TR: Tahoe & Mammoth 12/27-1/10.

G

Gpaul

New member
Hiya all! Got back a few days ago from a fantastic ski trip, here's my report:

Landed in LAX 5pm 12/25, got screwed by ACE Car Rental (never again will I rent from other than the big boys!), Universal Studios following day (for our 6 y/o champ), and on to Reno via Sacramento leaving Universal 3:30pm, arriving in Reno 11pm; lotsa traffic all the way to Sacramento!

Stayed 5 nights at Ascuaga's Nugget, very, very nice, huge rooms, great indoor pool/jacuzzis. Rented equipment following day in SLT at Lakeside rentals, excellent service and good equipment, lowest price by far in Tahoe. On the way to Sierra had to purchase chains, only not to use them the entire trip so brought them back to the Dom. Rep. to haul on next winter's trip. 12/27 Sierra: crappy weather, but nice snow, rain intensified in afternoon, left wanting more. 12/28, RAIN, no skiing, went skating in downtown Reno, very nice rink and our son had a great time. 12/29, Squaw and blue skies. The mountain doesn't feel as big as its stats, and like y'all mentioned very little grooming. No lines, and ended up having a good ski day. 12/30 went to Alpine, they steered us to Homewood due to epic winds. Homewood is VERY nice if slow lifts don't bug you, I'd definitely go back again for long groomers. 12/31, RAIN, skating and Bowling. In fact, we enjoyed these 2 sports enough as not to call this part of our trip a total disaster. 1/1,2,3 Heavenly, stayed at Best Western Station House, very nice, good breakfast included, and walked each morning to Gondola, took the shuttle back. As advised by you savvy skiers, the mountain is in fact big, but TRAVERSE city like no other place I've been to, never again! Some nice long groomers, but I'm proud to say we had most fun on Gunbarrel/face, even my wife came down 1 time!

Left on 1/4 at 3AM 'cause we had to take the alternate route to Mammoth (395 closed due to avalanche), finally boarded Broadway Express @ 11am, and NEVER stopped smiling for the next 7 days!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Rented at Ski Renter at beginning of Old Mammoth Road, owner Rob a helluva guy, great Elan's! Yep, Mammoth is as good as it gets (varied, steep, long, wide, no lines 1/4-10, nice little town, friendly people, SUN for 7 days, etc., etc.) On Saturday 1/7 went to June due to expected crowds and wind at Mammoth, and enjoyed the runs off J7. Unfortunately, me and the only other skier on the "bowl" collided, and I ended up with a very minor fissure on the front part of my shoulder. Kept on skiing albeit less aggressively for the next 4 days!

If we return to California, we'll head straight to Mammoth and hang there for as many as 10 days, it's that big!

I want to wholeheartedly THANK all of you who offered such fantastic advice, and wish you a great 2006!
 
Which alternate route to Mammoth was open? If you were on skiing by 11AM my guess is Nevada route 95 to Nevada route 6 to Bishop. I don't think 6 was open when I was stuck in Bishop Jan. 2. If you had to go down to Sacramento, then to Bakerfield, across 58, then back up 14 and 395 you drive even faster than I do. No chain control between Sherwin Grade and Mammoth on Jan. 4? There was still plenty of snow on the road when I was driving out 5-6PM on Jan. 3.

Squaw looked small because a lot of the good stuff wasn't covered yet. You were lucky in some sense because the Squaw devotees knew that and stayed away.

I still think you would have been better off in Monterey and SF that first week. It does sound like the subpar ski conditions and rain vs. snow kept the road conditions manageable. Why not Mt. Rose when it was closest to you and above much of the rain?

What was the weather doing at Heavenly/South Shore on Jan. 2 when it was snowing 95 inches at Mammoth? Since it snowed a foot in Bishop (4,000 ft.) from midnight Jan. 1 to noon Jan. 2 I would think there would have been some snow at lake level at Tahoe.

With regard to your Mammoth experience, you heard it here first :) .
 
Thrilled it worked out well for you, gpaul! Those first few rainy days must've had you rethinking the wisdom of heading for Tahoe.

I must ask, though -- some folks put screwy locations in their user profile, so I assumed that the D.R. was one of those. But, you really are living there. How does one become a skier from the D.R.?
 
Tony, you're right, 95 to 6. Chain controls in effect 1/4, but didn't put them on (stupid and lucky), PT Cruiser did better than imagined in that heavy snow. Squaw looked small more because of low # of groomers, but it loooked beautiful in that ONE blue-bird day!

The road to Rose was always on chain control, and I didn't want to bother. Also, the only days it was totally above rain and without howling winds (based on fellow skier reports) were on our Squaw day, and the 3 days at Heavenly. Yep, at Heavenly it snowed and howled 1/1, snowed but not bad 1/2, and perfect blue, warmish day 1/3.


Hiya Admin! Thought about going to SF, but kept up (to no avail) the faith! As mentioned, we skated and bowled and hung out, not really totally wasted days. In all we skiied bell-to-bell 11 days, and 2 other 3/4 days.

First ski day was at Greek Peak 1975, then another 1 day at Mt. Snow; a hiatus until 1983-86, when we really took on skiing while living in DC. Another break until 1991, skiied 10 days in Poconos, no more skiing until 1996 when we skiied for 23 days in Colorado/NM, and started again in 2000, haven't stopped since.

Seriously thought of moving to Ski Country, but starting over is daunting, especially with a 7 y/o. Who knows...?

All the best Amigo(a)s!
 
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