So, this is what Heaven is like…..
Lake Tahoe at 6200 feet in elevation is located on the
border of Nevada and California. 22
miles long by 12 miles wide by over 1600 feet deep, it never freezes. Fed by little streams from the mountains
that surround it, it is the ideal place for quite a number of ski resorts that
are blessed with abundant snow from the moist sea air coming over the Sierra
Nevada to the west. At the southern end
of the lake is South Lake Tahoe, home to a ski resort called Heavenly. The clues to the area being a big ski area
are the ski shops in town, plus the lower terminal to a gondola which is the
main way up and down the mountain. Yes,
both ways because the side of the mountain at the edge of town does not have
any trails, and is indeed double black diamond steep in places. There must be people that come down this
face as evident by the tracks here and there, but it is not a part of the ski
area, and having to get hauled out of there if something goes terribly wrong
will cost you a ton of money.
So, twenty-six members (plus two) of the Onondaga Ski Club
descended on this little town in February to take the gondola up and play on
the slopes of Heaven(ly). From the top
terminus, it was possible to ski in Nevada or California. Both states had wonderful slopes/trails to
tax the muscles, or to just cruise down.
There was plenty of snow cover, so running into bare areas or rocks was
not a problem, unless one wanders into the glades. They do groom some of the blue trails, and these were big
cruisers. It was possible to carve big
ones on these trails really letting the shaped skis or snow board do their
thing if you had the courage to let’em run.
Along side all the trails, Heavenly’s staff open up the trees a bit, so
it was very easy to “drop-in” and play in the powder while your ski-mates
carved up the groomers. Yes, there are
diamonds there too, in abundance. Our
high-end members found these areas more than up to the task of getting the
adrenaline flowing, or so I’m told.
This writer stayed pretty much on the groomers and in the trail side
powder to get my rush. It was really
nice that we had “guides” for the first day of skiing. Two OSC members were at Heavenly during the
previous week, so took a number of us on a “get acquainted with the mountain”
tour. Mucho thanks to Kay & Ken for
showing us the way.
Our accommodations were walking distance to the gondola
base. In fact, the gondola went right
over the buildings, almost directly over the outdoor pool which made some of us
wonder if it was possible to “fly-in” right from the gondola on the way down. We had the questioned answered by the fact
the gondola doors would not open, and were on the wrong side anyways. The gondola has 138 cars, each capable of
carrying 1400 pounds. That’s a lot of
weight, but the cable is huge, and they’ve never had a full load, up and down
filled according to a staff person we talked to.
The view of the town, the lake, and the surrounding mountains is spectacular
from the gondola. I’m betting the view
in the summer is just as good if not better.
Stop if you’re passing through.
Eateries ranged from fast food to bring-your-plastic. Almost everyone went to one next to the
gondola base called Fire & Ice.
They had outdoor gas fire pits with tables and chairs for the hardy
crowd, but everyone ventured inside for an interesting dinner set up. This involved each patron loading up a bowl
with whatever they wanted grilled, taking it to a central six foot diameter
steel grill where two young fellows dumped it onto the grill and cooked it for
you. It was a visual delight seeing
this done as the staff provided many quick hand movements flipping tools and
bowls around while everyone watched what they were doing. ‘and you could keep going back for more
bowls until you stuffed yourself so much there wasn’t any room for Jello.
South Lake Tahoe is a divided town, part in California
(where we stayed), and part in Nevada.
Crossing the street into Nevada presented a slightly different
appearance…some quite tall buildings containing a lot of beds, and casinos
too. Yes, it was possible to pay for
the entire trip if one was willing to put their money down, or possible to lose
the farm. One casino contained
Fatburger, a semi-fast food burger joint that actually made great burgers. Another had a place on the 19th
floor that quite likely did not have burgers on the menu, if you know what I
mean, or if they did, have your plastic at ready.
Not wanting to stay in just South Lake Tahoe skiing at
Heavenly, everyone took an early bus ride one day around the lake the long way
to the site of the 1960 Winter Olympics, Squaw Valley. Why the long way, the bus is too long to
make some of the corners going the other way…so said the driver. At Squaw, conditions were a little different. For one thing, they don’t have “real”
trails. Basically it’s wide open so you
can aim your skis in any downward direction and go. We also had snow conditions that were different. Snow had fallen overnight with some still
coming down, the sky was overcast, and the powder was very different. It was very heavy making for some
interesting turns. Much more physical
force was required to keep the skis together, and in one case with me, I
actually popped out of my rear bindings when I hit some real heavy stuff. Fortunately I was moving slowly, so finding
the skis and getting back in wasn’t a problem.
I heard and saw that others were having quite a time too. Lunch for all took a little longer than
usual, but the view from the top of High Camp was pretty good when the weather
cleared, and the food was excellent for on the mountain cuisine. Some of us begged off soon after lunch and
headed into the village to check out the place where Olympians frolicked after
the day’s activities. Surprisingly, it
wasn’t that much…but people come to Squaw to ski as it’s big. Local lore I heard was the “trail” called
K22 is named after a female member of one of the original families to start up
Squaw taking 22 kick-turns to get down one particularly tough section.
For the trip back, we took an entirely different way and
mode of transportation to South Lake Tahoe.
The Tahoe Queen, a pseudo paddle wheeler upon the blue waters of the
lake itself slowly made its way through the darkness that had crept over the
mountains and engulfed everything.
While the boat made a wake outside, we had a drink or two inside,
something to eat, and then danced away whatever remaining energy we had left in
our legs to a very good three piece band.
A heck-of-a-lot of smiling faces disembarked when we got to the dock in
S.L.T. where the bus was waiting to ferry our tired bodies back to our
rooms. Quite a day for sure.
After Squaw, we still had two more days of skiing or
boarding at Heavenly…or taking in the town itself. Everything is within walking distance of the Forest Suites
Resort, our accommodations that our trip leader Janice Farrelly booked us
into. Although some of our rooms were
separated from the main group, we all got together in one or another for our
frequent wine & cheese parties before heading out for dinner. In the morning, everyone met for a filling
continental type breakfast at the F.S.R., planned the day’s activities, then
moved out filling their days with the good things to do in and around Lake
Tahoe. Some people took a day off,
rented a car, and went hiking. Others
just checked out the town, and shopped…..
As usual, there was much more to do then our week’s time
allowed. Sadly we had to pack it up and
bus up to Reno to catch our flight home.
It was a great trip that I’m sure Janice, Marclyn, Carol & Neville,
Greg & Kathy, Peg & Tom, Anne & John, Charlotte, Marian, David,
Paul, Joseph, Remo, Fran & Roy, Larry, Doug, M&M, Susan & Oisin,
and Michelle & Ed will always look back on with a smile. A really big “THANK YOU” to Janice for putting together it all together.
Michael McCabe
John Sonne has taken photos and videos of our fun and posted
them on an Internet site which you can access at; http://gallery.me.com/pugdoc/100108
