Category Archives: California, Lake Tahoe

Get ready for family fun and games during Kid-O-Rama at Squaw Valley

Posted on by
Reply

Squaw Valley’s Kid-O-Rama Kastle features four towers, three slides and four staircases. (Squaw Valley photo)

Big trucks, street parties, balloon animals, skating parties and kids’ concerts are just a few of the festivities for families taking place during Squaw Valley’s Kid-O-Rama.

From activities sure to entertain the littlest visitors to action-packed teen snowsports lessons, Kid-O-Rama offers non-stop fun for kids of all ages. Be sure to check out Big Truck Night in the Village featuring fire trucks, snowplows and grooming machines, as well as an outdoor kids’ concert and Dance Party on Ice at High Camp.

Using a chainsaw, tons of snow is transformed into the entrance for the Kid-O-Rama Kastle. (Squaw Valley photo)

New this year is the Kid-O-Rama Kastle, an enormous castle made entirely of snow that is located at the SnoVentures Activity Zone at the base of Squaw Valley. The 5,000-square-foot snow castle was built using 30,000 cubic feet of snow and features four towers, three slides and four staircases. The Kid-O-Rama Kastle is free to enter and is open daily from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., weather and conditions permitting.

Kid-O-Rama runs Feb. 15-23.

Families looking for the best deal to ski or snowboard during the Presidents week holiday period can purchase a Tahoe Super 4 Pack, which offers four unrestricted days of skiing and riding anytime this season for less than $83 a day for adults, $70 for young adults and seniors and $43 for kids with no blackout dates. Tahoe Super 4 Packs are available at www.squaw.com and www.skialpine.com, or by calling 800-403-0206.

Continue reading →

Sweetheart deals at Alpine Meadows, Squaw Valley for Valentine’s Day

Posted on by
Reply

Alpine Meadows and Squaw Valley are offering lodging deals and a host of fun events for Valentine’s Day. Both resorts also will be distributing “I heart Squaw” and “I heart Alpine” buttons all day on Feb. 14.

Lodging packages: Couples can book the Lake Tahoe Lovers’ Getaway package and get a three-night stay, two two-day adult lift tickets and a private, full-day couple’s ski or snowboard lesson starting at $195 per person/per night. The Lake Tahoe Lovers’ Getaway package can be booked Feb. 13-16 for Valentine’s Day, though it is valid for stays through April 28. Package is based on availability and is subject to change. Information: 800-731-8021, visit www.squaw.com

Scavenger hunt: Squaw Valley and Alpine Meadows will be hiding little red velvet bags around both mountains for all to find, weather and conditions permitting. The bags will be full of Valentine’s chocolates and candies, along with a few 2012-13 lift tickets. Scavenger hunt starts when lifts open at 9 a.m.

Singles on KT: Lift lines for male and female singles for those who want to meet their match on Squaw’s KT-22 chairlift. Lifties will be pairing up daring singles all day long from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Meet your match at Alpine: On Feb. 14 at Alpine Meadows, get a numbered sticker from guest services or from the lift ops at the Summit and Roundhouse chairlifts in order to find and meet your match. Keep an eye out for your matching number while you are skiing or riding, and if you find them, bring them to the Last Chair Bar to get discounted drink specials.

Super Sunday on the slopes: At Alpine, $49 for a lift ticket, then watch the 49ers

Posted on by
Reply

Alpine Meadows has great conditions, spectacular views and — on Super Bowl Sunday — $49 lift tickets to celebrate the 49ers playing in the big game. Liftopia and the resort’s website have more details on the special price. (Photo by Tom Zikas/Alpine Meadows)

In celebration of the San Francisco 49ers and Sunday’s Super Bowl, Alpine Meadows has $98 lift tickets for two people ($49 per person, good for Alpine only) available through Liftopia. After a day of skiing and snowboarding, settle in to watch the game at the Last Chair Bar.

Alpine and its sister resort, Squaw Valley, also are offering all passholders an opportunity to purchase two $49 friends or family lift tickets, valid on Sunday.

