Fun at Northstar....

Midweek at Northstar

I think I worked 9 weekends in a row before I realized it was time for a break.  I've been busy building and improving the McKay Brothers new high-speed network and I think forgot how much fun it was to to take time off.   I decided to take a day off this week and headed for Northstar at Lake Tahoe.  The weather in the Bay Area has been clear and sunny all week so I knew I was in for a "blue sky" day in the mountains.

I haven't been to Northstar at Tahoe in many years.  The last time I was there was with Elena's brother Andrei and we had a good time.  Last year I read the resort at Northstar was recently purchased by Vail Resorts and the company put a bunch of money into the mountain.   Hyatt and Ritz Carlton both have beautiful resorts at Northstar and the views are spectacular.   I knew I was in for a treat.

I hoped on the "Bay Area Bus" at the Rockridge BART at 5:30am Thursday morning and was on the slopes by 9:30am.  I was so excited to snowboard I must have done 10-12 runs before I looked at my watch.  It was almost noon and I decided to stop for a cup of coffee and a breakfast bar.   Northstar has this neat mid-mountain restaurant with lots of outdoor seating.  It was a great place to stop, enjoy my first cup of coffee and soak up some mountain sunshine!

The best part of going to Lake Tahoe midweek is the crowds.  That is... there are NONE!   It was a clear sunny day, there was plenty of snow on the mountain and there were very few people.  The lift lines were short (less than a minute) and I felt like I had the slopes to myself.    Northstar must get crowded on the weekends because you could tell it was set up for long lift lines.  There were 4-5 different lines... one for "Fast Pass" skiers, one for "Private Lessons", one for "Group Lessons" one for "Ski School" and another for "General Public".  Luckily I didn't need to worry about which line to get in... there was no line!

Honestly... look at the photo above.  How many people do you see skiing?  I see two... maybe three and they're at the bottom of the photo in the middle of the run.  It doesn't get much better than this!  It was nice to enjoy the scenery and not worry about the skiing around the people in front of you.  Elena told me she would pick up skiing and/or snowboarding again if she could ski in these conditions! 

Midweek at Northstar in Lake Tahoe...  I think this is one of the best ways to get away from the crazy lives we lead!  I look forward to my next trip!!