Is a very little bit of skiing better than no skiing at all?
When you're a Midwesterner with a short window in Reno, the answer is clearly yes. But probably only because (a) these were my first turns of the year, and (b) it wasn't raining unlike just about everyplace else in the region.
With folks at both Heavenly and Northstar telling me that it was raining fairly steadily, I diverted to Mount Rose after an early lunch Wednesday. Since I called ahead, I knew there was no rain there, but high winds had closed everything but the Ponderosa lift. That left very limited green terrain, but I have to say that the snow was pretty good - a little groomed, mostly skier packed, and some nice soft stuff between the trains. I cruised from around 1 p.m. to closing, making the most of it with a hearty group of fellow short-runners.
Having grown up skiing in New Jersey, I've seen much worse.
The upper mountain was socked in, but cleared late in the day. While the coverage looked enticingly solid for December, it didn't look like there was anything fresh up there. If they'd opened just one more lift, it would have been so much better, but I have to say the wind was very strong.
It's currently pouring on the South shore right now, with very high winds. A sad waste of good precip. Going to play it by ear tomorrow - maybe Heavenly, maybe Kirkwood, maybe nothing.
When you're a Midwesterner with a short window in Reno, the answer is clearly yes. But probably only because (a) these were my first turns of the year, and (b) it wasn't raining unlike just about everyplace else in the region.
With folks at both Heavenly and Northstar telling me that it was raining fairly steadily, I diverted to Mount Rose after an early lunch Wednesday. Since I called ahead, I knew there was no rain there, but high winds had closed everything but the Ponderosa lift. That left very limited green terrain, but I have to say that the snow was pretty good - a little groomed, mostly skier packed, and some nice soft stuff between the trains. I cruised from around 1 p.m. to closing, making the most of it with a hearty group of fellow short-runners.
Having grown up skiing in New Jersey, I've seen much worse.
The upper mountain was socked in, but cleared late in the day. While the coverage looked enticingly solid for December, it didn't look like there was anything fresh up there. If they'd opened just one more lift, it would have been so much better, but I have to say the wind was very strong.
It's currently pouring on the South shore right now, with very high winds. A sad waste of good precip. Going to play it by ear tomorrow - maybe Heavenly, maybe Kirkwood, maybe nothing.
