Frozen water and/or Ocean water

I also dig the frozen stuff. Closest I got to a CA double was surfing till dark on a Friday then hitting Squaw just after opening. I mostly surf on weekday mornings so the Snow season doesn't cramp my Surf style too much. I've not yet migrated to the "rent a cabin for the season, buy a season pass" type lifestyle (I took a very long break from skiing and a challengingly long break from employment), but I expect to be up there a bit more this season.

I skied for the first time this winter.

It was a lot quicker to pick up than surfing. Maybe I'll try it again.

You can also split the middle and go for kinda surf on freezing cold water:

that looks so unpleasant.

Kirkwood represent!

Re: Tahoe surfer. that dude's board must've gotten totally trashed.

Into it, but it's a real wallet breaker. I tend to go a couple times a year...

Thanks for the price cutter link.

Snowboarding is my love. I'm in between jobs so you'll find me there whenever it's good. Hit me up if you want to ride!

I purchased the double whammy limited season pass which is good at Sierra, Northstar, and Heavenly. Heavenly and Northstar open next weekend on the November 19th .

We're looking for people in my ski lease this season, message me if interested. $750 for 5 months, sleeps 17, pool table, hot tub, 4br/3ba.

@deetr0n, huge thanks for the heads up re: the Heavenly pass. Yeah, Flatstar gets shit crowded, but the Backside & Lookout remain pretty untouched by the kooks, and the tree skiing is pretty fun.

@deetr0n Our guest fees are $25/night. I've been looking for a place nearby N* to stay too. If I knew anyone near Boreal, I'd already be up there!

Lookout mountain kills it on powder days.

@deet: Yes! Kodak cliffs on lower cirque after a 3 foot dump. I get crazy when a camera is pointed at me :)

@deet, nah, no steeps at Flatstar, hence the nickname. But it's got the longest continuous (i.e., not steep, then flat, then steep) black runs of any of the North Lake resorts, unfortunately, the blacks are blues at most other mountains.

For some absolute ridiculously fun times in North Lake, you gotta check out Mt Rose. They opened up a whole side of the mountain a few years back called The Chutes. All black & double black chutes. The mountain itself is the complete antithesis of Squaw--blue jeans and beer in plastic cups plus tailgating mountain-side... Ride right off the mountain on to the hood of your car if you want.

I think Snowbird has the gnarliest double blacks lol. I'm afraid of heights when I get off the tram there.

@deetr0n: It's fun on a powder day since it's usually empty, but I'm by no means a N* diehard. My favorite spots are at Sierra/Heavenly: Avalanche Bowl, Huckleberry Canyon, Jacks Bowl, Motts Canyon, Killebrew, Firebreak, Raley's Bowl, North Bowl, etc.

I took the level 1 at LTCC last year but I don't any of the gear yet. I need a transceiver, probe, shovel, and snow shoes. I'm trying to build a video kit right now so I'm picking up a fluid head, tripod, and nd filter. I'm going to build a handle rig for follow and run and gun shots too.

@deetrOn I exclusively ski backcountry and have my avy 1. In the winter I spend a lot of time on the south west shore of Tahoe and in the spring I go to the Eastern Sierra. The east side has some of the best BC skiing in the world. You can ski from 14k feet all the way to the desert where you drink beer in shorts. The catch is you have to climb about 6k feet per day to do so.

Here are some propaganda shots, for the east side stuff look at Feather, Humphreys, Basin, Dana Plateau, Johnson and Hurd.
http://picasaweb.google.com/willy.pell

I also highly recommend the book "Backcountry Skiing California's Eastern Sierra." It has great photographs that will inspire you to do tiring things.

+1 on the Chutes and Mt Rose. But don't tell anyone, it'll be our little secret. Actually, tell everyone you know, no one from the Bay Area ever bothers to make the trek. Ski the chutes until your legs stop working, then have some banquet beer in the parking lot

Oh, and I did the Cali double once as well, though I did it the other way. Skied until 1 or 2 PM on a Sunday and got back to OB by 6pm for a sundowner. Only works in the spring, however, when the days get a bit longer.

+many for the Mt. Rose chutes. I lapped them exclusively one February day in '09. I enjoyed that they were not terribly narrow or danger-lined, unlike steeps elsewhere.

Oh man, @whitey, those pics bring back such good memories. Particularly memories of me rolling uncontrollably down the chutes.

