaw this year and prices go up Tuesday... have heard a few horror stories about how busy it is on weekends (both traffic and on the mountain). My questions are:

1. Does it really take > 4 hours to get out there from the south bay? When are the best driving times?
2. What are good accommodation options in the 100-200 per night range?
3. How busy does the mountain get on weekends? What are the best side-country options for when it's super busy? (whistler had a few good spots even w/o needing to bring the touring rig... similar here?)
4. Anyone want to show me around in exchange for some brews and stories?

Much thanks.

[sierraskier]

My condolences.

[dre66]

Watching the snow these days I agree with you...

[mmmm...pow!]

Weekends aren't really that bad. Just leave from the bay area Sunday night and return Friday night, should be smooth sailing. But if you actually decide you want to be at Squaw during the weekend, you can avoid paying for lodging because you will spend pretty much the entire weekend stuck in your car. If/when you actually get to the ski area during the weekend, the good skiing is easy to find - just follow the giant crowd, and ignore the empty lifts, none of the obvious stuff above those lifts are worth skiing. Plenty of lift access sidecountry, just wear all white, don't draw attention to yourself, and know your shit. Seriously, Squaw is awesome, and you can be awesome, too, if you go to Squaw and document it for the entire internet to see.

[MTT]

Weekends aren't really that bad. Just leave from the bay area Sunday night and return Friday night, should be smooth sailing. But if you actually decide you want to be at Squaw during the weekend, you can avoid paying for lodging because you will spend pretty much the entire weekend stuck in your car. If/when you actually get to the ski area during the weekend, the good skiing is easy to find - just follow the giant crowd, and ignore the empty lifts, none of the obvious stuff above those lifts are worth skiing. Plenty of lift access sidecountry, just wear all white, don't draw attention to yourself, and know your shit. Seriously, Squaw is awesome, and you can be awesome, too, if you go to Squaw and document it for the entire internet to see.

Love it!!

To the OP.
If skiing is your main interest, there are other areas that might give you want you want with far less overhead.
A couple places come to mind, but I will not post them, cuz Sqallywood is awesome.

[dre66]

Kirkwood it is then...

[FluffyLilKitten]

Kirkwood is a bit further a ways from SanFran but I hear Sugarbowl is a fairly decent resort (never been there myself). I will say that as someone who skis Snowbird and is mindful of all the complaints of the crowds I never seem to notice. As you know from Whistler you just get used to where to ski and when on the mountain to avoid even the worse crowds. Tram backed up? Ok no biggie I'll just spend a little time hiking to Baldy chutes and then lap up Collins a couple times. Mineral Basin getting hammered? Ok maybe I'll just traverse a little more over to Bookends. Tram still backed up? Ok then maybe I will hop on Little Cloud which is empty because it's all tracked out but instead of skiing underneath I traverse to the front of the mountain or the backside of the Cirque. There are ways to deal with overcrowding.

[nickwm21]

Northstar: smaller crowds, cheaper, better terrian.

[PutYourDukesUp]

Kirkwood is pretty flat, but that doesn't really matter because it gets so little snow. I would stick to Squaw or N* because they are so rad.

[TurxSki]

So, guess you realize that most here are yanking your chain somewhat.
Can be horrendous getting to/from SV/AM. Massive crowds sometimes. (Was different a few years back when passes were not cheap).
But plenty of peeps on here have passes, and make that trip.

I like all the major resort, except for NS - no challenge, unless you are into park/bumps. A crowded family place. Can be fun. Great early season.

Accommodation is harder to call.
Maybe Craigslist is your friend?

It would be remiss of me if I didn't mention BayAreaSkiBus.
Day Trips to various resorts every weekend & most weekdays.

Yeah, consider Sugarbowl or Sierra-at-Tahoe. Closest distance to SF.
SB has some great steeps, & Sierra has awesome trees. Both a bit lacking in vert though.
Btw, you get a couple of days at each with most SV/AM passes.

See you up there, Maggot!

[TurxSki]

Oh yeah...SB & ST both have handy sidecountry.

[The SnowShow]

Weekends aren't really that bad. Just leave from the bay area Sunday night and return Friday night, should be smooth sailing. But if you actually decide you want to be at Squaw during the weekend, you can avoid paying for lodging because you will spend pretty much the entire weekend stuck in your car. If/when you actually get to the ski area during the weekend, the good skiing is easy to find - just follow the giant crowd, and ignore the empty lifts, none of the obvious stuff above those lifts are worth skiing. Plenty of lift access sidecountry, just wear all white, don't draw attention to yourself, and know your shit. Seriously, Squaw is awesome, and you can be awesome, too, if you go to Squaw and document it for the entire internet to see.

Looks like Vail

[powdork]

Wouldn't Kirkwood be considerably faster from the south bay as long as the spur is open?

[LightRanger]

Wouldn't Kirkwood be considerably faster from the south bay as long as the spur is open?

Sort of, it depends. I did the early morning drive to KW from Santa Clara in 2:55 one time a bit over a decade ago. Flying that morning, IIRC.

Granted, I routinely did Santa Clara to Sugar Bowl equivalent (2:15 to parents' place in Colfax) in the same time late on Friday evenings.

So, all things considered, not all that much closer and it's always going to depend on the traffic. Maybe Squaw is another 25-35 minutes compared to KW?

d66, if you're driving 89 on a Saturday powder morning to Squaw at the usual time, it's bumper-to-bumper from Truckee. Just kind of how it is right now.

