Yesterday the chickiebabe and I took the Ski Bus up to Tahoe!
I continue to be surprised by the number of locals who are unfamiliar with the ski bus. Here’s the deal. This outfit runs regular bus rides up to Tahoe during ski season. You show up at some meeting place at an unmentionable hour of the dark morning, clamber on a nice tour bus and immediately fall asleep. Some hours later (four, if the roads are clear) you wake up, break fast with bagels and juice and yogurt and the like. Eventually, you show up at one of the Tahoe resorts (they vary which ones they go to) and ski all day. You meet back at the bus around 4:00 for the ride back home. They play movies on the micro TVs that tour buses have, but a fair number of people seem to sleep on the way back. The bus ride and lift ticket combined costs about $100. It’s a convenient way to do a quick day trip to Tahoe. Plan on calling in sick one day and giveit a try. Their URL is http://www.bayareaskibus.com/.
So, we met the bus at 4:00 am (gahh!), climbed aboard and tried to fall asleep as quickly as possible. The roads were very clear and we unloaded at Heavenly around 9:30 a. The skies were bright blue with barely a cloud to be seen. After dealing with equipment rental, we took the first quad lift up the mountain, and then another baby lift to try the first green run of the day.
I first learned to ski when I was 30, almost exactly nine years ago. (Sheesh, I’m old!) After nine years, you’d think I’d be pretty good at it. But, I was thinking about it on the bus ride up; I probably haven’t been skiing in the past four years, and most of the years before that I only got up to the slopes one day all season. One day a year is a lousy way to get better at any sport. So, I was approaching the slopes with considerable apprehension. That first green run felt a little shaky, but doable. The second run was about twice as good, and the next was even better. I was thrilled with how quickly it all came back to me!
I had every intention of being a wuss and staying on the green slopes all day. I have very little desire to push the edge and risk bruises, breaks and contusions. But we took one lift up towards a green run and took a wrong turn which lead to a blue run that went all the way down the mountain to where we first started. I had trouble with one particularly steep spot, but otherwise I did the run really well. Most of my troubles tend to be psychological; I get stopped at the top of a steep run and completely psych myself out. If I just kept moving, I handled everything fairly well.
We took a couple of breaks during the day, for fluids, a bit of food and to remove boots and let our feet uncramp. I swear, the first person who makes truly comfortable ski boots will make a fortune. I think half the popularity of snowboarding is attributable to the fact that those boots are so much more comfortable. For some reason, all of the eating establishments we saw during the day had outdoor seating only. The alpine breeze was cold enough to keep us mostly bundled, but the bright blue skies meant I caught a minor sunburn on my face. At one deck we stopped at, I was amused to see a crowd of older, heavier men, all on their cell phones.
Skiing during the week days is just the best! No lift lines, no crowds! Lots of soft snow, open runs, sailing down the mountain.
Towards the end of the day, we took the gondola back down to the main lodge to get a drink and find the tour bus. We shared the gondola with the ski patrol, who had an older woman on a sled. I squatted down to ask her how she was doing and if she needed any help contacting anyone. Turns out she was 58 and had been skiing for the past 40 years. She was on her last run of the day and took an awkward fall. She and the ski patrol seemed to think she had broken her hip. I felt so bad for the woman. I’d rather break just about any bone in my body before suffering a broken hip. On the way down a teenaged girl in the gondola was complaining loudly about how long she had been looking for the gondola and her friend wouldn’t help her and that had just messed up her afternoon so badly! I thought seriously about pointing out that the 58-year-old woman on the sled with a broken hip wasn’t complaining a tenth as much, and that maybe she should shut the hell up. But instead I bit my tongue and tried to think positive thoughts for the poor woman.
We eventually got the rental equipment returned, and had a drink or two. A word or two about Heavenly to wrap this up. Heavenly is the biggest resort in Tahoe, and the main gondola up the moutain leaves from the middle of South Lake Tahoe, right next to the casinos. I’ve always avoided it in the past, because it seemed to attract the biggest crowds. But, I was pleased by the lack of crowds (did I mention that skiing in the middle of the week is just the best?), and the number of runs for scardy cat skiers. However, the place feels horrible disorganized. The signs towards the lifts often don’t give enough of a clue whether you’re approaching a green run or a double-black diamond. There’s also a serious lack of direction to the equipment rental, or the rental return, or even where to find lockers for stashing your gear. All the stuff is there, but finding it is a huge pain. Oh well, I hate to harp on it, because all of that ended up being very minor annoyances on an otherwise fabulous day.
The ride home was uneventful and the movies pretty forgettable. We didn’t get home until around 10 p, which meant we were pretty exhausted. But, it was a great day overall and I’m very eager to go up again this season. As long as it’s not one of the weeks where I’m cramming for a chem test (every other week). 🙂