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My apologies if this is not the appropriate place to make this posting, but it seemed the best place to start within this group.

So how does this work?  I know, probably a silly question, as it can't be too complicated, but I'm hoping this is a good place to start developing a network of skiers that frequent Squaw, and the Tahoe area in general.  I'm new to the bay area (4 months) and to northern CA in general - one season under my belt - and while I do have a short list of friends in the area that enjoy skiing, we tend to ski at different levels, enjoy different types of terrain, or both.  Adding to the challenge is that my current ski buddies, while great people I enjoy spending time with, just don't have the same passion for being on the mountain as often as I do.  (Which, honestly, isn't that much.  I'm hoping to get in 15 days this year, 20 if I'm really lucky.)

So as I said, I'm looking to develop a network of other individuals large enough that there's always a good chance there will be someone on the mountain interested in meeting up with a ski buddy for the day/weekend.  My hope is these folks will have a passion for skiing that equals, or even exceeds, my own, which based on the perception I've come to have of folks on epicski, probably is common place.  The last thing, and most importantly, I'm also hoping to make some new friends along the way.  Skiing alone is better than not skiing at all, but skiing with friends, what's better than that?

Because I'm out looking for the friendly person willing to reach out, and maybe even extend an invitation, it's probably fair to share a little about myself and my skiing:

I wouldn't categorize myself an expert, but I'm definitely a strong, aggressive black/double black skier.  To this point, I'm exclusively a resort skier, but look to get off trail whenever possible, so I'm always up for a good hike, and I'm interested in learning/getting into some BC, but I need to invest in some avalanche skills training, followed by some proper gear.  It also wouldn't hurt to meet some people with experience and skills they're willing to share and teach.  I'm not at all fond of the groomers, as my preferences fall more into fresh snow with changing terrain - glades, bowls, bumps, whatever.  Anything but flat and plain.  The bulk of my experience falls in SLC and Summit County, CO, but I learned to ski in Michigan as a little guy.  Ice, ice, and more ice, and my friends wonder why I moved west??  As I mentioned before, this will be second full season in CA, and I'm loving it so far.  Still getting used to the heavier CA snow, but given what I saw last season, there's no room to complain.  The snow, the terrain, the accessibility... tough to beat.  Now I just need to meet a few people to share it with.

Cool. Thanks for resurrecting this thread. I'd missed the whole 'groups' thing.

You'll find plenty of people here and other online places to ski with. Plus you can always just go skiing and meet folks the old fashioned way - on the chairlift.

I know a few people from Epic, a lot from the TGR forums, plus some from ski clubs I've belonged to and the Snow Pals yahoogroup. They're all fun to ski with.

I'm at Alpine almost every weekend and most holidays. My kids grew up in Alpine's kids' programs (like Xela's are now in over at Squaw). That's another great way to meet ski buddies - ski with other parents.

Alexzn's Squaw resort page is awesome and I aspire to get Alpine's up to snuff with his.

Supposed to snow this weekend. Should make for a good opening next week. I can't wait.

Thanks for the response back.  I'll be sure to take a look at the other group sites you've mentioned.  As a general rule though, for any of these group sites, how do folks go about meeting up?  Is it a lot of individual contact over the site, or even email, or does the group generally put out a announcement saying, "this resort, this spot (lift), this time, and we ski." ?

Hah, I just posted the same reply for you over in the gathering thread. Ooops.

For TGR folks, just ask in the lift line if anyone has Change for a Nickel. Seriously, try it. If they reply in the affirmative (or say FKNA), you've met a maggot.

The Snowpals group is having a meetup the first week of December at Sports Basement in SF. There will be a mix of total gapers plus some pretty knowledgeable skiers. I'll probably be there - introduce yourself.