Tahoe 1/30-2/3

[Powderqueen]

At least it snowed 5' last week. Would've been really bad if that snow hadn't fallen and half the group were going to bail. We had 11 people in the group and we rented a beautiful home near Tahoe City. http://www.tahoehometours.com/tour.asp? ... kBearLodge

Everyone showed up with low expectations, so that set us up for a great week.

First day was a warm-up at Heavenly Valley. Not my favorite, but was a good intro to those who have never been to Tahoe. We skied the blue cruisers all day.

photos herehttp://forum.nyskiblog.com/Heavenly-Valley-ski-day-1-of-Tahoe-vacation-1-30-12-td3702185.html


I took my bigger camera to get some good shots of the scenery. Unfortunately, on the third turn after a scenic view point where we had taken off our skis, my ski came off and I fell forward, right on my camera. Took all my wind and I thought it was the end of my ski week and my camera. Turned out it was just a bruised rib and my camera survived. I will never ski with that thing in my jacket again. Will only use the pocket camera from now on.

The next day we went to Kirkwood. Big improvement over Heavenly. Really great terrain and nice steep groomers. We found our way off-piste as well, though there was a lot of crusty chunky stuff to work our way through. This did not help my sore ribs, but it was a nice diversion from the blue groomers.

photos herehttp://forum.nyskiblog.com/Kirkwood-1-31-12-td3711906.html

Mt Rose offered a $35 lift ticket on Weds when you show another pass or lift ticket. We really liked Mt Rose. We got 2" of new snow, so we had a little powdery conditions and untracked snow in the trees to enjoy. Too bad the Chutes weren't open, because they looked pretty awesome and all north-facing. We will go back to Mt Rose next time.

photos here http://forum.nyskiblog.com/Mt-Rose-NV-2-1-12-td3711929.html

Alpine Meadows may have been our favorite of the week. The terrain is really nice and the snow quality and quantity was the best. The last day we went to Squaw Valley. None of us liked it. The terrain that was skiable was uninspiring and the big sprawling resort was not appealing either. So we packed up by noon and were skiing at Alpine Meadows by 1pm.

photos here
http://forum.nyskiblog.com/Alpine-Meadows-and-Squaw-2-2-2-3-td3715044.html

Sunny bluebird days throughout the week with cold temps barely softened things up, but we managed to enjoy the groomers and found adventure in the northfacing trees and chutes where we could.

It was a really fun week. We hope to get back here when there is better snow.

 

[Tony Crocker]

With 2 weeks planned to Tahoe Feb. 27 - Mar. 8 I have been following the situation closely. I am almost certainly bugging out of both weeks though the financial penalty in my case is modest. Had I been asked I certainly would have advised that you go somewhere else.

The largest areas Squaw and Heavenly are the most to be avoided in lean seasons. Squaw's steep terrain needs a minimum 6 foot base, and probably 8+ for maximum potential. But when conditions are at their best, advanced and better skiers should spend lots of time there. Heavenly is off the Sierra Crest and gets less snow than those places on it. So no surprise it's limited to groomers now.

It was useful to see the reports from Kirkwood, Alpine and Mt. Rose, which I expected would be better than Squaw/Heavenly. There was a rain event after the snow (which did not occur at Mammoth), so that's where the crust came from. Was there a maximum rain elevation line at Rose or Kirkwood above which the off-piste crust did not exist?

 

[Powderqueen]

We booked our luxury house for 10 people back in Sept. We would've lost $2800 had we bailed. Some of the people were thinking about taking the loss ($280 each for the week) and paying the $150 to change flights. But most of us were going no matter and some had even paid in advance for car rental, which would've made for substantial financial loss had we not gone.

We actually skied hard and had a great time. There was snow and we did ski a lot of groomers until we got to Mt Rose and Alpine Meadows.

My only regret is that we didn't go to Homewood. I heard that there is a lot of north facing trees there. But we also heard that they only had 10% of terrain open, which is why we didn't go there. They had only been open 1 week of the season before we arrived.

I never would've thought it to be that risky to go to Tahoe, so that is why we booked in advance, since we had 10 people wanting to go on a trip together.

I am now going to reconsider booking any trip so far in advance. The downside of that is not getting the preferred lodging, especially if traveling with a large group. the house we had was very comfortable for 10 people and had a super hot tub on the deck under the tall pines.

I didn't want to ski at Heavenly at all. I knew it was going to be a day of blue groomers. But, with a large group, I don't get to make the decisions. Half the people wanted to go to Heavenly because they had never been and for the views of the lake. That is why I took my big camera...figuring it to be an easy day (which is was). Falling that day just made the rest of the skiing more challenging :wink: (didn't fall at all the rest of the week...as I was in a "do not fall" state of being with bruised ribs and sore rotator cuffs).