Nothing beats a good powder day for me. I try to chase as many storms up as I can. I get the Double Whammy and try to log in 20+ days on the mountain. I'd like everyone to keep the thinking that Northstar is flat and it is no fun on a powder day. The truth is you can find great runs on every mountain in Tahoe. I'd like to respectfully ask that no one calls out the powder stash by name. It's like calling out Slaot on your Stoke Report!
PRAY for SNOW

Re: rolling uncontrollably down chutes: I grew up in the R0ckies (Wyoming/Colorado) and am used to that fine light dry snow so the first time I skied in California @ Mammoth, it was a shock. Mammoth had been closed for a number of days due to high winds and the exposed areas had all the loose snow blown off them - you could see blue ice in some areas - not too skiable. Was riding up chair 23 and watched the first batch of skiers try the chute right below the lift. None of them made it more than 2 turns before they ate shit on the ice and did the yard sale all the way down the mountain at 50mph. Six guys in a row tried it and six guys in a row did the 1000 ft. tumble. I was aghast, but we just went over to the bowls and there was some snow/grip there. Never did figure out how those guys got their gear back. Also didn't see anyone else try it for the rest of the weekend.

In an incident I didn't see someone died on one of the chutes on the south side.

Definitely some different stuff. In Colorado, the main thing the advanced skiers hit were mogul runs. The area I grew up skiing (Steamboat) only had one chute. We stuck to the bumps. Out here the snow conditions (way too heavy) and the terrain has me out of my element.

Only skiied North Star once. It was pretty crowded, but I had a good timr. From the comments in this thread it's kinda sounding like the Linda Mar of Tahoe. Much loved by the lovers, much hated by the haters.

I actually think that's a pretty good analogy, @tracey. If you know the spot, you can score, but most folks pooh-pooh it b/c they haven't spent enough time there. Of course, the funny thing is I'm one of the biggest Lindy pooh-pooh'ers.

@deetr0n
what are talking about surfing is free? Its not @ob, one has to pay the price to surf the good days.

BTW isnt this a surfing rant to?

SlopeReport

@deetrOn - I was the photographer on that one. Sick knee to thigh deep blue bird powder day last March at an undisclosed stash. 20 minute hike from lift access. First group down.

@kooktastic - I worked Mammoth for two seasons back in the day. One season I bused tables on the sun deck of the mid ######. We used to love to watch the tourons slide down chair 23. I did it myself one day. Never found one my poles, season pass, of sunglasses.

Boarding/ Skiing can be relatively cheap if you do it right. Ski lease, season pass, carpool, and pasta.

@Tracey - agreed that Northstar is the LM of Tahoe. If you show up at 11 on Saturday expect there to be a few people in the line (up)

We need a slopereport.. make it happen!

I'm serious about both sports and for me surfing actually costs more! One surf trip to the tropics easily costs more than a season pass/condo lease combo.

As for Northstar... it doesn't have the steeps like Kirkwood, Squaw, or Alpine, but it's park and pipe scene are world class. Lots of pros ride Northstar, guys like Shaun White have competed there, and Northstar is featured in plenty of videos and magazine shots. Many of the features in the park (not to mention the 20' pipe) require riders with serious skill. Yes, it's crowded, but the snowboarders there are far from kooks (no comment on the skiers).

In my opinion Heavenly is the Linda Mar of Tahoe.

Surf or Die ;-)

@deetr0n not my sleds. My friend in Truckee owns them. I never liked the idea of snow mobiles and then I tried them and hated them more. It's called Snow-mo-digging b/c you spend the whole time digging the thing out of a ditch. I don't like the noise or the smell. It's also really hard and dangerous to access steep, exposed terrain. Every time I got off it I was like, "Thank god for the relative safety of a rock lined 45 degree chute." People do incredible things on snow machines but I think it's better as a sport unto itself. Skiers have fantasies about easy powder on snow machines and it's a myth in my opinion. You're very limited in where you can go, how many people can go and then someone has to run shuttle. Unless you have two sledders and two skiers you have to leave someone alone which is bad for avy safety. It's something everyone should try once, but I'm not going again.

Bend riding for 20+ years. The last 10 at kirkwood which will continue this season. Would definitely be game for sharing a ride to Kwood mid week. I am recently unemployed so have ample time on my hands. Unfortunately, I snowboard a lot better than I surf, but love both. Hoping to balance the two out now that the man isn't cramping my game.