Tahoe '23/'24 - Reserve Now For Best Pricing!!!

[South tahoe skier]

If it was reliable and frequent I’d prefer to take the bus all the time.

Tahoe / Truckee locals and visitors alike have been gaslit into this idea that it’s impossible and not financially viable. It’s total bullshit. Not saying it would be easy but people act like it’s going to Mars or something.

can’t say I am a fan of the shuttle, maybe I have been gaslit(?) but the most reliable shuttle I can think of is at northstar. I am not a north shore skier but the few times I have gone to northstar it’s a junk show. Park out at castle peak, walk to the pick up, shuttle to the village, 1/2 mile walk through the village, gondola ride and 45 minutes later your on snow. I remember one weekend around 2008 northstar was parking folks at the truckee airport and bussing them in.

anyone used lake link to get to the mountain? I have seen them running around the south shore a bit. I wonder what the wait times are.

[dmcd]

Scott Gaffney riding McConkey's waterski's today
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fBivyPCFZy0&ab_channel=ScottGaffney

[old goat]

Mashed potatoes today--that is, my mom's leftover mashed potatoes that weren't that good to begin with, left in the fridge overnight and eaten cold for breakfast. (Actually, the snow wasn't that bad but us old folks don't do well in the fog.)

As far as getting stuff open--they can't even plow the parking lot at AM.

[SnowMachine]

fify

I've been on that bus before. Hell, I owned it (limo company).

Honestly, I think it takes a express lane for the busses to make it worthwhile for folks. Something that provides huge time savings.

[SnowMachine]

can’t say I am a fan of the shuttle, maybe I have been gaslit(?) but the most reliable shuttle I can think of is at northstar. I am not a north shore skier but the few times I have gone to northstar it’s a junk show. Park out at castle peak, walk to the pick up, shuttle to the village, 1/2 mile walk through the village, gondola ride and 45 minutes later your on snow. I remember one weekend around 2008 northstar was parking folks at the truckee airport and bussing them in.

anyone used lake link to get to the mountain? I have seen them running around the south shore a bit. I wonder what the wait times are.

We all knew Northstar priorities when they built condos where their parking lot was. That was right around the last time I skied there.

If I'm not mistaken, they still bus folks from the airport on busy weekends.

[SnowMachine]

Scott Gaffney riding McConkey's waterski's today
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fBivyPCFZy0&ab_channel=ScottGaffney

Thanks for sharing. That made me chuckle.

[neufox47]

More and more I think the real solution is to eliminate cars from Truckee to South Lake, maybe you can drive 89 for $100 toll. Palisades and Alpine build a village where their parking lots are and there is significant investment in a bus system. Also, there should be a train stop at Sugar Bowl and the majority of people from the Bay Area should be getting on a train to get to Truckee instead of their cars. Just like in Europe. But that isn’t happening.

Placer county is currently doing their mandatory rezoning for affordable housing and put all of like 30 units out of 6,000 anywhere near Tahoe. An opportunity to actually expand high density housing in the area that desperately needs it but they stuck almost all of it in N Auburn because it was the easiest thing to do.


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[skier666]

I rolled up Saturday afternoon with my little guy. Sheets of rain in the foothills and rolled over Donner Pass just as they implemented chain controls. As soon as we passed Boreal, the road turned to wet pavement pretty quickly. Watched the stressful Niner game at Plumpjack and woke up Sunday morning to fresh Sierra Cement!

Little guy had ski team, so I lined up at KT. Upper mountain was socked in all day so I stayed on the lower mountain. First lap was pretty fun with untracked in the trees between West Face and Chute 75. Did a Nose to Alternates on run 2 and holy hell...every thing was wet sliding in slow motion. I would ski down to a safe spot and then watch my entire run release. After seeing that, I went for 3 to 4 fast mellow turns on Red Dog Ridge/Old Mans. Quite enjoyable if I'm being honest. Did some Oly Lady and went for a Red Dog to ski the spines. Did a few laps and again, all the steeps were sliding...which was fine as long as you kept moving.

Figured I check Strainer down to Resort Chair and sure enough, almost untracked cement at 11am. At this time, they had closed signs so you couldn't take the steeps toward Red Dog. As I rode the chair, patrol turned the sings and I was then getting first sponge/avalanche turns down towards Far East...wet but so fun. Did a few of those and my quads and soaked gloves called it quits. Maybe I'm a bit demented but I had a blast skiing in classic Tahoe conditions.

[fomofo]

Scott Gaffney riding McConkey's waterski's today
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fBivyPCFZy0&ab_channel=ScottGaffney

Amazing piece of his story there - so cool to see that!



https://www.powder.com/stories/the-catalyst

[SnowMachine]

I rolled up Saturday afternoon with my little guy. Sheets of rain in the foothills and rolled over Donner Pass just as they implemented chain controls. As soon as we passed Boreal, the road turned to wet pavement pretty quickly. Watched the stressful Niner game at Plumpjack and woke up Sunday morning to fresh Sierra Cement!

