Snowboarding at Northstar

With a reported total of 16 inches of fresh snow at Lake Tahoe on Wednesday, January 24, and Thursday, January 25, Alex and I decided to try snowboarding at Northstar and Heavenly on Saturday, January 28, and Sunday, January 29.

We woke up around 03:50 on Saturday, January 29, and quickly dressed for the 4-hour drive to Northstar (from San Jose). The traffic was pretty light, and we arrived in Truckee and into Northstar before the 08:00 opening time. However, traffic became heavy upon our arrival, and we had to park in a remote parking lot.

We parked our car in the "Yellow Lot" (i.e., shuttle 7), dressed, and boarded the shuttle to the resort. Upon arrival, we decided to eat a small breakfast. We found a nearby cafe that served light sandwiches, muffins, and coffee. Alex ordered a ham and cheese sandwich while I enjoyed a fresh muffin. After breakfast, we strolled to the Gondola- already quite busy - even before 09:00. It looked like a line to a ride in Disneyland (or Whistler).

Eventually, we boarded the "Big Rings Express Gondola" and were whisked away to mid-mountain. From there, we boarded two more lifts: "Arrow Express" and "Comstock Express." We were told that the back side had the best snow, and we wanted to experience powder before it was all beaten up.

Our first run of the day was on the black diamond "Burnout" run, pictured below.

The run was going well until I decided to try snowboarding in the trees, hoping to make fresh tracks in virgin snow. All was going well when I unexpectedly fell, hitting my left side against a rock. I didn't realize how light the snow cover was and did not see the rock covered by a light sprinkle of snow.

It hurt a lot, but I was able to get up and continue my run. We continued snowboarding down "Burnout" a few more times, but I was much more careful and could not go full speed due to back pain.

After a few runs, we tried the snow park, which contains small and large jumps, rails, and obstacles. I jumped on a few small ramps, but the back pain was starting to distract my attention.

It was also getting very crowded, and the lift lines became long. Eventually, we decided to take a break and eat our early lunch. Surprisingly, lunch was delicious and not as expensive as in Heavenly.

Here is a short GoPro Hero4 Silver video of snowboarding down the "Burnout" ski run:



After lunch, we snowboarded a few more times on the Northstar backside and at snow parks until about 14:00, when we decided to return to our Bluelake Inn in South Lake Tahoe for much-needed rest & relaxation.

Alex and I ate an early dinner after resting (with an ice pack on my back). Since it was only around 17:00, we could quickly get a table at Base Camp Pizza - but there was an 80-minute wait. We declined and decided to try our luck at California Burger. No luck there either - as there was an 80-minute wait there, too.

We decided to eat again at our tried and true Applebee's. I had my usual Bourbon Street Chicken and Shrimp, while Alex had an 8 oz. Top Sirloin. I tried the delicious wine sangria and a Perfect Margarita for drinks while Alex had his mint lemonade. Dinner was great, and we came out whole.

Overall, I liked snowboarding at Northstar, but I did not like the crowds. It's better to snowboard at Kirkwood on busy days, which never gets this crowded.

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Snowboarding Heavenly

Since I purchased the Epic Local Pass from Vail Ski Resorts for Alex and me, I was eager to snowboard at one of the accessible ski resorts (Heavenly, Kirkwood, or Northstar). Although the snow conditions were not very favorable, I decided to try snowboarding at Heavenly anyway.

I booked a room for one night on Saturday, January 13, at the conveniently located Blue Lake Inn in South Lake Tahoe - a short walk from Heavenly Gondola.

Expecting a 4-hour drive, we departed early on Saturday, January 13, at 4:15 a.m., arriving at South Lake Tahoe at about 8:06 a.m. The drive was not very difficult (due to the lack of traffic and snow), but there was a bit of fog early in the morning. We parked at the Blue Lake Inn and ate a quick breakfast of coffee and bagels (a compliment of the Inn). We changed into our snowboarding clothes and walked to the gondola.

Since my Epic Local Pass was blacked out on January 13, we had to buy a supplemental pass for Alex and me. The line to purchase the pass was extremely long, and we waited for one hour (from 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m.) I was frustrated with the long wait and impatient to get on the slopes.

Once we arrived at Tamarack Lodge (Gondola drop off), we strapped on our boards and took the Tamarack Express up the hill. We snowboarded down Sam's Dream ( an easy Blue run) and then got on the Big Easy chairlift (not realizing that this lift was for beginners). We returned to the Tamarack Express (which seats 6 skiers) and snowboarded down to the Dipper Express chairlift. The snow was surprisingly good (not icy at all), and we enjoyed the easy slopes of the "Big Dipper" and "Orion."

We decided to eat lunch at the East Peak Lodge, where Alex selected a hamburger while ordering a tri-tip sandwich. The food was delicious but extremely expensive. Can you say $20 for a burger?

Eventually, we decided to try other lifts and took the California Trail to the Sky Express chairlift. Arriving there, we did many turns on the "Ridge Run" trail.

On this gorgeous, sunny day, the views of Lake Tahoe from the Ridge Run trail were spectacular.

We had a fantastic first day at Heavenly - much better than I expected with the low snow cover.
We returned to our room around 4:00 p.m. and rested.

Here is a GoPro 4 Silver video I recorded of my ride down "Ridge Run":



Eventually, I walked around the village, looking at all the fun activities. There was a lot of live music at Heavenly Village. We headed to the nearby Applebee's for dinner when Alex got hungry. Alex had his 8 oz steak while I selected the "Bourbon Chicken and Shrimp."

I also tried the Pomegranate Margarita, which was really delicious, and finished the meal with the "Butter Pecan Blondie."

We had a fantastic day, and the Slopes app on my phone recorded most of my runs (because of GPS issues at Heavenly, many runs were missed). However, the Apple Watch Series 3 version of the app did not work at all.

The longest run - "Ridge Run" - was 2 miles long. I was able to hit 30.9 mph!

The next day - Sunday, January 14 - was similar to Saturday's snow conditions but a bit more crowded at the chair lifts.

We had an early lunch at the Sky Deck Lodge, where I had the barbecue chicken sandwich, and Alex ate another burger.

We had another fantastic day of snowboarding, finishing a bit earlier - around 2:30 p.m. (due to large crowds).

Overall, we liked snowboarding at Heavenly, though most Blue-rated runs were too easy; they were more similar to Green-rated runs at Whistler. We hope to be back when there is better snow!

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