Well, this weekend was my annual Lake Tahoe ski trip.
Arrived on Thursday and had a grand opening special on a room in the new Tuscany Tower at the Peppermill Reno . These rooms are incredible. When you walk into the new tower its like you have gone to a completely different hotel. just a few video poker machines at one of the new bars would let you know that its a casino. There is a new circular bar with large glass doors that will open to an atrium during the summer months. And a new cafe has opened, Biscottis, with the fancy coffees and gelatos on the main floor. Wifi was expensive ($11 a day), but really nice king size beds, marble bathrooms with oversized whirlpool tubs and large showers with dual heads.
Skied on Friday at Northstar. Sunshine, blue skies and beautiful ski conditions for that friday. A far cry from last year's sub zero weather. The first change I noticed from my last trip to Northstar was that the free parking has been moved up near the main road. So now you have to shuttle up to the main lodge area. But you still have a long walk up to the gondola. The new lift over to outback mountain does help though. But we had a great day. Northstar has always been a great newbie mountain and did a great job with the rookies on this year's trip too.
Saturday I went skiing up at Heavenly Valley. Conditions and weather was great, but the crowds were tough. Everyone must have decided to ski at Heavenly that day. One of the biggest crowds I have been in skiing in years. I fled off to do some tree skiing, and while not ideal, still made for some great fun. A little thin cover off the main trail made it a bit challenging though. They could really use some more snow. The new Olympic lift is a help and some new trails are nice. But crowds like this can be really frustrating when you are spending more time in lift lines than you do on the slopes.
A good trip overall. Having the skiing/gambling partying atmosphere of the Reno/Tahoe area is unique and worth it for an annual trip. We have been doing this since I lived in San Francisco 10 years ago and my company had a condo up in Tahoe. Will definitely be back next year!
