18 posts tagged “heavenly”
So with the regular mountain biking I've been doing, I was feeling pretty good about my ability to keep up with others. Until this evening. I was invited to ride up Roundabout, a beginner trail at Heavenly with a neighbor and some of her friends to see the sunset. It's a standing Friday night ride, and everyone rides at their own pace up the sandy fireroad to the top of Heavenly's Groove chair. It's a little over 1,700 feet of climbing from the Heavenly parking lot within a few painfully long miles. The views at the top are stunning. But the slog to get to it is akin to carrying stones up steep, sandy hills with every step forward resulting in two steps back. And it didn't help that every single person in tonight's ride is a ski instructor (at Heavenly, natch), which gives them magical powers riding up this grunt of a hill - I swear none of the broke a sweat and they were all singing the entire way up. I was dead last within 15 seconds, and I was definitely one of the youngest riders.
Truth be told the views on the climb up are breathtaking too, with more of Lake Tahoe visible around every switchback. The problem for me was that I was sweating so hard that I was essentially blinded for most of it. To top it off, I realized 3/4 of the way up that my hamstrings were screaming because I'd not extended my seat all the way - which for non-cyclists, is a sure way to crippling yourself.
The views at the top were lovely, and the descent was a fast fireroad of sand and hard switchbacks (yes, I was last on the downhill too. Call it a well-honed sense of self preservation, and a long-standing love affair with my brakes). But I realized that I am a singletrack aficionado, and while I'd climb that same elevation in a heartbeat on well-cut singletrack, I'm not so sure I'll ride Roundabout again anytime soon. But that might just be my sour grapes talking, seeing how I got smoked by a posse of ski instructors tonight.
This week Lake Tahoe finally received one of the epic storms that results in snow days, road closures and lots of snow shoveling. With 3-4 feet in a 24 hour period, and a storm total of around 8 feet, it's been a huge boon for the ski resorts, tourism industry and water supply. I'm pretty sure lots of locals called in sick yesterday, based upon the enormous crowd at the base of Heavenly's Gunbarrel chairlift. While I did pack my camera yesterday, I didn't take many photos, as I was too busy skiing the 3 feet of new snow. A few are below.
We're off to Mammoth tomorrow for a family ski trip. Heard that mountain got some snow too, so it should be a continuation of this week's fun.
It's been a smoky summer at Lake Tahoe, and the shifting winds and haze have made planning playtime a bit of a challenge. So when we saw that the weather was slated to be clear last weekend we agreed a longish mountain bike ride was in order. Since I'm not feeling all that bike-fit these days, N suggested a ride he termed as non-epic - ride the Tahoe Rim Trail from Stagecoach Lodge at Heavenly south west to Armstrong Pass and then head down to the lake and ride home - entirely on trails. The views are spectacular, with sweeping panoramas of Nevada at the beginning...
to wildflowers, gnarled juniper and murky lakes as we got farther along. As riding goes, it's not all that technical, just a lot of sand and quite a bit of elevation gain.
It ended up being around 28 miles with a mere 2,500 or so of climbing (this is not my definition of a non-epic ride). And while I surprised myself on all the climbs, by the time we hit mile 21 I realized that I was spent. And not all that interested in being in a bike saddle anymore, having spent nearly 6 hours in said seat. Let me tell you, getting off the bike when we reached the house was nearly as awesome as the hot shower right afterward. Nearly.
Life's taken a busy turn of late, and various obligations have put things like blogging on the back burner. That said, I'm hoping to resurface soon, with witticisms, new recipes and creative ways to humiliate the dog.
In the meantime, it's spring time at Lake Tahoe - sun, blue skies and mild temps. And with family up this weekend, I got to show them some of Heavenly's stupendous lake views. The below was taken from the top of the new high-speed Olympic chair.
After a weekend of snow, wind and grey light, the reappearance of the sun was uplifting. Especially as it reflected upon the 2 to 5 feet of snow that had fallen. It was to be a Heavenly day indeed. While there were a lot more tourists than locals at the ski resort today, we still found some quiet and untracked places. And even bumped into friends.
Stupidity reached level 11 by about noon, and after an idiot (male, natch) ran into me in the lift corral and then told me it was my fault, I decided that was a sign to get off the mountain. So I took the mutt for a cross-country ski in the meadow, handily forgetting that I'd be breaking trail for the first mile in what had turned to heavy, wet snow. And I'm wondering why my legs are so sore tonight..?
Another day of fresh tracks and powder in Heavenly's many acres of trees. Another day of vertical goodness and utter fatigue, thanks to the side country explorations we made with friends. While we had sunshine for the first time all week, apparently *another* storm is expected to arrive tomorrow, dropping another 1-2 feet of snow. However, I'm not sure where we'll clear it to, given the state of our snowbanks.
After a day off yesterday (between skiing, shoveling and spin class, I may have overdone it), I decided to join the BF at Heavenly for another morning of powder madness. While a 'mere' six inches had fallen, we knew there would be new terrain open, and hoped to find deep stashes. Call it the day of good timing. We arrived at Mott Canyon right when the ropes dropped, and it was fantabulous. Mott's steep runs plus the deep snow made me feel like I was in a controlled free fall all the way down. It's a better thrill than any roller coaster or mountain bike ride, and it's addictive. So much so that we kept going back, until I had to go back to work. N's still up there with his buddy - an off duty patroller - so I'm guessing he's found a lot more deep powder snow. Luucky!
It's not every day Heavenly boasts 33 inches of new snow on its forecast. I usually invoke the 6 inch powder rule, so this amount meant I *really* had to get out and ski. Unlike the first wave of the storm yesterday, this snow came in light and dry, making for lots of over the head shots as I danced down through the trees. On my powder skis, BD Verdicts, I ski exhilaratingly fast, and I got caught up in that speed the first few runs, until my legs let me know that such speed was not sustainable. So while I dialed it back, N and I were able to knock out 20,000 odd feet of vert in a little over three hours. All in powder snow.
I'm tired now. But in a good way.
And delivered me some fresh powder snow as a belated birthday present. Heavenly claimed six inches of new snow on their website this morning, and it was lovely, light and cold on the Nevada side. For some reason the California side of the resort had been pummeled with winds, reducing the six inches to an inch. It was still fast and fun though, and a much needed head clearing morning for me.
So much so that I may go back tomorrow. The benefits of living in a mountain town, eh?
Finding a whole stash of thigh deep untracked powder at Heavenly this morning, and having it to myself for the better part of the morning. And calling it a work day.
