Tahoe's Wild Western Shore

This journal describes several ski resorts that are either on the West Shore or easily accessible from it, plus a few West Shore attractions to fill your post-resort needs. In the winter: Ski, Ski, Ski. (Seriously, there are both alpine and nordic resorts, snowshoeing, snowmobiling and other wintertime activities to enjoy here.)

In the summer/fall: cycle, hike or take the Tahoe Queen (lake steamer). The Truckee River has some limited rafting opportunities in early summer. But unless you are a member of the polar bear club I would not recommend swimming in the freezing lake water.

At all times, enjoy the gorgeous views of mountains rising about a deep blue lake.

Quick Tips:

There are many choices of ski resorts at Tahoe. If you pay attention to ski conditions and mid-week specials, you can get the most bang for your buck, both for lifts and lodging.

Best Way To Get Around:

Most Bay Area people drive up from San Francisco. However, if you are flying in from outside of California, the Reno Airport is only an hour away from the resorts. Some hotels offer shuttle services to ski areas, and there is a TART bus (Tahoe Area Rapid Transit) that makes the rounds. But most people drive, and, alas, many do it poorly. Keep an eye your fellow motorist, as he may not understand the finer points of driving in snow. And if you don't have 4WD, buy chains before going to Tahoe, or suffer a 400% markup at the local gas stations when Caltrans puts chain control on.

This bed and breakfast is a cluster of several cheerful red cottages nestled in the pines, in the tiny town of Tahoma. Each cottage has 1 or 2 rooms, individually decorated with homey and comfortable furnishings. (I've stayed in Moose Station and Bear's Den, and they each have an appropriate stuffed animal). Families and groups larger than 2 can rent one of the 4-6 person cottages, but breakfast is not included in the price.

Dick and Ulli White, the owners, serve a marvelous breakfast in the upstairs lounge area, complete with several different egg/sausage/homemade pastry options to give you fuel for the morning's activities. They also offer a complimentary snack and wine hour in the evening.

For dinner, one can either explore some of the restaurants in the area (such as the Swiss Lakewood) or just meander a few steps over to the onsite restaurant, The Stony Ridge Cafe, for tasty Californian-World Fusion cuisine.

Dick and Ulli are very friendly and are happy to offer suggestions on where to ski or on what else there is to do in the area. On a blustery day I would be tempted to forgo skiing and just hang out in the lounge and play scrabble and drink coffee, or just snuggle under the covers back in the room. This place represents the West Shore at its friendliest and coziest.

The Swiss Lakewood is a traditional continental restaurant that seems to have survived the healthy-food-craze of the last 20 years untouched. Regular entrees run between $22-$29, and include such traditional hearty fare as Chateaubriand and Chicken Cordon Blue. No tofu kabobs here!

I would recommend ordering the cheese fondue for two, which costs $39. It's Emmatheler and Gruyere melted together, with a dash of kirsch, to be sopped up by bread chunks. Such gooey luxury may harden your arteries, but after a long day of skiing, you've earned some culinary decadence. With a bottle of chenin blanc and a salad for 2 (I'd pick the spinach salad, with the hot bacon dressing, prepared at your table), and absolutely no room for dessert, your bill will come to ~$80, plus tip.

You will be eating in the rustic bar annex rather than the white tablecloth dining room, but this only adds to the atmosphere. Surrounded by kitchy bavarian artifacts, a roaring fire and a bubbling cheesy fondue, you'll be yodelling for joy.

Though Heavenly may theoretically have more vertical drop, Squaw Valley, better known as Squaw, is the definitive Tahoe alpine resort. Over 35 lifts, many of which are high speed, service 6 mountains with 4000+ skiiable acres. However, I'd like to specify that a good percentage of that acreage is not for anyone but a true expert. Squaw is generally acknowledged to have the most challenging slopes. This is great for the hot-shots, but intermediate and beginner skiers may do better at Alpine Meadows, Sugarbowl or Northstar (which many locals dismiss as "Snorestar"). Certainly, the Mountain Run at 3:30 pm (the only way to ski down from the beginner area) is a traffic nightmare with experts from KT22 zipping between terrified snowplowers.

Squaw's $56 lift ticket is pricey, but multi-day passes provide some relief. However, don't expect the mid-week specials of the smaller resorts. Also, if the weather is storming you may wish to check the ski reports in the morning, before you motor over to Squaw. Squaw (and Alpine) have very exposed peaks and often close the upper mountain lifts for wind-hold. On such days, you will still pay the full price for the privilege of skiing the runs serviced by Red Dog and Squaw Creek over and over.