Alpine’s Super Bowl party game plan comes with food and drink specials and football squares. Buy a drink, get a square (maximum two squares per person) and cheer on your team. Prizes will be given at the end of each quarter. Food specials include $5 nachos and $5 wings at the Last Chair Bar. To learn more, click here.

Squaw is hosting what is being billed as the biggest bash in the Sierra for Sunday’s big game. Watch the 49ers battle the Ravens on a 16-foot by 21-foot, 49-panel jumbo screen at KT Base Bar. Festivities are planned throughout the day, including giveaways and promotions before, during and after the game. This event will be a major fundraiser for the High Fives Foundation. Click here for more details.

Information: www.skialpine.com

Shuttle between North Lake Tahoe ski/snowboard resorts — for free

Posted on by
Reply

A free ski shuttle is now ferrying visitors among nine North Lake Tahoe resorts.

The pilot program, which runs on weekends and holidays through March 31, aims to get skiers and snowboarders out of their cars and reduce travel hassles.

Participating resorts are Squaw Valley, Alpine Meadows, Northstar California, Homewood Mountain Resort, Sugar Bowl, Donner Ski Ranch, Boreal, Soda Springs and Royal Gorge.

For the schedule and details, go to www.laketahoetransit.com.

How many vertical feet did you cover? Kirkwood feature keeps skiers honest

Posted on by
Reply

Kirkwood Mountain Resort has installed the company’s first solar-powered radio frequency (RF) reader to enhance the guest’s experience with EpicMix, Vail Resorts’ proprietary online and mobile application that rewards users for challenges completed, lifts ridden, and days and vertical feet skied. The reader takes advantage of Kirkwood’s legendary hike-to, inbounds terrain, and is located in the Covered Wagon area of the resort, along the southeastern-most boundary on the backside.

“We have so much inbounds terrain here that is truly special, I think this remote reader is the perfect way to bring EpicMix to life at Kirkwood,” said Casey Blann, Kirkwood’s vice president and general manager. “Our visitors are some of the best skiers and riders around and we wanted a special way to recognize them for doing extraordinary things.”

There are two custom pins explorers can unlock at the Covered Wagon reader. The first is called “Pushing Boundaries” and awards the guest 200 points for reaching the reader for the first time. The second is worth 250 points and is called “CW10.” It is awarded for visiting the reader 10 times in one season. In addition to being remote, this reader is also unique in its user experience.

Unlike most EpicMix readers, which don’t require the user to do anything special to record data, guests must intentionally approach the reader and come within five feet in order to be read.

Continue reading →

Kirkwood is a favorite with skiers in Lake Tahoe

Posted on by
Reply

Kirkwood receives the most annual snowfall in the Sierras. (Photo courtesy of Kirkwood Ski Resort)

By Marlene Greer

Improving your skiing is all about taking a new skill and being able to use it on a smooth groomed run or a steep pitch. Especially if you’re zigzagging through trees or bounding through a gully.

And Lake Tahoe’s Kirkwood Mountain Resort has what it takes to get skiers and snowboarders moving across the mountain.

“What is brilliant about Kirkwood is the natural terrain of the mountain allows that natural progression to take place,” said Nick Brittain, a college student from New Zealand who was spending his summer break teaching at Kirkwood’s Learning Center.

The beginners’ terrain is a mix of wide groomed slopes of varying pitch, a set of funny bunny rollers, and little gullies with treacherous names like Ditch of Doom and Ditch of Gloom.

“We start at the magic carpet,” Brittain explained. “Our first aim is to move from the carpet to the chair lift, then from less gradient to higher gradient to off-piste. We build their confidence. What we love is involving different terrains and seeing skill level improve. Kids absolutely love those terrain variations.”

So do his adult students.

Continue reading →

Lil’ Air Kid’s Freestyle Competition set for Feb. 9 at Homewood

Posted on by
Reply

The Lil’ Air Festival is returning to Homewood. Geared toward kids 12 and younger, this event will take place in the beginner Happy Park and offers great visibility for parents. Awards will be presented for best trick, best fall, and other “award-winning” moves.

Both skiers and snowboarders are welcome, and registration begins at 9 a.m. at Homewood’s North Lodge the day of the event. Helmets are required.

