Tahoe - It Better Be Sunny

February 18, 2009 - After three pretty pedestrian days at Heavenly we finally got the goods, a sunny day. This was my second trip to Tahoe and I was not leaving without a view of the lake from the mountain. Having lived in Colorado the last two seasons and having the ability to ski Vail, Beaver, A-Basin, Keystone, and Breckenridge I can safely say Heavenly is the dog in the Vail Resorts portfolio. The "myth" of sierra cement is not necessarily untrue. Without a doubt the snow is heavier than what we get in CO but it is not bad by any means. Unfortunately no matter how good the snow is the mountain will always fall short. The people who laid out the lifts were most likely not ever on skis. There are more uphill traverses and awkward pole plants than you would ever expect for a mountain that charges $86/day. Sarah has called me the lift snob but I feel that 2 and 3 person chairs have no place on modern mountains anymore. They have a lift at Heavenly (Galaxy) that takes minimum 15 minutes to get to the top.

In my opinion there are three reasons to visit Heavenly - 1. To teach you wife/girlfriend/kids how to ski 2. Gamble 3. See the lake on a sunny day. I am done talking trash about Heavenly so here are the pictures from the day.

The man the myth the legend makes it out to ski with Sarah and me.

Yes this was the best smile my Dad could manage at this lookout point. We had three pictures taken and this was the best result.

I took this picture from the top of Sky Express. It is the highest point accessible from a chair. The lake was spectacular.

My Dad pointed out this tree and I had to take a picture of it. The wood looked wind blown and burnt but the tree was still alive.

That is all from Tahoe. Tomorrow we are headed back to the coast and will start our journey to LA.

Hope all is well.