The price of skiing: What’s a lift ticket cost today?
If you decide to take off right now and get yourself to a snowy mountain, how much will it co$t you when you slap your money down on the ticket-window counter? OK, the rules: One adult ticket, bought...
View ArticleSlope Dope Alert: Tahoe Snowboarder Jeremy Jones on TV tonight
Yes, tonight. At 9 p.m., California time, 60 Minutes Sports is featuring Tahoe’s gift to snowboarding, Jeremy Jones. It’s on Channel 576, Showtime. If you get it, you’ll want to watch. According to...
View ArticlePark ‘n pipe. Idaho ‘n Montana. Kidz ‘n demos. Secret Sloper. Truth about me.
Park & Pipe @ Heavenly The North Face Park and Pipe Open Series will make the fourth stop of the series at Heavenly Mountain Resort on March 13-15. This slopestyle event, which will be hosted...
View ArticleWill Bear Valley ski resort become a co-op?
A small group of skiers, homeowners and enthusiasts has announced that they want to buy Bear Valley Mountain Resort, a much-loved northern California ski area, and turn it into a cooperative called...
View ArticleWill Bear Valley go co-op? Part 2
The consortium that owns the Sierra Nevada ski area, Bear Valley, has put it up for sale. A group of homeowners and supporters want to buy the mountain and village, and turn Bear Valley into a...
View ArticleSki free, ski cheap. See history, see extreme.
Happy birthday, Ski free This just in from Diamond Peak… Birthdays only come around once a year, so all of our guests ski for free on their birthday. For those with birthdays that fall outside the...
View ArticleWhere to find great BBQ in Tahoe
Quiz time. Pencils poised? Here we go. Which of these places serves mouthwatering barbecue? Memphis Kansas City The Carolinas Texas The mountains of Lake Tahoe All of the above And the correct...
View ArticleWhat’s up? Snow’s up. Storm over Sierra.
After this dry, flake-starved, white-challenged winter, as March marches into April, snow has landed on Sierra slopes. For skiers—as well as water-drinkers, tooth-brushers, toilet-flushers,...
View ArticleThe road to Tahoe. Where to stop and where to go
Boards are waxed, vehicle’s packed, tank’s topped up — you’re on your way to Tahoe. But before you go, it’s time to share. Where do you stop for gas, for pit stops and for food? Share your...
View ArticleGoodnight, Sweetheart. Ski time’s passing, summer’s on its way.
It’s time to say goodbye. Goodbye to winter, goodbye to snow, goodbye to our favorite sport. At least for now. And for me, it’s time to say goodbye to you, at least for now. It has been not just...
View ArticleEastern Sierra Ski Safari: Slope Dope ventures off the beaten path for the...
With Christmas in the rearview mirror, and New Year’s bearing down upon us, Slope Dope packed up the Subaru and took off on a last-minute ski safari that ventured onto some roads less traveled for the...
View ArticleSierra snow on the way: Slope Dope helps you navigate another dry year
Snow’s a comin’ to the Sierra this weekend, which is news in this, our fourth winter of droughty discontent. Like the three seasons before this one, it looks like we might get a little relief at the...
View ArticleStunning skiing, John Steinbeck and Monterey sardines
We’ve talked about cold. This time, warm. Warm and skiing. Warm and Steinbeck. Warm and sardines. But first, how are our mountains looking so far this season? In a word … stunning. Abundant fluff on a...
View ArticleBest and worst mountain names (the best is 33 minutes away)
What are North America’s worst-named ski mountains? Here’s a hint: Most of ‘em start with a B. Right. Here we go: Brighton, which sounds like a failed English seaside resort. Bogus Basin, which sounds,...
View ArticleAmazing grace, glorious snow, and the fear that dare not speak its name
BACK IN NOVEMBER, when the media were filled with El Niño and all the glorious snow it was gonna bring, I harbored a fear. It was a fear I never spoke, lest the snow gods would hear and make it come...
View ArticleWork or play? The 300 Club and other inducements to play hooky
I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again: Work is overrated. Skiing is impossible to overrate. Especially in a season like the one we’re wallowing in now. Ullr and the rest of the snow gods are smiling...
View ArticleWhy ski? Could it be the beauty part?
Why do you ski? I’m guessing it comes down to one of three reasons: The thrill. You like going fast down a snow-covered mountain on a couple of boards or a plank with steel edges. Snow play. The idea...
View ArticleWhat’s new, Sno-Cat?
IF YOU’RE AS WEAK-WILLED as I think you are, you’ll soon be leaving honest work behind and heading to the snowy peaks of the High Sierra. Doesn’t mean you’re not a nice pers— uh, maybe a shallow,...
View ArticleMarch Miracle: True or false?
SOMETIMES I JUST CAN’T figure out what’s going on. This is one of those times. Are we experiencing a March Miracle or are we slogging through Sierra Cement? Are the resorts bathed in sunshine or...
View ArticleIt’s spring, and you did WHAT?
Wait. You did WHAT? You put away your skis and took out your golf clubs? You did that now? No, no — not on my watch. Ah yes, it’s my regular rave against the other March Madness — quitting skiing...
View Article
