2010 Ski Season: Day 19-Heavenly

Location: Heavenly
Date: 3/27/2010
Conditions: variable

Groomer day at Heavenly. Lots of business travel. Nicely groomed in the morning, slushy in spots.

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2010 Ski Season: Day 6-Heavenly

Location: Heavenly
Date: 1/10/2010
Conditions: Variable

On Sunday, we were joined by Laura who was out for her first day since a nasty spill at Heavenly last year. Again, we hit the gondy first thing in the morning. This time, however, we needed to pull some shady steps to cash in two more Warren Miller Dynasty vouchers she had scored on Craigslist. Since we had already used ours, we neede two straw men to complete the transaction. Enter Michelle and Jimmy. We dragged them out to the mountain that morning but we faced on additional problem: no printer access at the cabin. A few well-placed phone calls later and we found ourselves at the Harrah's business center paying $1.50 per page to print the vouchers plus a $10 minimum usage charge. Oh well. Still saved a ton of money in the process. More on the money aspect later, this is South Lake Tahoe and we're at a casino after all.

Like Day 5, we spent most of our time on the Nevada side cruising blue groomies. The place was much less crowded giving us a greater chance to lap runs.

We also checked out Perimeter which was in pretty bad shape. There was a nice flyover by some fighter jets as we dipped lower down the mountain and found bare spots and exposed gravel. Having thoroughly explored the Nevada side, we headed back to California for Sky Express laps. The snow was in decent shape and I finally found my turning groove. It feels weird to make progress on an off day just goofing around but I'll take what I can get. I found that by turning my hips and really letting the skis whip around I was able to get a better carve with less energy. Who knew?

As the day wound down we connected with our snowboarding brethren and headed back down the gondy. In the ride down, the bets placed that morning during the printer expedition came to light. Our group had put down a significant series of bets on the Green Bay Packers. Growing up in Chicago a rival of the Chedheads, I kept quiet. As we returned to Fire and Ice, I whispered to Jodi that I was not rooting for the Packers.



As fate would have it, the game went into overtime after a flurry of lead changes during the apparent defensive-less fourth quarter. On the fist drive, the Green Bay Quarterback threw a partially blocked pass which he then kicked into the hands of a defensive lineman who returned it for a touchdown. What a bizarre play.

We headed back to the Tahoe Keys for a scrumptious dinner followed by the possibly the worst board game play in the history of board games. Cards were literally thrown into the fireplace. For those of you considering a harmless game of Taboo, get the anniversary edition please.

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2010 Ski Season: Day 5-Heavenly (Plus MC Hammer)

Location: Heavenly
Date: 1/9/2010
Conditions: Variable

This was my first trip to Heavenly in two seasons. Some friends organized a birthday cabin trip to South Lake Tahoe for a long weekend. We loaded up our car and headed to Oakland to head up Friday afternoon. Our two friends board while we both ski. That made for an interesting packing process with five Dakine bags, boots, food, and games. Our hosts wanted to strap our gear to the roof of their VW Toureg. I was not having it. We folded down the seat to save our gear from getting ripped off the roof through the mountain pass.

We got the the Tahoe Keys Friday night and discovered an awesome rental cabin right on the waterfront. We hit the Fire and Ice at Heavenly village for dinner. The place is a ton of fun. Drinks were 22 OZ's. After three of these, I spilled raw fish into the buffet line's Alfredo sauce bin.

The next morning we headed out by 9 AM. We scored some free lift tickets from Warren Miller's Dynasty premiere.

The place was jammed. All the lines were long. Skiers and boarders dotted the slopes like human pylons. One of our skiers got separated from the group after missing a turn, a common problem at Heavenly.

We managed to get some great runs in over on the Nevada side including laps on Orion. Lunch was at the East Peak Lodge. After chowing down we lapped the blues on the Neavada side before taking the California Trial back to the Gondola.

After a trip back to the Keys, a quick shower, and wolfing down some pasta, Jodi and I headed back to South Lake to the Harrah's Casino where MC Hammer was scheduled to perform at 7:30.

Yes, MC Hammer, as in U Can't Touch This. You may not know MC Hammer is a social media expert. He gave the keynote speech at the Snowcial conference on snow sports and social media. We arrived to learn the concert was sold out. I had 6 extra tickets which I sold to the first 6 people in line.

The show was an absolute blast. Let me say this, MC Hammer still has all the moves and stage presence to rock the party. By the end of the show, Hammer had come out down the isle spitting rhymes right in front of us. He had over 100 people up on stage dancing and showing their moves for U Can't Touch This. My favorite performance of the night was Turn This Mother Out.

After the show, we headed back to the Tahoe Keys for some R&R. I was so excited about my MC Hammer photos I couldn't wait to get them uploaded.

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