The Lake Tahoe region is finally back to its old self this winter with a healthy snowpack and excellent skiing conditions on the surrounding resorts. Lake Tahoe is one of my favorite places to visit so when I saw their season get off to a great start in November and December, I couldn't wait to make a trip out in January. After looking at the long-term outlooks and getting the latest from BA on the Tahoe Daily Snow, I decided to book a trip for January 20th through January 25th. Here's how it all went down. 

Day 1 - Denver to Tahoe

My alarm woke me up at 4:00am and I was off in my Subaru to DIA to catch my 6:30am flight. After a short layover in Las Vegas, my flight was quickly on the approach to the Reno-Tahoe International Airport. 

I've done this approach numerous times but the view of the lake and surrounding mountains never gets old. When we landed, I quickly made my way over to the baggage claim and was then in my rental car and off to my Aunt and Uncle's cabin in Graeagle, California. Graeagle is about a 45 minute drive north of Truckee and it would serve as my launch pad to exploring Lake Tahoe for the next four days. 

Day 2 - Northstar California Resort

I started my first morning with some coffee and writing up the latest forecast for the Tetons in Wyoming and I-70 in Colorado. I then headed off to Northstar California Resort. They'd received almost two feet of snow over the past 5 days so this was the perfect place to kick off the trip. BA and I got together and talked business for about an hour in the village. This was great as we're really only able to sit down in person once or twice a year. It was then time to take in some groomers and enjoy the beautiful bluebird day.

 

I spent the afternoon cruising around the entire mountain but found my favorite run to be "Sierra Grande" to "Challenger". This run was groomed the night before so it was smooth, fast, and had a great view of the highest peaks along the crest of the Sierra Nevada mountains. 

I then left Northstar at about 3:00pm and drove over to Truckee to grab a bite to eat at Full Belly Deli. If you are looking for a great sandwich in Truckee, this is the place to go. I then drove up to Donner Pass to hang out with BA at the Clair Tappaan Lodge. BA showed me around and we even took the snowcat out to groom the cross country course. This provided excellent views of Donner Ski Ranch and of the backside of Boreal Mountain Resort. 

Day 3 - Sugar Bowl Resort

It was the beginning of the approaching storm and I first encountered light rain before it eventually turned over to all snow on the drive up Donner Pass Road to Sugar Bowl Resort. I knew that snow levels would be an issue that day but with a summit elevation of 8,383 feet, Sugar Bowl was the place to be. After talking to the folks at the front office, I jumped on the Jerome Hill Express to make my way over to Mt. Lincoln Express. 

The upper terrain at Sugar Bowl is no joke. Steep terrain will quickly turn to cliff bands in only a few turns off of Mt. Lincoln Express. With it being my first time and with reduced visibility, I knew to take it easy.

Besides Mt. Lincoln Express, the terrain off of Disney Express was also very impressive. I can't even remember how many times I lapped "Nancy's Couloir" and the "East Face". Before I knew it, it was already 4:00pm and time to head over to the Clair Tappaan Lodge to crash for the night. 

Day 4 - Squaw Valley

Much colder temperatures and heavy snow moved through as planned on Friday night, dropping upwards of a foot of fresh snow on Donner Pass. My cousin also drove up from San Francisco on Friday night and after picking him up in Truckee at about 7:30am, we were in line for KT-22, a.k.a "The Mothership", at Squaw Valley by 8:30am. Squaw Valley reporting 10 inches over the past 24 hours and you could hear Ski Patrol blasting the terrain all across the upper parts of the mountain. Then a little after 9:00am, we were on KT-22 and up to get first tracks. 

The winds were still howling up top but it didn't matter, we had fresh tracks off of KT-22! We decided our first run would be down the "Nose" and it did not disappoint. We lapped KT-22 a few more times, taking different routes down "Moseley's" and other chutes, before heading over to the tram for access to the upper mountain. 

It was full on storm skiing across the upper mountain. Both Silverado Express and Headwall Express were closed for the day due to high winds, and we also missed the short window when they had Granite Chief open, but we couldn't be discouraged.

Over the course of the summer of 2015, Squaw Valley made upgrades to the Siberia Express. This made the newly implemented six-passenger chair capable of staying open during inclement weather and high winds on a storm day. And even though Headwall Express was closed, we were still able to traverse across "Siberia Bowl" to access the upper terrain under the Headwall Express. This made for two fantastic runs down "The Slot" and "Headwall Face". 

After getting our fair share of the upper mountain, we skied down to Red Dog for one last run.

The trees still had plenty of fresh snow but before we knew it, we were back down in the base area at 4:00pm and off to Graeagle to rest up for one final day of skiing.

Day 5 - Heavenly Mountain Resort

Even though my body was pretty beat up after a day of bell-to-bell storm skiing at Squaw, I couldn't come to Lake Tahoe and not take in the views from the summit of Heavenly Mountain Resort. 

This was a bit of a haul from Graeagle but after the beautiful drive through Kings Beach, Incline Village, and along the east side of the lake, I was in the parking lot and on the tram a little before 11:00am. As you can see in the photo above, the views from the summit of the Sky Express lift are phenomenol. I took a few warm up runs and then skied over to Mott Canyon to have some fun down "Bill's", "Snake Eyes", and "Widow Maker". 

I then decided to take three or four more runs up and down the Tamarack, Canyon, and Powderbowl Express lifts before calling it a day.

The final run of my Lake Tahoe adventure was down "The Face" and it couldn't of been more fitting. I had a gorgeous view of the lake just as the afternoon sun was peeking out of the western sky. 

And that was it for my trip out to Lake Tahoe. If you've never skied there or even spent time during the summer months, it has to be on the top of your list. This is one of the most beautiful places on Earth and I couldn't be more happy to see feet of snow on the ground and plenty more in the forecast for the months to come. 

SAM COLLENTINE