The Northstar session on Sunday was great. A light snowfall blanketed the mountain with cold temps and great skiing all around. A bit cold. We spent the prior night in a cramped one bedroom place in Tahoe City to avoid the morning commute. Luckily,the place offered a FREE real breakfast in the mess hall. It was excellent; french toast, eggs, waffles, you name it. At Northstar, I ordered the BBQ salmon dish which froze up within 2 seconds at the top of the mountain. To make matters worse, it came with a side of "hot" beans and rice. Well, cold beans and rice. At least my Guinness was at the right temp. Per skiing, we pretty much covered the whole mountain and found a ripping run that is usually closed off, called "the Woods". At day's end, we found a nice Hawaiian place in Auburn called the Kau Kau Hawaiian Food. Like the temps at the top of the mountain, the Kau Kau was freezing inside. Luckily, the food was good.

The following weekend, a trip was organized by a friend of mine for South Tahoe. We cramped 14 people in a 3 bedroom place. It was crazy. People and mice everywhere. We hit up Heavenly's Nevada side and took up a few runs way too many times, e.g., Olympic Express at the end of the day. The best runs were the gully trails below Olympic Express. Lots of banking the sides and carving the top. The difficulty was that contrast was pretty low towards the end of the day. So manuevering the carves we a bit tough at times. For lunch, we ate at the Boulder Lodge and one of folks found a new, unopened can of Pringles underneath one of there table ad boxes. It was tasty. I wore the Banana suit for this session given the size of our group. I was easy to spot and everybody seemed to like the Banana. So, next time, bring your costumes not for a "costume" party but for the slopes! At night, we stocked up on Pizza Hut's "any size, any toppings, for $10" and played two cool games called, Celebrity (combination of gestures, cranium, and memory), and Mafia (a who-did-it game). Fun times!

James

SKI TRIP: Snow Sessions 9,10,11 - North Tahoe (Feb 13 - 15) Sat - Mon, President's Day Weekend

PRICING:
Lodging $35 per night (Main Room)
Northstar Tix $57
Total $92 per day for skiing and lodging!

Lodging $45 per night (Bedroom)
Northstar Tix $57
Total $102 per day for skiing and lodging!

SKI IN and SKI OUT! at NORTHSTAR
http://www.meetup.com/seaandsnow/calendar/12294620

Since the dawn of my adult life, e.g, post-college, I have never stayed at a ski resort. I couldn't really afford it. I've always resorted to crashing on damp floors, the front rooms in noisy cabins, and bunking with other folks who snore. Today, after a decade, I have finally tasted yuppie-dome. YOU KNOW what? It's really not that much more than a "Tahoe" hotel room, e.g., The Tahoe Inn. The Tahoe Inn which has holes in the ceiling, floors, and walls.

The apartment/condo/1bedroom loft at Northstar rocks. Several of us had different variations... loft with fireplace or just a hotel style. I can't imagine what the multi-bedroom condos look like with the the scene overlooking the skating rink. Nevertheless, the room looks down one of the side streets of the village with the smell of belgium waffles in the air. The trees are lit up for the holidays and snow is everywhere even on the deck outside. The room is cozy and cabin-like. There is a flat screen lcd, dvd player, fridgerator, microwave, a lazy boy, and a soft bed after a long day of skiing. The bar is right outside and the sounds of holiday cheer is still in the air.

With the rental, you get vouchers worth of ice skating, passes for the rec center, hot tub, and spa, a nice parking space, and room service that's better than a standard hotel. This feels like home, the way Northstar was when I first came here. With the new Ritz, the village still feels apart from the new. Yes, GO TO the chocolate bar. Kristi or Darcy are great sweethearts there (even with all the photos shots) and can recommend the right chocolate tasty for you. Thanks again to Brett at Northstar for the Club rates! James

2010 Snow Sessions 6,7
http://www.seaandsnow.org/image/tid/426
http://www.meetup.com/seaandsnow/photos/799935/

Northern California Report and Forecast
Date: Friday January 8, 2010
Forecaster: Austin Gendron - austin@wetsand.com

For weather updates, Tahoe cams and our adventure sports blog, go to www.tahoeloco.com

January 7, 2010

A) She's a great surfer and can kick your butt
B) She's from Hanalei, Kauai... you have to go there, it's beautiful
C) Of course, she's hot!
From Reef.com email blast

ALANA BLANCHARD JOINS THE REEF TRIBE

(Carlsbad, CA)– January 6th, 2010 – Reef is excited to announce the addition of the lovely, Alana Blanchard, to the Reef surf team. The 19 year old from Hanalei, Kauai will kick off the New Year representing Reef women’s footwear, while she surfs and travels around the world.

A lifelong enthusiast of the sport, Alana’s surfing journey began at the Hanalei Pier in Kauai at the age of 4. Fifteen years later, Alana’s competitive accolades are rising just as quickly as her following on Facebook. Alana has garnered fans and friends around the world thanks to her talent, and her love of connecting through social media. It also doesn’t hurt that she happens to be one of the most beautiful surfers in the world.

So I've been surfing before but it has been a few years. Are people on these surf trips down to help and teach someone trying to get back into it?