I enjoyed the easy hike out to the skiway from The Pines Lodge and headed over to the Strawberry Park Express chair to noodle around on that side of the mountain again. I was experiencing some anxiety on the second day of skiing, but regained my confidence later in the day and by the third …
Beaver Creek, CO March 2021
In February, I was able to get a COVID-19 vaccine. Once I had the appointment for the second shot, I immediately began planning a ski trip to occur at least 10 days after the second dose. Last year, since I had purchased lift tickets for two days at Heavenly, and because they wanted people to …
End of an Era in Tahoe
I was reading a newsletter about casino opening plans in the midst of COVID-19, and came across the sad news that Lakeside Inn and Casino in South Lake Tahoe (Stateside, NV) is closing permanently. I only got to visit them twice, on my Feb 2020 ski trip to the area. The food at The Timbers …
Tahoe, May 2019 Part 3
I woke to continuing light snowfall and made my way to 8AM Mass at Corpus Christie Catholic Church in Tahoe City. The priest even had his (very good) dog in church! Pup guarded the tabernacle through the liturgy! I then followed the advice of the Tahoe City t-shirt shop manager I met on day 1, …
Tahoe/Mammoth May 2019
My subconscious made up its mind and roused me from sleep at 5:30am! The plan was to drive to Mammoth Mountain, near Mammoth Lakes, Ca. for a day skiing in blue skies, then head back, stopping at a natural hot spring, and then visit the sights of South Lake Tahoe (tentatively for dinner) before cruising …
My First Trip to Tahoe, May 2019 Part 1
I had turned 50 earlier in the month. As I follow snow and ski resort updates, I noticed that Squaw Valley was still open and getting a decent amount of snow in late May. They had been walloped with TOO MUCH snow earlier in the season, actually. I did some quick research, and found a …
Dillon, CO May 2019 Part 2
(Part 1 found here)I woke up the next morning and enjoyed an extensive complimentary breakfast buffet at the Best Western Ptarmigan Lodge while marveling at the gorgeous view from their breakfast room of Dillon Reservoir and mountains in the distance. Motel with terrific breakfast and great views! Due to feeling quite beat up from challenging …
Dillon, CO, May 2018, Part 1
After an impromptu trip to Taos convinced me that 1) I do, indeed, love skiing and ski culture and 2) I should probably upgrade my equipment to 21st century technology, I visited my local ski shop and with the help of an expert boot fitter, I invested in new Lange boots. I chose new Rossignol …
Tahoe 2020, Day 5
I originally planned to spend a lazy morning at my hotel and then drive to Mount Rose Ski Tahoe for their Friday afternoon special, then check in to a Reno casino-hotel with comps (even though I didn't need to stay over) in order to freshen up before dinner and my redeye flight home. Since the …
Tahoe, February 2020, Day 4
I planned to only ski a half-day at Heavenly because I noticed deteriorating conditions, due to warming temps and lack of natural snow for weeks. Wednesday night, I reapplied some Base Boost, and set out all my gear so that I could hit first chair on Thursday. As I expected, the gondola line was much …
