<p>How long a drive is it from one side to the other?</p>
<p>My guess is that you will be here on Presidents Week, Based on that, here is my preliminary assesment:
- You need to rent a 4 wheel drive, not a car. Rental companies will not honor chain damages at SFO if you need to put chians on and it is required to carry chains when you are in the Tahoe area. For 4 of you an SUV or a van is needed, depends how many luggage you have. Otherwise, a Subaru will be good, if you can find it. We all drive 4 wheels to Tahoe area and no chain control on those cars except when the road is closed :).
- You can rent demo skis, but you know you need to bring your boots right? Demo skis are $35/day at the slope, but you got the chance to demo all the models. Off slope demo rental costs are lower, but you have that pair for the day. It is cheaper to bring your own equipement, I broght my skis to Chile and Europe.
- Based on your level of skiing, definitly North Shore, I don’t even bother to ski Heavenly. For the amount of time you are staying, it will be too hard to ski both North and South. Unfortunatly, slope side accomodations at the North shore are much limited. And you don’t get to use your points, there is only Ritz and Hyatt in the North. If you are willing to drive 45 min. each way for skiing, then you can stay in Reno, you will get real cheap top quality accomodations/food and you do not have to gamble, most of us don’t. It is around $400/night for Squaw Viilage, little less at North Star, but why would you stay at the North Star? Squaw Creek is fine for you as well but it is going to be $400/night also. We, the regulars, will stay with friends on ski lease or local motels, I can recommend some real cheap motels but acceptable ones if you want. There is one at Kings Beach for around $50-70/night in season, $25 off season PER ROOM.
- Where to ski? Tree skiing? Yes Tahoe has them. This year the combinded Squaw Valley/Alpine Meadows/Homewood can give you the best ban for the money. For Sunday, it would be Squaw for sure, you cannot finish Squaw/Alpine in one day, we have not finished it in 10 years :). Seriously, you can probably scratch the surface of Squaw/Alpine in three days and move on to other areas. Sugarbowl would be the next on your list, a day at that would get you the hang of it. And the last day should be at Mount Rose, you will have fun at the Chute. Don’t bother with North Star, its for the intermediates.
- Reno accomodations: I can go over pros and cons for every hotel, if you are opt to go for it.</p>
<p>From the above I can go to more details, if you want to. </p>
<p>I will have my finger crossed for the snow, since I have not start MY season yet.</p>
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Around an hour, depending on where you start from and where you’re going.</p>
<p>If you’re not coming till February then chances are there will be a storm or two between now and then. menloparkmom’s right, there’s been no snow at all and resorts are hurting.</p>
<p>The south shore has more nightlife, larger casinos, bigger resorts. The north shore is more family-oriented. You can stay in Truckee (off I-80) and easily drive to Sugar Bowl, Alpine Meadows, Squaw and Northstar from there. Or you can stay closer to the lake, still on the north shore, and have relatively easy drives to the same resorts.</p>
<p>Two of the most spectacular resorts as far as lake views go are Heavenly on the south shore and Alpine Meadows on the north. If you’re on the south shore you can easily ski Heavenly and spend your last day (on your way home) at Sierra-at-Tahoe, which I think is currently closed due to lack of snow. From the south shore it’s an hour drive to the north shore resorts if you want variety. Heavenly straddles the California/Nevada border and if the resort is completely open (it’s not, currently) has plenty of terrain to ski for a few days. So I’d recommend a few days at Heavenly and then hitting Sierra-at-Tahoe on your way back to the Bay Area. Alternatively, stay in Truckee, ski Squaw and Alpine Meadows, then hit Sugar Bowl on your way back.</p>
<p>I was there last week and skied Heavenly and Northstar. Both have substantial snowmaking equipment. Heavenly’s snow was pretty good, Northstar’s not so much because it was so warm.</p>
<p>You can buy discounted tickets at REI and at Bay Area Albertson’s grocery stores. It’s hard to get discounted tickets in Tahoe itself. Heavenly sells discounted tickets online but you have to buy a week ahead of time. Also half-day tickets are available for slightly less than the cost of a full day.</p>
<p>Edited to add that there are lots of rental houses around Donner Lake in the north.</p>
<p>Wow- lots to explore.</p>
<p>My equipment is dated and with the airfare hassles, we now rent everything except our helmets (we bring our own). So we will be renting a ski package (skis, boots, poles). </p>
<p>Would prefer not to spend $400/night. but alwu can do a lot better than $70/night for a motel. Something in between?</p>
<p>Try CL and vrbo for condo/house rentals. If you’re there during President’s week the prices might be a little higher, but there are lots of options in the $200-300/night range.</p>
<p>[SF</a> bay area vacation rentals classifieds “tahoe” - craigslist](<a href=“SF bay area vacation rentals "tahoe" - craigslist”>SF bay area vacation rentals "tahoe" - craigslist)</p>
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<p>You will have a problem to stay in the north and ski in resorts in the south (Heavenly, Kirkwood and Sierra @ Tahoe) or vis versa. Because the 89 at Emrald Bay is normally closed in the ski season due to avalanche control. The West side highway is the shortest route betwen Tahoe City and State Line, going the other way may take you more than Hour and half which defeated the purpose. The best resort in the South is Kirkwood and it will take you good 2.5 hours from the North Tahoe(using the East side Hyighway), 2 hours from Reno.</p>
<p>jym…there is an Embassy Suites next door to Marriott in South Lake Tahoe. (I THINK Hilton points are useable here.) Then you walk block to gondola to Heavenly, ski rental shop, etc.