Registration is $10 and competitors are eligible for a discounted $15 lift ticket. Bring the camera for this exciting and fun kids event!

For more information, visit the Snowbomb-Homewood Lil’ Air Event page.

Fly like a zephyr while snowmobiling at Lake Tahoe

Posted on by
Reply

38406-SH04-ZEP1.JPG

Photos courtesy of Zephyr Cove Resort

By Richard Irwin
Savvy Skier

Powering through the snow, we entered a washed out world of grays and off-whites. We felt as if we were riding in the clouds, which we were, cruising at 9,000 feet in the crisp, cold air of the High Sierras.

Some riders were disappointed that we wouldn’t be able to see the crystal blue waters of Lake Tahoe below us, but the surreal scenery made me glad that we had taken a day off skiing to try this snowmobile tour with Zephyr Cove Resorts.

The gray mist even muffled the sounds of the powerful snow machines. We glided silently through the High Sierra glades.

The towering pines looked like pieces of art, decoratively layered with crisp, white snow. It seemed more a dream than reality.

After a week of skiing and snowboarding in the many resorts around Tahoe, we were ready to try something different. Maybe even a little less strenuous to give our sore muscles a chance to rest.

Everyone agreed on snowmobiling, so we checked out the tours available from South Lake Tahoe and picked Zephyr Cove Resort. The tours leave from the resort, which is only four miles into Nevada from the state line.

Continue reading →

Squaw Valley plans Super Bowl viewing party for 49er faithful

Posted on by
Reply

By Jerry Rice

Even while Colin Kaepernick and his teammates were still on the field in Atlanta celebrating the San Francisco 49ers’ return to the Super Bowl, the alert went out: Squaw Valley is planning a big party for the big game.

Anthony Dixon of the San Francisco 49ers celebrates the team’s win over the Atlanta Falcons in the NFC Championship game. (Photo by Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)

Bring the skis and snowboards along with San Francisco 49er jerseys, join the largest on-mountain Super Bowl party and celebrate “one of the greatest football teams in the country and of all time,” the resort said in a release.

OK, so while the resort’s PR department may have been showing a little 49er fanaticism — and this Jerry Rice has no problem with that — the viewing party will be a benefit for a great cause: the High Fives Foundation.

Founded by Roy Tuscany and based in Truckee, Calif., the High Fives Foundation is dedicated to raising money and awareness for athletes who have suffered a life-altering injury while pursuing their dream in the winter action sports community. Information: www.highfivesfoundation.org.

Squaw will show the Super Bowl on a 16-foot by 21-foot, 49-panel “diamond vision” screen at the KT Base Bar, located at the base of the KT-22 lift. There will be festivities planned throughout the day including giveaways and promotions before, during and after the game.

“We couldn’t pass up this opportunity to celebrate, in the biggest way possible, the success of a football team that our customers are wild about,” said Andy Wirth, president and CEO of Squaw Valley and Alpine Meadows.

After today’s 28-24 win over the Atlanta Falcons in the NFC Championship game, the 49ers will be making their sixth appearance in the Super Bowl. The game will be played in New Orleans on Feb. 3.

For more information about the Super Bowl event at Squaw Valley, visit www.squaw.com or call 800-403-0206.

Sugar Bowl unveils its game plan for Sunday’s NFC championship

Posted on by
Reply

Sugar Bowl will be hosting a full-on football party on Sunday during the NFC championship game between the San Francisco 49ers and the Atlanta Falcons.

At the resort’s Judah Lodge, there will be two big-screen TVs, drink specials for Sugar Bowl Pale Ale beer, and a raffle that will benefit the Sugar Bowl Ski Team Foundation.

The lifts will be operating on Sunday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., so skiers and riders can spend the morning on the slopes, then head into the lodge for lunch and NFL action.

This is the 49ers’ second straight trip to the NFC championship game, and kickoff is at noon. The Baltimore Ravens meet the New England Patriots in the AFC title game at 3:30 p.m.

The atmosphere in Judah Lodge will likely have a strong 49ers slant, given Sugar Bowl’s popularity with skiers and riders from San Francisco and elsewhere in Northern California.

For more information, call 530-426-9000 or visit www.sugarbowl.com.