With our Tahoe Epic Value Pass it was more free days, and we could see what all the areas had for a snow pack and conditions.
Heavenly: We started skiing from the Nevada side where the Stagecoach 4-pack was running. We walked from the cement parking lot and then on bark to the lift. There was snow down to the lift so you could ski down at the end of the day. Jill and I have had Heavenly passes for years so we know the good and bad years; this was a fair year. We rode 4-pack lifts all day and the skiing was good. We stayed on the groomers and the coverage was great. We enjoyed Olympic lift runs which had warmed and were fast, then on to the top where we rode two 4-packs in the sun for 2 hours. The sun was wonderful. We then skied over to the CA side and rode the upper 4-pack which had great runs and a great view of Lake Tahoe. The ungroomed runs became enjoyable around 11am. After 4 hours we retraced our route back to the Nevada side and skied down to the parking lot and our 40 foot walk to the van. The 13th is the last day for the lifts on the Nevada side, and Heavenly closes on the 20th. We love Heavenly with their vast terrain on a normal year.
Northstar: Northstar is not our favorite resort because of the loooong walk from the shuttle bus drop-off point to the gondola. The parking area is enormous and a bus picks you up wherever you park, BUT the drop-off point requires you to walk through the whole village past all the shops in order to get to the gondola. We have skied there a few times, but we normally park in an area where at the end of the day we could ski down a run to our parking lot. This year there was no snow on the lower mountain and so there was no skiing down to the parking lot. At the end of the day we found a cart to carry our ski equipment to the bus pick-up spot; much easier. Note this bit of advice for us late 60-year old folks – find a cart to carry your gear coming and going. The lower part of the resort had NO snow. We have never seen all the rocks and logs that are in areas we normally ski down and which are normally covered by the snow. The upper part of the mountain has some snow, but the area around the lifts is pretty bare and the snow there comes from the groomers moving snow from the closed trails. The upper trails are in good shape, but don’t think about going off trail. The backside has 2 mountains and 1 (Lookout Mtn.) is closed and the other is mostly closed. We skied for a couple of hours and left. We’ve never seen an open ski area with as much dirt showing.
Kirkwood: This is our second visit in a week and we love Kirkwood. This time we were early and were the first people on the lift. In fact, we were the only folks at the lift. We followed the sun and first went to the Sunrise lift and enjoyed perfect spring cream. At 10:30 we moved to the front side and skied the trails off the Reut lift. The higher elevation and being on the mountain crest bring a great snow pack and spring snow. Our final ride was on the Cornice 4-pack with its double black runs. We got there late and skied slushy moguls on the upper part of the run, but the lower half widened out and was nice and creamy with no moguls making it a fun run. By noon it was time to call it quits and to head north to tour and ski on Mt. Shasta.
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I really like the Kirkwood world and the Tahoe world.