That being said, if there isn’t snow soon, you may be able to name your rate.</p>
<p>Sonoma: Love the area. Lots of FABULOUS restaurants. You also sound like the perfect fit for Healdsburg in the Anderson Valley, just up the road from Sonoma…</p>
<p>Artlover- I was just going to ask about Kirkwood. When I lived in SoCal we did a week in Tahoe every year and always made the extra drive to Kirkwood, great slopes and less crowded due to some extra drive. Would some of the resorts have owner rented condos on the slopes?</p>
<p>Is Kirkwood still worth the extra drive?</p>
<p>We have skied Heavenly, Northstar & Squaw, but when living in NorCal used to Wednesday ski SugarBowl.</p>
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<p>Yes, there are condos to be had and check with the Real Estate or VRBO will give you a lot of choices, but be careful not to get one from the South Shore as most of them are.</p>
<p>IMO, Reno is the best ban on the money and we stay there most of the time. More importantly, the hotel reservations can be canceled at the last minute(like 24-48 hours), with condo rentals, you have to commit ahead of the time. This year, the snow condition is so bad, I cannot commit myself to any thing right now.</p>
<p>I am from Southern California, so mostly ski Mammoth, but spend a week in Tahoe every summer. DH and I used to ski Tahoe a lot before our kids got so expensive. I prefer the North Shore. I LOVE Sugar Bowl, Squaw, and Northstar. I haven’t skied Homewood (on the West Shore) in years but it used to be fun (they used to have a lot of 2 for 1 deals, etc…) it is mostly intermediate and the views of the lake are stunning. Have Fun! Oh, and I hope it snows before then!!!</p>
<p>I am a big fan of vrbo. Would like up narrow down my search if possible. Thanks everyone. Keep em coming.</p>
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<p>Yes, there are some, but the price… Before the collapse, I have a developer client who built a 5000 sqft house (if you can call that) on the slope and he is trying to sell it for 3.2 Million or 800K/quarter share. It came with two life time season passes though…:)</p>
<p>We stay in Carson City or Minden NV, we are cheap.</p>
<p>I like the new condos at Squaw and Northstar. They are both North; we have not done south in many years.</p>
<p>Lack of precipitation here is very scary. We are still doing fire watches and we should be at floods and mudslides by now!</p>
<p>Lots of good advice given here. I hope there is some snow before you arrive. If not, since you’re flying in and out of SF, there’s lots to do there. Napa &/or Sonoma, as some have mentioned. Maybe Yosemite? It is beautiful year round. I like the suggestion of booking a hotel in, say, Reno, that you can cancel late if there’s no snow. It would be wise to have a back-up plan.</p>
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<p>Not any more after they opened up Eagles’ Nest, you have to climb/traverse a hill to get there, but the slopes there will scare the S^^^ out of you.</p>
<p>Homewood and Northstar aRE good for the windy days when Squaw and Alpine are closed most of the trails. Their slopes have a different orientation and are less effected by the wind.</p>
<p>jym,</p>
<p>I am going to highly recommend a hotel you will like:
[North</a> Lake Tahoe- River Ranch Lodge - 530.583.4264, fine dining and lodging on the Truckee River](<a href=“http://www.riverranchlodge.com/home]North”>http://www.riverranchlodge.com/home)</p>
<p>The price will be between 100 and 400 but the location is supurb. 5 min. to Alpine and 10 min. to Squaw. The food… oh my god…</p>
<p>But, they do not have a lot of rooms…</p>
<p>^ One of my faves in the summer, for a stopover while biking on the trail, or finishing up a casual day of river rafting!</p>
<p>oops…post #27 … I meant Dry Creek Valley for Healdsburg</p>
<p>“for the first time since the late 1800s it did not snow at all in Tahoe in December”
driest Dec in 120 years. fyi.</p>
<p>I agree with menloparkmom.<br>
Our Tahoe fanatic friends all said it’s been the worst year ever. At Northstar, one family we know skipped skiing altogether after the first day of their vacation and ice skated in the village instead. At Kirkwood, another set of friends also decided not to bother and spent the Christmas week baking and playing games.
Kirkwood normally has an 18 foot base at this point in the year and this year has an 18 INCH base instead.</p>