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December 23, 2004
4 Days in Tahoe
Sugar Bowl, Diamond Peak, Squaw, and Alpine with Auntie Mary, cousins Matthew and Allyson, brother Jerm, and my folks babysitting Noah. Stayed at the Biltmore.
Great time, but not so great snow. Last storm was Dec. 7-8. But clear skies meant easy driving and great scenery.
Sugar Bowl -- great when you're coming up from the Bay Area in the morning. Wish the cat-track wasn't so flat to get over to the old village lodge area. Didn't even make it over to ride Lincoln or Disney. Still, plenty of fun stuff on Judah and Jerome. $44 "Core Value" tickets (Mon-Fri, non-holiday).
Diamond Peak was great as usual. Not crowded at all, great local vibe, and fast efficient quad lifts everywhere. And beautiful lake views. Free tickets from KWT.
I really need a guide to figure out Squaw. It always seems so big, and I'm never sure where I'll end up. No marked trails, so it's really kind of a explore as you go. But nobody wants to end up over a cliff. Man does it suck for beginners though. That Links 2-chair is *so* slow. Sure, they opened up Pappose at the bottom, but otherwise, Squaw still doesn't seem all that friendly for first-timers. (And geez, what a waste of money if it was your first time.) $39 college tickets for Matthew and Allyson, $56 for the rest of us, prepurchased at REI.
Alpine on the way home. Winds were gusting up to 80MPH at the ridge, so Summit Six was closed, but Alpine Bowl was still open. Of course once you got out from the protection of the little hut at the top of the lift, you were assaulted by winds blowing *up* the bowl. Ouch. Jeremy really needed a mask. Matthew called found the experience surreal, like being on another planet. They were blowing snow on Bobby's Run, which was a pretty fun to bounce through. $39 non-holiday rates. (Tough to get discounts at Alpine when they're that cheap to begin with.)
Posted by darryl at 08:00 PM | Comments (0)