So I flew out there, father in law came with.
General impressions:
-Heavenly is huge, has a lot of scenic views, but not a lot else. On the day I was there every single blue that was open would have been a blue in North Carolina as well. Not many blacks that were open. The only one that wasn't a bump run or into some heavy trees, the milky way bowl, was fun but with thin coverage so I had to dodge rocks and stumps.
-Homewood is a lot of fun. The day I was there, it was pretty warm and it was like skiing mashed potatoes by day's end. I spent most of my time on the North side of the mountain and wish I'd spent a little more time on the south side. I really liked how relaxed and happy everyone was here.
-Mt. Rose was a lot of fun and would've been a lot better had it not been so wind scoured. The mountain would be a sheet of ice on second and 2 or 3 inches of powdery snow over a sheet of ice the next. Once the wind moved out conditions improved drastically. Mt. Rose does a lot of catering to kids and there are kids all over the place there, kids who are way better than me.
Didn't check out alpine meadows and/or squaw as the snow bomb card free lift ticket is only good for late season tix. I wasn't there late enough so I chose homewood.
If I do a family trip to tahoe, unless the rooms in Reno are free, I'm skipping that town altogether save for the airport. I don't have anything against casino towns but the vibe there just seems to be one of desperation. That and the town has no concept of zoning laws: There's a grocery store, adult toystore, fast food restaurant, and school all within 200 yards of each other. I also noticed a couple places selling "discount liquor and food" which I thought was amusing.
Onto the pics..
Heavenly:
My father in law came along for the ride. Didn't ski but seemed to have enjoyed himself. We toured Carson City once he found out it was near by, he said he'd always wanted to go there because of some time life books he had on the old west. He also showed me a bunch of cool masonic stuff at the state capitol.
Lift shot of the terrain park
Really scenic where ever you went
Back before I realized bumps were better at tearing my knees up than allowing me to descend steep things slowly I wanted to go down the gun barrell. It was closed the day I was there.
I stopped here to get some gatorade. While waiting in line, an old man (at least 70), tried to pick a fight with me. I was reading the menu and I looked down and he was staring at me. I said 'excuse me sir" becuase I figured I was in his was and he says "say that to me again!" and bows up on me. I have no clue what I did to tick him off. Maybe he's got an undiagnosed brain tumor or his testosterone therapy in a little more vigorous than normal.
If you went to the galaxy lift it was like having sugar mountain (minus Sugar's blacks) all to your self. Yes that also means the lift was as slow.
I could see how this place is a lot of fun on a powder day.
A lot of walking was involved at Heavenly which I didn't expect. If you can handle NC you can handle Heavenly without any trouble. At least what I saw of it.
Oh and it's expensive.
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The messageboard is now in read-only mode and no new posts or topics can be created. We will leave the messageboard up for historical purposes, but you will not be able to make new posts or comment on existing ones.
We have started a Discord server and hope that you all will join us on there. Technology has changed over the years and maintaining the messageboard has become somewhat of a pain in the butt and Discord offers many features for users, the main one being a very polished mobile app.
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Swampy's 3 days in Tahoe: Heavenly, Homewood, Mt. Rose
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swamphox
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Homewood
I liked this place a lot. The views were just as good and they catered to the kind of experience I was looking for: not a lot a frills or fluff, just skiing. LOts of nice trees here as well. the day i was there though it probably got up to 60 degrees. I spent the first part of the day on the north side of the mountain doing a couple of the easier blacks over there. Naturally this made me think, "I can do the face, it's not much steeper than whoopdeedoo" The Face promptly chewed me up and spit me out. I got to learn what "uncontrolled descent" means and by the time it was over I had a good case of road rash, a chunk taken out of my thumb and some bruised ribs. I also learned to get a locker or to wear pants with zipper pockets. It was a pretty good yardsale.
As in, word got around....I would ride the lift with people, and they'd ask, "How's your day going?" "Terrific" "You're not hurt?" "You saw it huh?" "No, but I heard about it from some people" This happened more than once:)
Anyhow, by the end of the day the whole mountain was slush and it was getting pretty exhausting.
I liked everything about the base, especially the layout of "ski hill, parking lot, road, lake"
As good or better scenery than Heavenly.
Also looking fun for powder days...
Gilbert's gulch
No ring wraiths to be found....
Way over there was Heavenly
What was I thinking...
And a POV of the fall. Anytime I tried to dig in to get traction to slow myself down it changed my center of gravity and just flipped me over. Good times.
I liked this place a lot. The views were just as good and they catered to the kind of experience I was looking for: not a lot a frills or fluff, just skiing. LOts of nice trees here as well. the day i was there though it probably got up to 60 degrees. I spent the first part of the day on the north side of the mountain doing a couple of the easier blacks over there. Naturally this made me think, "I can do the face, it's not much steeper than whoopdeedoo" The Face promptly chewed me up and spit me out. I got to learn what "uncontrolled descent" means and by the time it was over I had a good case of road rash, a chunk taken out of my thumb and some bruised ribs. I also learned to get a locker or to wear pants with zipper pockets. It was a pretty good yardsale.