Here are all my Heavenly pix...
https://picasaweb.google.com/1063845955 ... 4/Heavenly
the very last shot was a 20 seconds before my ski popped off and I fell forward onto my camera

Squaw was not nearly as nice as Heavenly and after skiing Alpine Meadows the previous day, we decided the cut our losses and spend the afternoon at AM. We really loved AM and had another great day there. They even had their snow guns on.

All in all we had a fantastic vacation, despite the lack of powder.

 

[Tony Crocker]

I never would've thought it to be that risky to go to Tahoe

Maybe 4 other seasons out of the past 45 would be this bad at Tahoe Feb. 1. For the trips I'm bailing out of a month later make that 2 out of 45. I never signed up for the NASJA week (deadline was Feb. 3, I could probably still go last minute). For the Epic Forum week I could eat a 6 Tahoe Six-Pack pass for $310 but I'll probably be able to sell it for something if less than full price.

We booked our luxury house for 10 people back in Sept.....Some of the people were thinking about taking the loss ($280 each for the week) and paying the $150 to change flights.

The bigger the group, the less flexibility. Both Epic and NASJA are 50+ people, impossible to change dates or location.

I am now going to reconsider booking any trip so far in advance. The downside of that is not getting the preferred lodging

It's hard to criticize an advance booked trip with a long term failure rate of only 10%. But I do think cost/availability of air tickets should be the main driver of advance commitments. Most destinations (certainly Tahoe) you can dig up lodging on shorter notice if it's not Christmas week, which is usually not when people should be taking destination ski trips anyway IMHO.

 

[Powderqueen]

I need a powder fix and I'm considering another trip somewhere, when it snows. I can't afford Alaska, but and considering PNW and/or BC. My friend Mark is driving out to Red/WW via Mt Bohemia in a coupla weeks with his sons. His plan was to go to SLC after Red/WW but now is considering other options. His sister was going to meet him out there and has already purchased a plane tic. Today he told me they are going to look into changing flights and going elsewhere. I think it is still too soon to know where to go. I'm just going to wait n see where they end up going. I hope to get a frequent flier reward plane ticket, but not sure if I can do it on short notice. We'll see how that goes. Powderqueen needs some powder!

 

[Tony Crocker]

Liz' FF ticket to Jackson was booked 2 weeks ahead. That's still too far in advance to predict powder. If you have to fly it's going to be difficult to book in the say 3-5 day range that a weather report has at least some credibility. maybe to a Southwest Airlines destination?

Otherwise I see only 2 alternatives:
1) The big $ method, cat/heli skiing with an 80-90% track record for booking powder in advance. Going into the Nelson area with a lot of options like socal did a few weeks ago is the best bet there, particularly since places like Valhalla Snowcat and Stellar Heli do cater to the day skier market.
2) The "q" method, fly to a central location for at least 2 weeks and be willing to drive for the powder. From his base in Montana he can go north into Canada, south as far as Salt Lake and pretty much anywhere in the Northern Rockies.

 

[flyover]

My friend Mark is driving out to Red/WW via Mt Bohemia in a coupla weeks with his sons.

Superior's South Shore has had temps well above average and snowfall well below average almost all winter long. I skied in MI's Porcupine "Mountains" this past weekend with some folks on their way back from skiing Bohemia on 2/9 -2/10. Their consensus opinion was that Bohemia is not worth the drive right now, and likely has not been worth the drive all winter. There are rumors of a pattern change around 2/20 or so, so it is possible Bohemia's conditions will improve, but unless they get at least one good base-building dump followed by a dependable lake-effect cycle (which is generally dependent upon persistent cold temps), I'd be hesitant to put in the time and effort it takes to get out onto the Keweenaw just for the skiing.

For more on my take on Bohemia, your friend might want to take a peek at this: viewtopic.php?f=4&t=9389

 

[johnnash]

I hope to get a frequent flier reward plane ticket, but not sure if I can do it on short notice.

I don't know much about powder (neither how to predict it, nor how to ski it!), but I do know something about FF programs, and this kind of short notice situation is exactly how to get the most value from your miles. Booking a paid flight on short notice will cost you an arm and a leg (and maybe some other appendage), but it's almost always possible to get a FF seat. The only question is how many miles it will cost, but if you have some flexibility on schedules and don't insist on flying prime time, you'll generally have some options for the lowest miles tix. So, you end up getting a lot of $$$/ mile. Also, if you change your mind, you can re-deposit the miles or exchange for another date. If you've got high status in the FF program, re-depositing or changing may be free, but in any case, I think in most programs it's cheaper than the change fee for a non-refundable paid ticket. Also, keep in mind that Southwest has no change fee (ie, if you book a flight then later cancel, they'll give you credit in their system that you can use to book another flight at that time or later), so you can book with them, and change your mind free! =D>

 

[Tony Crocker]

Booking a paid flight on short notice will cost you an arm and a leg (and maybe some other appendage), but it's almost always possible to get a FF seat.

