Winter Visit to Lake Tahoe -2017

© 2017, R. Ono

With rain and snow returning to California, it was time to check out the snow levels at Lake Tahoe. Each year, we try to spend several mid-winter days at the Lake - one or two ski days for me, an opportunity to visit friends that live in the area and a chance to relax in a comfortable Tahoe cabin with my wife. Even the dog seems to enjoy a Tahoe respite.

The eastbound drive up from the valley on Interstate 80 was without road delays. However, we could see westbound Interstate 80 traffic stopped for almost 14 miles. A slide brought mud, boulders, trees and debris over both westbound lanes. Caltrans has been cleaning the slide over the past four days and it looks like the mud and boulders are finally cleared.  With possible rain and snow in the forecast, We're hoping the road remains clear by the time we need to go back down the mountain.

Regardless of the road conditions, its good the see the reservoirs filling up after several years of drought. That said, the large amount of rain in short periods is now causing opposite problems, stress on dams and levees that move water from the mountains and through the valley.

© 2017, R. Ono

This year I'm skiing at Homewood Ski Resort. This ski area is only 15 minutes from our rental Tahoe City cabin. In good snow years, Homewood provides more than enough ski terrain to keep my interest.  Being retired, midweek skiing provides the best opportunity to avoid lift lines. I find that I can get in more runs over two to three hours during a midweek day than in a seven hour weekend day on the slopes.

As I was purchasing my Homewood lift tickets online, I realized that I now qualify for a senior rate. Woohoo! This brought the daily $79 midweek lift ticket price down to $37. Quite a deal, especially when compared to the $124 daily midweek lift ticket price at Alpine Meadows. Of course, Alpine is a much larger facility and offers more services and skiable terrain.

Since, I no longer ski over six days a year, I've given up owning skis. Skis and bindings now approach too high a cost for using only a few times a year. Instead, I typically rent a pair of demonstration skis from a Tahoe shop or at the ski resort. The only ski equipment I own includes a pair of carbon composite poles, helmet and a pair of Surefoot custom fitted ski boots. I've found the Surefoot boots much more comfortable as they have boot liners that are essentially molded to your feet and ankles. Still, there is only so much comfort available from any downhill ski boot.

With the past several days being warm and sunny, the ski conditions were largely groomed slopes with some icy spots in the early morning.

Being in the middle of three incoming winter storms, one storm passed us on Thursday morning. The second storm was forecast for Friday morning, when we were scheduled to return to the valley. Rather than sit in bumper to bumper traffic under chain control on Friday morning, we opted to return on Thursday afternoon. We still had to drive through several snow flurries along the summit but experienced limited traffic congestion. Not sure if there will be another ski day for 2017.