As in, word got around....I would ride the lift with people, and they'd ask, "How's your day going?" "Terrific" "You're not hurt?" "You saw it huh?" "No, but I heard about it from some people" This happened more than once:)
Anyhow, by the end of the day the whole mountain was slush and it was getting pretty exhausting.
I liked everything about the base, especially the layout of "ski hill, parking lot, road, lake"
As good or better scenery than Heavenly.
Also looking fun for powder days...
Gilbert's gulch
No ring wraiths to be found....
Way over there was Heavenly
What was I thinking...
And a POV of the fall. Anytime I tried to dig in to get traction to slow myself down it changed my center of gravity and just flipped me over. Good times.
Live slow, die whenever.....
Days on Snow 22-23
Cat 5
app 1
sugar 1
ober 1
winterplace 2
Homewood 3
Days on Snow 22-23
Cat 5
app 1
sugar 1
ober 1
winterplace 2
Homewood 3
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swamphox
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Mt Rose
Mt Rose was really wind scoured in the morning. Once the wind stopped it was a great sunny blue sky day and all way right with the world.
Lots of kids here, very family friendly and good tongue in cheek signage which regret not taking pictures of like "Mt. rose thanks it's sponsors for putting stickers on the lift towers"
Lots of families here and a big kids only zone. This mountain was the most difficult of the three and I think it was more comprable to Soli (which is really my only other frame of reference for western resorts) than the other two as far as it's scale of difficulty.
The base, full of friendly helpful people. They also were doing a poker run which was a fun way to explore different parts of the mountain.
View from the top, not as pretty as the other two but better skiing.
Big Bonanza probably would have been more fun for me were it not for that sign that said "due to wind conditions falls will result in uncontrolled descent" I enjoyed it but didn't try to charge down it or anything like that.
Looking up Big Bonanza
Kit Carson Bowl saw a lot of laps from me
Lift shot
Party for pass holders
Kid zone....
Ramsey's
Mt Rose was really wind scoured in the morning. Once the wind stopped it was a great sunny blue sky day and all way right with the world.
Lots of kids here, very family friendly and good tongue in cheek signage which regret not taking pictures of like "Mt. rose thanks it's sponsors for putting stickers on the lift towers"
Lots of families here and a big kids only zone. This mountain was the most difficult of the three and I think it was more comprable to Soli (which is really my only other frame of reference for western resorts) than the other two as far as it's scale of difficulty.
The base, full of friendly helpful people. They also were doing a poker run which was a fun way to explore different parts of the mountain.
View from the top, not as pretty as the other two but better skiing.
Big Bonanza probably would have been more fun for me were it not for that sign that said "due to wind conditions falls will result in uncontrolled descent" I enjoyed it but didn't try to charge down it or anything like that.
Looking up Big Bonanza
Kit Carson Bowl saw a lot of laps from me
Lift shot
Party for pass holders
Kid zone....
Ramsey's
Live slow, die whenever.....
Days on Snow 22-23
Cat 5
app 1
sugar 1
ober 1
winterplace 2
Homewood 3
Days on Snow 22-23
Cat 5
app 1
sugar 1
ober 1
winterplace 2
Homewood 3
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swamphox
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- Location: Jefferson GA
- Has thanked: 3 times
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@RMacSki 273701 wrote:Great TR!
I'm curious about the masonic stuff...
You're wipeout video is awesome. No gloves - I'm sure that was pleasant.
What's a poker run?
The masonic stuff was just like the cornerstone ceremony and stuff. its a big deal to him being a mason and all.
No gloves because it was probably atleast 50 degrees that morning.
A poker run is when you go to a check point, and get a card, perosn with the ebst hand at the end of the day wins
I'm curious about the masonic stuff...
You're wipeout video is awesome. No gloves - I'm sure that was pleasant.
What's a poker run?
The masonic stuff was just like the cornerstone ceremony and stuff. its a big deal to him being a mason and all.
No gloves because it was probably atleast 50 degrees that morning.
A poker run is when you go to a check point, and get a card, perosn with the ebst hand at the end of the day wins
Live slow, die whenever.....
Days on Snow 22-23
Cat 5
app 1
sugar 1
ober 1
winterplace 2
Homewood 3
Days on Snow 22-23
Cat 5
app 1
sugar 1
ober 1
winterplace 2
Homewood 3
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swamphox
- Expert
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- Joined: Sat Feb 07, 2009 6:29 pm
- Location: Jefferson GA
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@Zeus 273710 wrote:Great TR Swampy. Bet you're thinking about investing in some warm weather gloves now... Wal-Mart half-leather gloves are the shizzle for warm weather stuff.
Gloves period....I generally dont wear them unless its REALLY cold
Gloves period....I generally dont wear them unless its REALLY cold
Live slow, die whenever.....
Days on Snow 22-23
Cat 5
app 1
sugar 1
ober 1
winterplace 2
Homewood 3
Days on Snow 22-23
Cat 5
app 1
sugar 1
ober 1
winterplace 2
Homewood 3