[powdork]

Given that i think the OP would be happier at the wood. Best sidecountry in Tahoe except maybe when Heavenly is firing off the backside. Definitely the most consistent sidecountry in the area. Start now with the epic pass and you'll have a foot in the door when whistler is on the pass next year (not that the foot in the door nets you anything).

[MagnificentUnicorn]

Definitely Kirkwood from the south Bay. When I lived in Fremont in the early to mid nineties that was my preferred place or Bear Valley. A much nicer drive than heading up 50 or 80. I could make Bear Valley in 2:15 with no stopping leaving at 5am, just a bit more to Kirkwood if the roads were good. I liked the vibe at Kirkwood and Bear better than the Tahoe resort too.

[billyk]

Other than the issues of crowds and cost, Squaw is by far the best resort in that area. Just go midweek.

[TahoeBC]

you'll have a foot in the door when whistler is on the pass next year (not that the foot in the door nets you anything).

Epic Local pass already gives you 5 days in Whistler
http://www.skiheavenly.com/plan-your...-explorer.aspx

but the Tahoe Value Pass is cheaper if your not planning any road trips

Both Heavenly and Kirkwood have fantastic side country options

Prolly best bet is to get on a ski lease so you have more flexibility when leave and head back. For example Leaving Friday at 8PM and Sunday at 7PM is gonna make weekend skiing much more tolerable traffic wise often 3 1/2 hours if your driving fast if you have good weather.

Start looking at traffic patterns with google maps to see how horrific it can be.
https://www.google.com/maps/@37.4186.../data=!5m1!1e1

[TahoeJ]

The Squaw / Alpine shit-show is pretty easy to avoid / plan around to some degree. And when it's crowded there's plenty of BC options around Truckee / Tahoe City / West Shore. Alpine Meadows has a few exit spots as well with some nice side country.

I highly recommend going the ski lease route regardless of which side of the lake you opt for. You might want to check in on the Tahoe discussion thread for more advice.

[Long duc dong]

Prolly best bet is to get on a ski lease so you have more flexibility when leave and head back. For example Leaving Friday at 8PM and Sunday at 7PM is gonna make weekend skiing much more tolerable traffic wise often 3 1/2 hours if your driving fast if you have good weather.

https://www.google.com/maps/@37.4186.../data=!5m1!1e1

A ski lease is definitely the way to go. I live in socal and we get a Mammoth ski lease every winter. If you want to go up 2x a month or more it makes sense. You need to decide where on the lake you want to ski, and get a lease accordingly. For instance, if you are going to ski Kirkwood I would go for a lease in SLT. You don't want to get a lease in Tahoe City or Truckee and ski Kirkwood, that would be a nightmare. Decide whether you want Squaw/Alpine or Sugar Bowl or whether you want to go south and do Kirkwood and plan accordingly. You could try Craigslist for ski lease spots. It you can't find a ski lease, you could drive up in the early morning, ski Squaw/Alpine/ Sugar Bowl, stay in Reno at Motel 6 for cheap on Saturday night and hit Squaw/Alpine/Sugar Bowl on the way back to the bay. Get a ski lease if you can though, doing the weekend thing is a big nuisance without one.

It is amazing how Squaw has changed. I spent half a decade ski bumming in Tahoe skiing Squaw everyday and crowds were really not bad unless it was a powder day. I left in the spring of 2004, so before all the cheap passes. How bad is it really on a normal Saturday? I'm not talking pow day, just nice windbuff or slush or maybe bumps day where you ski the sides of chute 75 until the slushy areas or rock garden soften up, or maybe ye ski windbuff in the alternates. Is it to the point where you don't even want to lap KT on a normal Saturday anymore? If you go up and hit Granite/C2/Headwall and other spots can you avoid crowds on a non-pow day? Do they run Silverado regularly? Squaw has lots of different places to go so it is a good mountain to avoid crowds, or at least it used to be. Maybe things have changed. I have not been there for a trip since 2010 so I would be curious to see how things are now.

[powdork]

Epic Local pass already gives you 5 days in Whistler
http://www.skiheavenly.com/plan-your...-explorer.aspx

but the Tahoe Value Pass is cheaper if your not planning any road trips

Both Heavenly and Kirkwood have fantastic side country options

You're right but it doesn't matter since vail passes are no longer for sale as of 12/4

[raisingarizona13]

I've wondered if I were to move to that area if just skipping the busier mountains and getting a Sugarbowl pass might be the best option. It looks like the terrain is pretty sweet and the bc access I have heard is good too.

[barkcity]

I lived in the Bay area for 14 years, and like others say, a shared ski lease is definitely the way to go. As far as drive times go... towards the end of my time there, I completely quit trying to drive up on Friday after work. If you don't get on the road by 1p, the drive up sucks, and if there's a storm it can easily be a 6+ hour drive up. I just drove up early on Sat morning, and it was usually a much easier drive (+/-3 hours). Then, enjoy a nice dinner at your ski lease and let the traffic ease up before driving home Sun evening.

[TahoeJ]

^^ Yep. I have a rule about never driving up on a Friday evening (really late is fine) and never driving home on a Sunday late afternoon. Avoid those times and for the most part it's not so bad.

[smallies]

'Menmber when Powder magazine had kwood at 600 inches. Maybe Squaw was 450 I forget.