I went on my first ski trip this weekend to North Star Resort at Lake Tahoe. My friends and I have had reservations since last year and we ended up getting very lucky. A massive storm system has been pounding California and dumping loads of snow on Tahoe (something like 15 feet). The last few years have been pretty bad for snow so the roads and resorts were packed with people taking advantage of the great conditions. As for me, I’m familiar with snow from traveling, but this is the first time I’ve had extended exposure to feet upon feet of snow stacked up and even still falling. It was quite a treat for me.
The resort at North Star had a little village at the bottom and a base camp further up where the ski lifts started. It all looked like an movie set to me, complete with perfect snow and all the normal characters (snow bunnies, snow bums, and even tall, blonde, skiier guy). Meanwhile, it took everything I had not to jump in drifts and embarrass myself making snow angels. 
I initially planned to snowboard but ended up taking a ski class in the morning with one of the other guys instead. I skied (?) a few runs with the rest of our friends that afternoon. The other guys were much better than me but they were patient and helped me out a bit. I enjoyed myself immensely and it turns out skiing is a lot more fun than I imagined (loads more fun than water skiing). I thought I’d share the experience with you. I’ve posted all my pics on Flickr here, but here’s a few:
Here’s my first view of the mountains on the drive up.
Here are the roads near our cottage. This is why you can’t get to Tahoe (feasibly or legally) without 4-wheel drive, chains or both.
The cottage we stayed in, complete with snow, snow and more snow:
Here’s a wolf that was just hanging out in the parking lot where we went to eat one night. It was just chillin’ and didn’t bother us. This totally made my day. I wanted to get a picture petting the wolf, however the others assured me that this would be the beginning (and most likely, the end) of a grave mis-adventure.
Down on the left is the ski school where I took my ski class. They provide you with rental gear, a class and a day pass to the lower runs for a pretty reasonable price. We had a self-described “recovering CPA” named Steve teach us the basics.
Me putting on my boots. I’m showing you this so I can explain one thing; you have no idea what uncomfortable is until you have spent a day in ski boots. Imagine the fit you get with rental roller skates, make them 10 lbs. APIECE, add the mechanics of walking around in ice skates on dry land, then top it off by making them tight enough that you can’t move your ankle and you are just about there. I felt like I was wearing some sort of torture device. If I had only known what the boots wanted, I would have gladly given them that information.
A picture after my ski school. See how I look moderately confident? That’s a lie.
Here’s the resort base camp around lunch. It’s like a fun house of gear and ice exploded.
Here’s a pic from a black diamond run the other guys did. I think it was called “Burnout” or something equally imposing. I’m nowhere near that yet. I think all the runs I went on were called stuff like “Fluffy Fluffy Bunny”.
So, anyway, I had a great time and hope to go back. Highly recommended!