Saturday, January 27, 2018

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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