Squaw v.s. Heavenly

North shore without a doubt.  Squaw, Alpine Meadows, Sugar Bowl, Northstar and Homewood give you plenty of options for all kinds of different days and conditions (i.e. gusting winds in particular).

First week of March is generally a great time to go.  The last two years (which were polar opposites) it's been one of the best weeks of the season, for example.

I vastly prefer the north shore.

Another vote for north shore.  When you say "slopeside condo", does that mean the group mainly wants to stick with one place?  Or still willing to drive a bit to explore other options?  Plenty of good deals to be had on VRBO on the north shore, especially if not staying slopeside.

There will be crowds on the weekend.  Unless the roads are closed from CA. ;-)

Don't forget about Mt. Rose.  If taking a red-eye home from Reno is an option, pretty easy to spend a full ski day at Mt. Rose before heading to the airport.

If you cared about casinos, that would be the only reason I could think of to go to Heavenly.

Squaw FTW for sure. If you like the Loaf, you'll love Squaw. If Sugarloaf = Squaw, Sugarbush = Northstar (those are not accurate comparisons, but given the two places you mentioned, that's the best I could come up with).

FYI, you can fly BOS<->RNO on Southwest with one stop and no bag charges. Pretty cheap too. Easy drive with no 4WD needed from Reno to Squaw (assuming you can drive in New England w/out 4wd). Having a car isn't necessary if you're staying at Squaw and skiing there and Alpine. But it is nice to have, especially if you want to go to dinner in Truckee or Tahoe City, or do a day trip to Northstar or someplace else.

I'll give you the snow in CO is better, but the terrain?  Squaw, Alpine Meadows and Kirkwood all within an hour or so.  And near a larger airport (Reno).  Where in Colorado are you going to find that?  Yes, Crested Butte, Telluride, Silverton, A-Basin and Aspen Highlands have the terrain, but they're not exactly near much else (in some cases) or one another.  Plus, for the amount of area you're talking about in comparison, Tahoe could also include Mammoth.

Don't get me wrong, I love Colorado, but I wouldn't say the terrain being better than Tahoe on average is a given.  Actually, nevermind, I take it back.  Tahoe sucks.  Don't come here.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cats Meow 

That said the terrain in the Sierras, to say nothing of the snow, is not nearly as nice as the Rockies.

Quote:

Originally Posted by JayT 

I'll give you the snow in CO is better, but the terrain? 

 

Actually, he/she said "nice," which might be true. :-) As in "agreeable" or "polite" or "kind"....

^^^ I can't argue with that.  Keystone was very nice.

^^^ I will give you that for a small localized area Aspen is pretty amazing.  I take far less issue with that than Colorado > Tahoe, if that makes sense.

"Highlands has 3600 vertical and for true double-black skiing name me anyplace in Tahoe that matches the Highland Bowl!"

Well, obviously Tahoe has several places that are significantly more "extreme" than Highland Bowl (as do other places in Colorado), but of course nothing close to that kind of consistent vertical.

Anyway, we may now resume your previously scheduled discussion...

/ End ThreadJack

While the comparisons of Colorada (Aspen) vs Tahoe are interesting and thought-provoking, I thought I'd just reply to the OP.

My view is that of a weekend warrior in the PNW who sampled the Tahoe area at the Gathering, so superficial tourist perspective rather than local expert perspective.  My responses in blue.

Quote:

Originally Posted by binobear 

Hi,

 

Thinking about a week long ski vacation first week of March and wanted to get opinions on both resorts.

 

Ski both areas.  You may feel now that you want to stay near one resort for convenience, but both areas, and others around Tahoe are worth a visit.  I stayed at South Shore the week of the Gathering and drove to the North shore four of the days.  While I had an hour or so to drive, other people staying in condos and cabins at the North shore had to dig out of snow and took just as long to get to the ski resort.  What I'm getting at is it's not all that far away. 

 

We are 6 adults ranging from intermediate to expert.

 

Does your group intend to mostly stick together as a group, or will the experts want to go off on their own, regardless of whether you can all meet up at a lift?

 

 

Don.t care about nightlife or casinos, looking for variety of terrain, beauty, vertical, slopeside condo, great snow and no crowds. It appears that Heavenly has a huge amount of terrain and vertical, but Squaw might be less crowded and low key.

 

As it turns out, Casinos and nightlife are at the base of Heavenly, but not actually on the ski slopes.  You won't even notice it while you're skiing. 

 

Squaw is not low-key, and not necessarily less crowded.  Squaw is Squawllywood, the center of radness, where some truly excellent skiers and some truly obnoxious wanna-be's show off their stuff.  Squaw devotees believe, rightly or wrongly, that Squaw is the only place in the universe worth skiing and they're not averse to saying so. 