Little guy had ski team, so I lined up at KT. Upper mountain was socked in all day so I stayed on the lower mountain. First lap was pretty fun with untracked in the trees between West Face and Chute 75. Did a Nose to Alternates on run 2 and holy hell...every thing was wet sliding in slow motion. I would ski down to a safe spot and then watch my entire run release. After seeing that, I went for 3 to 4 fast mellow turns on Red Dog Ridge/Old Mans. Quite enjoyable if I'm being honest. Did some Oly Lady and went for a Red Dog to ski the spines. Did a few laps and again, all the steeps were sliding...which was fine as long as you kept moving.

Figured I check Strainer down to Resort Chair and sure enough, almost untracked cement at 11am. At this time, they had closed signs so you couldn't take the steeps toward Red Dog. As I rode the chair, patrol turned the sings and I was then getting first sponge/avalanche turns down towards Far East...wet but so fun. Did a few of those and my quads and soaked gloves called it quits. Maybe I'm a bit demented but I had a blast skiing in classic Tahoe conditions.

It was fun as long as it wasn't tracked to all hell. Then again, I'm dealing with some hammered shins right now, so chop is not my friend. I called it early and did a couple of bar laps.

@skier666 I've asked before, not sure if you don't want to share. Who is your kid's coach this year? I work with a bunch of those guys/gals. I saw you skiing with your kid end of the year at Alpine. I was going to say hi, but I was in a bad spot to cross traffic. I figured id see you guys again, but never did. My kid is about the same age as yours, but skis midweek.

[skier666]

It was fun as long as it wasn't tracked to all hell. Then again, I'm dealing with some hammered shins right now, so chop is not my friend. I called it early and did a couple of bar laps.

@skier666 I've asked before, not sure if you don't want to share. Who is your kid's coach this year? I work with a bunch of those guys/gals. I saw you skiing with your kid end of the year at Alpine. I was going to say hi, but I was in a bad spot to cross traffic. I figured id see you guys again, but never did. My kid is about the same age as yours, but skis midweek.

He's 7 and in Purple Group #13 with Andrew.

If around on weekends, shoot me a DM and I'll send you my cell

[janky]

Damn, sorry your son was in Top 10 on first run and didn't make it down 2nd run. I'm glad they hosted and pulled off at least one race but definitely a tough weekend all around. Drive home though at 9am on Sunday was a breeze, even getting through chain control was super fast by Donner Lake. We were at the Mammoth race in early January and got the Friday race to complete but Saturday and Sunday races were wiped out by the wind. So yeah, we drove down there to Mammoth, paid the money for hotel/gas and got one race from what was supposed to be a 3 day race. That's ski racing.

That pict is actually fairly kind. You are missing the one of the upper road that had dirt above KT with a million jerry's.

Yup, pretty frustrating weekend. When you are annoyed, just be glad you didn't drive from So.Cal. for this race. By the boys 2nd run on Saturday it was a bobsled course w/ holes galore. Congrats to Jnr. Janky for finishing as that was not easy! 5 of the top 10 from the first run crashed. This wasn't just missed gates, but blew up. My son was 6th after first run and fired up. Didn't even make the road in run 2. Pretty bummed. I too took exactly 2 runs all day to shuttle jackets and crap from the top of the course to the bottom.

Yesterday we got 4th chair on Siberia for some epic braille mashed potatoes. Took 3 runs and decided wildflour cookies and getting home early sounded better. Was missing our 2k extra in elevation as my daughters had a blast at Mammoth on Sunday.

Good luck Tahoe peeps. See ya in 2 weeks for U14's. I hope it cools off before then.

[Westcoaster]

More and more I think the real solution is to eliminate cars from Truckee to South Lake, maybe you can drive 89 for $100 toll. Palisades and Alpine build a village where their parking lots are and there is significant investment in a bus system. Also, there should be a train stop at Sugar Bowl and the majority of people from the Bay Area should be getting on a train to get to Truckee instead of their cars. Just like in Europe. But that isn’t happening.

Placer county is currently doing their mandatory rezoning for affordable housing and put all of like 30 units out of 6,000 anywhere near Tahoe. An opportunity to actually expand high density housing in the area that desperately needs it but they stuck almost all of it in N Auburn because it was the easiest thing to do.


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I would vote for this.

[powdork]

Wow. Sunlight is kinda cool it turns out. I've been leaving the loWest shore the last couple days for Carson Pass

[old goat]

I didn't stop to take a picture and it wouldn't have done it justice anyway, but anyone who drove from Donner to Sugar Bowl this morning saw some beautiful light and clouds.

[Truckee Joe]

They opened the palisades today. I hiked granite peak first thing and found soft turns and cold snow. Mainline also skied good. I even came down tower 16 before it got too soft. Great midweek skiing, and very short lift lines.

[TurxSki]

...Great midweek skiing, and very short lift lines.

There was a bunch of *the troubled youth of america* at Mt.Rose.
We keep getting blindsided by school vacays.
I mean why thafuk they off school now?