Not if it's a high demand situation. Forget about using FF miles for Europe in the summer for example, unless you grab the seats when they first come up 11 months ahead. Or you may have to pay double the cheap number of miles to get the seat, at which point the cost/benefit analysis may not be attractive. One should never use FF miles unless you're saving at least 1 1/2 cents per mile, and the goal should be more like 2 cents per mile. That said, remote ski area airports in the winter (Jackson, Telluride, Whitefish, etc.) do tend to be an effective use of mileage. Denver, Salt Lake, Reno it's usually better to buy the ticket.

but I do know something about FF programs, and this kind of short notice situation is exactly how to get the most value from your miles.

Short notice 2-4 weeks in advance to avoid a situation like Tahoe/I-70 this season I agree. For powder 3-5 days out I doubt it. Maybe if you're VERY elite in one of the FF programs.

Also, if you change your mind, you can re-deposit the miles or exchange for another date. If you've got high status in the FF program, re-depositing or changing may be free, but in any case, I think in most programs it's cheaper than the change fee for a non-refundable paid ticket.

This may work in terms of not paying an outrageous price for the changed destination. But the redeposit fee is now $150, same as the change fee on a paid ticket unless you're in the top 2 of Delta's 4 categories. That means 75K miles per year. I'm in the lowest of the 4 tiers at 25K per year, needing an affiliated Amex credit card to get much of that. Getting into that lowest tier is still very worthwhile in terms of avoiding baggage fees and getting some degree of preferential treatment though. FYI I know United's and American's FF programs are in general more restrictive than Delta's.

Also, keep in mind that Southwest has no change fee (ie, if you book a flight then later cancel, they'll give you credit in their system that you can use to book another flight at that time or later), so you can book with them, and change your mind free!

Always worth checking out not only for the flexibility but for the no bag fees. If you can get into the preferred category with one of the 3 major programs, it's generally worth using that airline if you can. That's where the big FF payoffs come from, like my getting Japan + Palau for 90K miles a year ago. Delta often still lets you have 2 stops on a FF ticket like that.

 

[johnnash]

Not if it's a high demand situation. Forget about using FF miles for Europe in the summer for example, unless you grab the seats when they first come up 11 months ahead. Or you may have to pay double the cheap number of miles to get the seat, at which point the cost/benefit analysis may not be attractive.

I’d put it this way: For travel at peak periods to popular destinations, you’re not going to get a cheap seat using either miles or $$$ unless you plan in advance. But if you do that and are somewhat flexible on dates, using miles can be a smart strategy. I’ve booked several award trips to Hawaii and Europe in summer. You get an especially favorable $/mile value on biz class, which is really big bucks if you pay $$$.

One should never use FF miles unless you're saving at least 1 1/2 cents per mile, and the goal should be more like 2 cents per mile.

Agree with that. And if you can’t use miles to get that kind of value, you probably should not be using an airline affiliated credit card; you’d be better off using a cash rebate card, which gives you a 1% rebate.

That said, remote ski area airports in the winter (Jackson, Telluride, Whitefish, etc.) do tend to be an effective use of mileage. Denver, Salt Lake, Reno it's usually better to buy the ticket.

That’s generally correct for advance planning over 2 weeks. But there's generally a dramatic escalation in ticket prices less than 2 weeks in advance. So, for really short notice – just a few days in advance - in my experience using miles is generally much better. I booked my last trip to SLC 2 days in advance. I priced it out at $700- 800, but I got it for 37,500 miles, using the saver fare on the outbound and a full fare on the return (because I wanted to travel on a particular flight on a Sunday). I''ve only done this on major routes, so I'm not sure how available award tix would be if you're flying to small regional airports. But, bottom line is that it’s certainly worth checking out the award option for short-term travel.

 

[Marc_C]

Psssst! Johnnash! You end a quote with [/quote], not with what you've got up there.

 

[Tony Crocker]

I booked my last trip to SLC 2 days in advance. I priced it out at $700- 800, but I got it for 37,500 miles

That would definitely be worth doing from the East based upon a powder forecast IMHO. Powderqueen, take note!

 

[johnnash]

I forgot to mention one other trick that sometimes pays off when using FF miles. If you find that no economy seats are available at the ''saver'' level (12,500 miles each way in United; mor or less the same on other carriers, I believe), so you'll have to pay ''full fare'' (25,000 miles each way), you should check the first class seats. Sometimes there are first class seats available at the saver level, which (on United at least) is the same as the ''full fare'' economy seat. This of course is not the norm, but has happened a couple of times for me, so it's certainly worth checking.