Squaw has 4 major service areas: High Camp and Gold Coast on the mountain, and Olympic Village and Squaw Creek Resort at the base. When you are tired of skiing, there are plenty of shops, eateries and bars all vieing for what money remains in your wallet. I like the outdoor grill at the base of Squaw Creek Resort: Burgers and fries will run you at least 8 bucks, but they are well worth it, especially on a sunny day when you can get a bistro table outside with a view of the mountain. Check out the shops and hotel, too. There's something decadent about clomping in your ski boots around the plush carpet of the lobby, leaving clumps of snow in your wake.

Squaw hosted the 1960 Winter Olympics, and they will never let anyone forget it. Sure, there is a lot of hype, and other resorts may be more low key, cost-effective and friendly. But you should come at least once and see what some of the hype is about.

Suffering from 2nd child syndrome, Alpine Meadows would probably attract more people and attention if it weren't right next to Squaw Valley. Half the size and a quarter of the cachet, Alpine is still a respectable ski hill, and has some features that its celebrity sibling lacks. For hot shots, alpine is famous for death-defying shoots like "Our Father." For the beginners and intermediates, there's wide variety of nice cruiser blues, with views of Lake Tahoe on sunny days. Alpine is also famous for the Adaptive Ski School, which teaches disabled people how to ski; even blind people can try to navigate downhill! Alpine is also known for training ski patrol dogs. You are bound to see a couple of these critters during your runs, and you may be lucky enough to watch a training session. Hopefully you will not need to experience their help first-hand.

Alpine offers all of the basic ski-hill services: repair and rental, some clothing, lockers and storage and a few different places to eat, including a Gordon Bierch Bar-B-Que establishment, new this year. Alpine also has a decent ski school and offers snowshoeing. But if your party has folks for whom these sports don't appeal, there's not a lot for them to do here. They'd be better off meandering around the centers at Squaw or Northstar or staying at the condo to cook dinner. :-)

Homewood may pale in comparison to the vertical drop or acreage of other resorts, but bigger isn't always better, even at ski resorts. The terrain is not as extensive as it would be at Squaw or Alpine, and there are much shorter runs and few bowls to speak of. However, Homewood is one of my favorite resorts for many reasons. When conditions are right, there's marvelous off-piste skiing through the trees of Hobbit Land. Though lift capacity is small, Homewood tends to be less crowded, even on weekends.

And let's not forget the glorious views. Many Tahoe resorts offer snippets of lakeviews from the top of the lift. At Homewood you have to try hard to find a run without a view. Everyone, even beginners, can ski down Rainbow Ridge to the mid-mountain chalet and enjoy the sensation that one is about to schluss directly into the lake.

Homewood is also a great place to ski on stormy days. While Squaw and Alpine can suffer from wind-hold on 70% of their lifts, Homewood's lifts are lower to the ground and protected by trees. You can ski during a blizzard and not freeze your butt on the way up. Homewood is less costly, both for lift tickets and other services. The staff is far more friendly and relaxed.

As far as cons, Homewood is lower in elevation: sometimes getting rain when other resorts have snow. Also, they do not get the sheer snowfall that Squaw or Sugarbowl receives, nor do they have much artificial snowmaking capacity. So in drought years Homewood may not have the best coverage. Finally, the return run options for the North Base Lodge are either 1) a windy, sometimes icy Lombard run, or 2) a plunge down the choppy mogels of The Face (right under the lift, for maximum humiliation when you biff). But you can avoid this choice-of-two-evils by skiing down to the South Lodge and taking the shuttle back to the North Lodge, if that's where you are parked.

Sugarbowl was the first resort in Tahoe, and for good reason. This area gets the most snow in Tahoe, and often it is finer (like sugar) than what falls elsewhere. The terrain is well varied, from the steep chutes of the '58s and other double-diamond shockers to wonderful intermediate cruisers on all of the 4 mountains. There's off-piste tree sking over by Crow's Nest and occasionally Sugarbowl will open up the backside for some more expert skiing. Snowboarders can enjoy a couple different terrain parks. Another benefit for Bay Area skiers, Sugarbowl is about 50 minutes closer than Squaw or Alpine, and many people like to get the jump on the return traffic by skiing here on Sunday at leaving by 2:30 (which means the resort is more crowded that day.) Sugarbowl has standard ski services at both the the main base lodge (complete with hotel, but requiring a gondola ride from the road) and at the Mt. Judah lodge. There's also a mid-mountain chalet at the base of Christmas Tree Hill and a coffee shop that is sporadically open on top of Disney. I think Sugarbowl is the best place to take beginners and early intermediate skiers. Their ski school is excellent, and they have 3 different areas for learning, none of which have more advanced runs funneling into them (a.k.a. bowling for skiers.) Once you've mastered their intermediates, you can try some expert slopes. There's a few double-black runs for the utter loons and the general amusement of the rest of us spectators on Lincoln chairlift.