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[SnowMachine]

He's 7 and in Purple Group #13 with Andrew.

If around on weekends, shoot me a DM and I'll send you my cell

Nice!! Figured he'd be skiing purple. I don't know Andrew. My little dude is a first year MM, just turned seven. He's a mid-week red star with Tally.

I'll shoot you a DM. My weekends are usually spent skiing with a posse of little people (my two boys and their friends), but I can break free occasionally.

[mmmm...pow!]

I would vote for this.

Yeah, rich people think the answer to any overcrowding issue is to make stuff more expensive. Fuck that. (Even though there have been discussions of charging to drive in the basin.) Here's another idea. We've got numerous hotel and condo developments being planned, including the monstrosity proposed for Palisades. Let them build, and ban short term rentals. All of them, except perhaps owner occupied houses renting out a room. And occupancy limits on ski leases. Have all the tourists stay in concentrated areas, and make them include workforce housing within the developments. Build it like an actual, functioning village, where people live, work, and play. Put a few thousand people right there at the ski area, filtering in Friday night through Saturday morning, that's at least a few hundred less cars trying to get there at once. Hotels in Tahoe and Truckee can provide busses to the ski area. As much as I would rather not have all the development, I think it would be better than motels scattered in the neighborhoods. No chance in hell of this happening, because greed, but it sounds good to me.

[SnowMachine]

Yeah, rich people think the answer to any overcrowding issue is to make stuff more expensive. Fuck that. (Even though there have been discussions of charging to drive in the basin.) Here's another idea. We've got numerous hotel and condo developments being planned, including the monstrosity proposed for Palisades. Let them build, and ban short term rentals. All of them, except perhaps owner occupied houses renting out a room. And occupancy limits on ski leases. Have all the tourists stay in concentrated areas, and make them include workforce housing within the developments. Build it like an actual, functioning village, where people live, work, and play. Put a few thousand people right there at the ski area, filtering in Friday night through Saturday morning, that's at least a few hundred less cars trying to get there at once. Hotels in Tahoe and Truckee can provide busses to the ski area. As much as I would rather not have all the development, I think it would be better than motels scattered in the neighborhoods. No chance in hell of this happening, because greed, but it sounds good to me.

You're right on the money, IMO. The Everline and Mountaineer style shuttles are the right call. Make it quick and effective to shuttle to the ski hill. Give people a warm area to boot up/lock up their gear (hotel locker room) before hoping onto a shuttle. Run the shuttles on a regular schedule and give them traffic priority. None of this costs much.

I've been a pretty huge opponent of STR's also. As an investor, I see the benefits (I had one that I then turned back into LTR local housing), but I also view them negatively. We need LTR's for locals and employees and I'm sorry if your vacation home cannot be subsidized for you (my hypocritical opinion).

Back to mega resorts... The revenue model of selling as many passes as possible muddied resort quality that much further. As a consumer, I love the mega pass concept. In practice, I'd gladly pay double for my season pass for a better quality experience particularly if day pass prices came back to reality (where I could travel without feeling abused).

[old goat]

You'd pay double for your pass so that fewer people would buy passes. Meanwhile I guarantee you that there are plenty of people willing to pay triple or more so that you won't buy a pass.

[heckacali]

Snowmachine, you know you contradicted yourself from the beginning of your post to the end of the post?

You start off by agreeing that rich people thinking making things more expensive to solve crowding is a shitty solution,
then at the end you state you would pay double for your pass to reduce crowds...

[Ottime]

^^^^^^I was thinking the same thing.

Still, many moons ago, I had a cheap (sub $400) unrestricted KW pass and could buy day tickets at Alpine for $39. I sprinkled a few days in at Homewood, Diamond Peak, Rose, Sugar Bowl and Sierra at Tahoe (they used to have a 2 for 1 mid week when you filled your tank at Shell). Oh, and BV. Day skiing was very reasonable. The Alpine Pass was expensive and Squaw even more so. N* and SAT had a reasonable dual pass if I recall. It was not just for the rich, except maybe Squaw, and then N* once the Ritz went in. KW was cheap and Heave had a reasonable blackout pass ($400??). But I liked being able to ski for a day, here or there, without spending a lot of money. Those days are pretty much done. Does REI even sell day vouchers anymore?

Did a few of those and my quads and soaked gloves called it quits. Maybe I'm a bit demented but I had a blast skiing in classic Tahoe conditions.

You give me hope for skiing this weekend. We were (are?) planning on heading up, but even Vailwood will be wet. Was hoping for sunny and warm, not wet and warm.

They have been 100% open for some time, which is more about how KW actually has snow than Vail in general, but at least the big corp overlord was not pinching pennies. It has been busy this year with the over all lack of coverage in the basin and with the epic* access. But there is still only so much parking and a lot of open terrain.

[powdork]

Snowmachine, you know you contradicted yourself from the beginning of your post to the end of the post?

oh shit, we're fact checking now?! that last vid had a clip that was the west shore and wasn't the last couple days

[heckacali]

$39 Alpine tix were the bestest