 

OK, that's not all it is.  Squaw is known more for it's advanced and expert and uber-expert terrain, but actually does have a lot of intermediate terrain as well.  The small part of the resort that I was actually able to ski, due to weather and wind hold, was really great.

 

OTOH Heavenly has some steeps, but really geared more towards intermediate terrain. Double black at Heavenly is a black diamond at Squaw.  What Heavenly does have is some nice tree skiing.  Squaw seems to have cut most of those down. 

 

Heavenly has the views of Tahoe.

 

Both will be crowded on weekends, in a normal snow year.  Squaw will be crowded, in some areas (like KT-22) on a powder morning.  Otherwise both ares are so huge that initial crowds at the bases are dispersed pretty well.

 

IWe would appreciate your thoughts on this. IS the first week of March a good time period in that area?

 

Yes.  The Gathering was the end of Feb/first week of March, and it dumped the first four days were were there, and this was in a very unusually low snowfall year.

 

Thanks

 

You're welcome.

I haven't skied Heavenly in more than a decade.  I have about 40-50 days at Squaw and 300 at Alpine.

One great thing about Squaw that I've noted in other threads is that particularly on the lower mountain, it's an excellent place for a mixed-skill group of intermediates and higher to ski together.  While my wife was learning to ski, we skied primarily at Squaw.  At first, she would stay on the groomers, we would start and finish runs together, but I would duck off-piste into areas signed for advanced or expert skiers for part of the run before rejoining her.  As she improved, she started heading off-piste with me, knowing that she could dip her toe in and back out if needed.  That pattern continued when we moved up to the Silverado area, which has a large open run and multiple treed cliff lines leading down to it.  I don't think we would've been able to turn skiing into the family sport many other places.

As for the Colorado/Tahoe debate, I haven't skied Colorado, but I have a fair amount of time in Utah and Val d'Isere under my belt.  I like vertical, but don't see why people fetishize it.  I'm just as happy taking two 1800-2000 foot runs broken up by a six-minute lift ride than taking one 3500-4000 run broken up by a couple of opportunities to catch my breath.  If you aren't like me, you should probably consider somewhere with more continuous vertical than Tahoe.

"Slopeside" to me means the rental housing on the short stretch of road next to the Stagecoach lift at Heavenly. I hate walking 

At Squaw there's more in the village or over at Resort @ Squaw Creek.

Re Terrain, I think Squaw/Alpine suits your group. My guess is your group will all be very happy at Alpine Meadows.  You'll have night life too at your back door. And you can always 'pick up' at Squaw

/\/\ Veteran's experience and opinions are probably worth more than those of us who live here. He spent a bunch of time this winter at both places. He has a funny accent, but he's definitely viewed the situation as a keen skier who doesn't have the luxury of a permanent or seasonal residence in either place. I'd PM him if you want more info.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cats Meow 

So compared to into Reno, rent a car (which you need in Tahoe), it is an hour to Squaw or 90 minutes to South Lake Tahoe. 

Do you know any good place to hire a car in both North shore and South Lake Tahoe?

Quote:

Originally Posted by binobear 

Thanks for the info. I'm from MA as well and really do not enjoy the Killington experience, love The Loaf and Sugarbush best.

Ah, we must be twins, I hate K, and consider Loaf to be THE BEST in the east.

Skip Tahoe and go to Mammoth, it will blow you away in every aspect.  Along with Snowbasin, my favorite mountains in US.  Heavenly is Traverse city, and Squaw is crowded. 

If open, spend a day at June, 20 minutes away from Mammoth.

Quote:

Originally Posted by gpaulski 

Skip Tahoe and go to Mammoth, it will blow you away in every aspect.  Along with Snowbasin, my favorite mountains in US.  Heavenly is Traverse city, and Squaw is crowded. 

 

If open, spend a day at June, 20 minutes away from Mammoth.

Scratch that.

<http://www.junemountain.com/> Unless it gets sold, I think it's probably history.

Anyway, Mammoth is a great mountain, although my experiences there are limited to the period between mid-June and July 4th.  It is more remote than the Tahoe resorts.  It is at higher elevation as well, which has positives (rain can fall in Tahoe when it's snowing in Mammoth) but negatives as well (altitude sickness and the fact that it's colder).  Also, its location means that it gets less snow over the course of the season than the Sierra Crest resorts (Squaw, Alpine, Sugarbowl, Kirkwood) -- according to Tony Crocker, 20% less.  It ends up being a bit more like Utah -- less snow, but if you like it dry, higher quality snow.

As a practical matter, the first week of March will not be crowded at any of these resorts, and should come at the beginning of the best skiing of the season.  Even in a crappy year -- like this year and 2007 -- California has good coverage by then.  March is one of the snowiest months in the Sierra, and as a plus, if it's not snowing, it's usually sunny and pleasant (highs in the 30s or 40s).

Tony Crocker has good data here.

