Anyone ever been to Heavenly? How is it, especially around Christmas/New Years? I have to pick which mountain to take my family to for our vacation. My mom and aunt dont ski or ride, so I've been looking at places where there is stuff for them to do. It seems there are alot of shows and stuff they can go to, plus i think i'd enjoy the whole casino scene even though I can't gamble. I'm pretty sure Utah and Colorado would be better, but I'd enjoy trying someplace new as well. Any suggestions about any mountains to go to anywhere are welcome. (I want to hit Montana but there'd be nothing for my mom or aunt to do)

haven't been there myself, but Tahoe is definitely on my short list..

havent been there either but my pass is good at heavenly so ill be there over spring break i think.

Been there several times, and have seen epic conditions with 10 feet of base by the first week and really crappy conditions sierra cement in late season. there are 15 resorts within an hour or so of each other. Choose a different place each day. Heavenly is huge and good for 2 days. The other big ones Sierra, Kirkwood, Meadows, Northstar and Squaw.

If you are really into park check out Boreal, but only if they have had a lot of snow by that time.

I went to Tahoe last season and hit most of the major mountains. Heavenly was on the bottom of my list, but to be fair it didn't have a chance. We had some epic snow conditions for the first couple of days which was just pure magic. We ended up going to Heavenly on the weekend at the end of the week. It was incredibly crowded, and somewhat tough to navigate.

But, as far as things to do are concerned, it definitely could be your place. The town at the base has lots going on, but it aint cheap.

Reno could be a good option for you. Thats where I ended up staying. Made for some great nights with lots to do and at a reasonable price. Squaw, Alpine Valley, Mt. Rose are all around 40 minutes away and they are all great.

thanks guys



vail resorts pass?

yezzir

conditions wise it is a roll of the dice.

yea, thats my worry. but they have good snowmaking in case it is a bad year

i've been there. i liked it but there are others i liked more. plus it was a few years ago

we are going to utah this winter

Doesn't someone on this forum live out there? Just curious, as I'll be heading out there for the next several months. Which mountain is worth snagging a season pass at in that area?

Never been there but I have a cousin who lives in reno. He told me that heavenly is an overcrowded tourist trap. He said its great compared to pa skiing but there are much better places out there (alpine meadows, kirkwood, rose etc).

Also my friend's uncle took him to heavenly over x-mas last year. He said it was flat (for a western area), icy and way too crowded. He also said that he didnt see a single person with a season pass...

From what i hear if you want shopping then heavenly is great but if you want good skiing go somewhere else.

Depends what side of the lake you're on. If you are on the south side i hear kirkwood is the place to be. If you are on the north side squaw has the best terrain but alpine meadows is almost as good and way less crowded.

I think that k-wood and alpine meadows have an open boundary policy if that matters...

Heavenly would probably be your best bet for non-skiing activities. I've never been there that early in the season, but later on the snow can be okay. Try to borrow the car goto Kirkwood (about 30-45min), Alpine Meadows (about an hour), or Squaw (also about an hour). Staying in Reno and commuting to any mountain other than Rose would kinda suck. Whatever you do DON'T goto Northstar. Have you thought about SLC? Probably better snow that time of year, or at least more consistent. While your family will probably be paying, some beta for everyone else, the Green Lantern Motel is a 2 min walk from the Gondola and Casinos, is like $33 a night, and has a hot tub.

Better hope it snows this year. The past two years it hasn't started actually snowing there until at least January if i remember correctly. Last year i remember watching the news in the airport as i was going to Jackson, Tahoe areas were getting up to 10 feet of snow, but that was a week or so after new years, before that they had the same skiing as Pa. The good Old White Ribbon of Death.

Tahoe is just so iffy early season.

what's so bad about Northstar? i've been to SLC twice in the past two years. i picked tahoe cause ive hit colorado, utah, and wyoming in the past two years so i figured i'd try cali. i wanna go to montana but there arent really many non-skiing activities there for my mom. heavenly has good snowmaking in case nature doesnt cooperate

Just if you think Heavenly is flat and crowded Northstar is 10x as bad, I'd even say it's more crowded than Vail.

damn, it always looks dope in the videos

I wouldn't spend bills to go ride the same thing i could ride in Pa...


As for looking good in videos.. That's because they only show you whats good.. If they showed bad stuff it'd be a pretty shitty video.

I've been to the Tahoe Area about 5 times in the last 25 years. last time was 2 yrs ago. favorite mtn is Squaw, Alpine has just about as good terrain, only smaller and less crowded. Kirkwood is definitely worth the drive. Heavenly can be crowded, but the view of the lake is unbeatable, also it's the only place you can ski in two states at the same time. Northstar has all kinds of terrain parks and interesting terrain for the boarder, it's expanded terrain and developed the base area in the last several years, and even though it's less challenging than the big mtns, it's a lot of fun. A real surprise we skiied in '06 was Mt Rose, it really has some kick-a** terrain and is definitely less crowded than any of the majors (we'll go there again).

Who knows what the weather will be like around Christmas??? As others said, could be iffy and could have 10'. If your mom and aunt like casinos, they'll have a great time in either Stateline or Reno. Reno generally has the cheaper lodging and food. If it's dumping up at the Lake you could have a tough time getting there though. Good Luck deciding where to go. Hope this helped..

yea, but its still much better terrain than you'd find here



thanks!

Groomers are groomers no matter what state you are in.

groomers out west are way better than groomers in PA

trying to rain on my parade. you get some sand in your vagina this morning?

How witty.

I guess you haven't cleaned it out yet.


its amazing how whenever anything good happens to someone, the haters all pop out

What are you talking about? You said WROD in CA is better than WROD in PA, which simply isn't the case. I'm not hating on you, but honestly, you can ride WROD in PA, NY, VT bla bla bla. Why not aim to spend all that money when it will actually be worth it. If you lost the attitude and realized that people on here want you to have a quality experience you might actually have one. I don't know anything about Heavenly, but I wouldn't go there if all I could do is ride groomers all day because nothing is open.

riding only groomers will be the case if the weather doesn't cooperate...which could happen anywhere. it happened the first few days i was at PC on christmas break, and then it dumped. riding this early in the season (X-mas) is a risk anywhere. yes, theres probably a bigger risk of this happening at Tahoe then say CO or Utah, but bad conditions this early in the season are always a risk...but X-mas is the best time for my family to take a vacation cause its the only time all of us have off from work or school. i simply picked tahoe cause it was a part of US skiing/riding that i havent done yet...ive done co, utah, and wyoming, so i figured id give cali a shot. id love to hit montana (washington would be pretty sweet too), but tahoe is better for my mom and aunt who dont ski. i should think about whistler for next year

sorry if i seem bitchy, today was suspossed to be my off day but i just got called in to work...i wanna go back to school cause im getting sick of detailing cars