Love Tahoe but I prefer Mammoth any day. Never had altitude sickness there, and colder is a positive - they may get less snow but it's stays skiiable later.

I'd choose the town more in Mammoth as well (unless you like casinos).

If your driving a rental car, depending on your flight arrival or departure, you can usually get a half day of play time at Mount Rose which is close to the airport, sometimes it can be a really nice experience, the Chute's are usually filled in nicely in March!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sinecure 

/\/\ Veteran's experience and opinions are probably worth more than those of us who live here. He spent a bunch of time this winter at both places. He has a funny accent, but he's definitely viewed the situation as a keen skier who doesn't have the luxury of a permanent or seasonal residence in either place. I'd PM him if you want more info.

Thanks Sinecure, I hope to be back in Mid March-mid April. There's a few big problems looming on the domestic front: so I might retire there, ... and live in a bus shelter if the family lawyers get me)

Being a fellow mass hole, I've done this exact trip you are describing. I stayed in SLT and rented a house for $1300 for a week w 3 BR's the first week of march 2012. Drove to kirkwood, Squaw, and heavenly. While squaw is awesome, staying in SLT is better. I'm not a nightlife guy, but it is convenient having things like thai takeout and a grocery store is nice. I would strongly recommend checking out the other mtns (kirkwood, squaw, etc), and thats part of what makes lake tahoe amazing. Within 1-2 hours, you can ski some amazing mtns, many of which are unique from one-another.

You have a great plan and won't regret it, no matter what you decide

Quote:

Originally Posted by thavwplaya 

Being a fellow mass hole, I've done this exact trip you are describing. I stayed in SLT and rented a house for $1300 for a week w 3 BR's the first week of march 2012. Drove to kirkwood, Squaw, and heavenly. While squaw is awesome, staying in SLT is better. I'm not a nightlife guy, but it is convenient having things like thai takeout and a grocery store is nice. I would strongly recommend checking out the other mtns (kirkwood, squaw, etc), and thats part of what makes lake tahoe amazing. Within 1-2 hours, you can ski some amazing mtns, many of which are unique from one-another.

 

You have a great plan and won't regret it, no matter what you decide

+1 on staying in SLT and exploring. Squaw is excellent and if I have to choose one resort in Tahoe, I'd pick Squaw. But if you're staying for one entire week, I'd definitely spend a few days in SLT, and try Heavenly and Kirkwood as well. While I will never tire of Squaw, I can use some variety if I'm skiing 7 days straight. On a bluebird day, it's worth skiing in Heavenly, for the view of the lake, as well as the Nevada plain. Kirkwood is especially great on a powder day.

As others said, Squaw is not low key. They lead in both the lift ticket price and the crowd. On almost any powder day, Squaw's KT chair is full of people, and most of the snows are tracked in the morning very quickly, whereas Mott chair in Heavenly has very little crowd even on a good powder weekend. OTOH, Squaw has many chairs that serve expert terrain, whereas Heavenly is more limited (Mott is basically the only truly expert). 

As for slopeside lodging, Heavenly doesn't really have "ski-in ski-out" lodging (there's some near Stagecoach but very few). Kirkwood is virtually all ski-in/out if you stay within the resort. Squaw, the price is typically outrageous. If you don't care about "ski in/out" but "minimal walking" (i.e. taking gondola down to the hotel), Heavenly has some nice options in SLT.

Quote:

Originally Posted by skispark 

As for slopeside lodging, Heavenly doesn't really have "ski-in ski-out" lodging (there's some near Stagecoach but very few). Kirkwood is virtually all ski-in/out if you stay within the resort. Squaw, the price is typically outrageous. If you don't care about "ski in/out" but "minimal walking" (i.e. taking gondola down to the hotel), Heavenly has some nice options in SLT.

My 1 bedroom with den ($120 p/night) was literally a walk past the hotub and skate 100 yards to the Funitel. The other one bedroom with den was also $120 a night. 

There's a ski club at Kings Beach which charges around $15-$20 a night for a bed. I think the annual membership fee is about $60. 

I know families who rented houses at SLT for a month for around $1600 to $2500 per month, not per week. 

This one is 2 bedrooms, fully self contained and costs me around $1500 for 2 weeks. The last pic is free, but you gotta know the owner! 

Shop around ski cheap and often.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scavenger 

Do you know any good place to hire a car in both North shore and South Lake Tahoe?

`If you fly into Reno, there's rental counters for Thrifty/Dollar, Hertz, Avis and a few others. 

If you fly into San Francisco, you can do a 'one way' drop off at Truckee Airport with Avis and then get a cab to Squaw. ditto at Avis in Sth Lake Tahoe. One way dropoffs are pricey though, and you're probably better off keeping the car for the week. Just do the maths but the shuttle services are do'able if you want to save money. I think Hairfarmr got from Squaw to Heavenly for $3 on the TART bus.