Boarding at Squaw

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We arrived in North Lake Tahoe around 9pm.   We all had rooms at the Squaw Valley Lodge.  The lodge is at the base of the hill and right in the village -- what a great location.  Each room was like a studio apartment with its own kitchen, living room area and bedroom (all in one big room)  Great room.

After getting all sorted out we headed out to grab a drink and some small eats at the Verticle Lounge.  The Verticle Lounge has a ski lodge atmosphere.  Dan and Jenica arrived shortly after us and we all got to meet Dan for the first time.  After a drink or two we started to notice that a lot of the younger guys in the place kept their snow boarding jackets, hats and in some cases hoods on while in the bar.  They must have been really hot.  This just made for more people watching.  Great spot with good service at the bar and a really nice ski chalet atmosphere to it.

Sun, fun, boards and ice bars

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Saturday morning we got up early and got ready to go boarding.  It looked like a beautiful sunny day outside.  We had arranged to meet everyone for breakfast, so once we were ready we headed over to the Blue Onion. Great little restaurant with lots of choices.  Paul and Kristen were there.  They had arrived early the previous day and managed to get a good day of boarding in.  Paul did have a few scratches on him :)

After breakfast we hit the hills.  Paul, Jenica and Kristen are all good boarders so they headed off to the more difficult hills.  The weather was perfect.  Sunny, warm but not icey.  Francisco and Dan were taking lessons so they headed off to a different hill for their lessons.  Daph and I headed off on our own to the easier hills.  We had been boarding a few times over the last few years and had our turns down but had not progressed from green (the easiest hills) to blues.  After one run on the greens we decided it was time for the blues - where we spent the rest of the day.  Found a great run -- gold coast -- with fast chairs and very few people on the hill.  Daph and I had a great time boarding up and down the gold coast runs for the rest of the day (till late lunch anyway)   It also gave us lots of opportunities to test out the my new water proof camera.

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At around 2 we headed back to the challet for lunch.  Unforrtunately we were at two different challets (there are two lodges at the top of the hills)  Cell phones make it a lot easier to coordinate than it used to be and we were soon at the same Chalet.  Francisco and Dan had already staked out a big ice cube at the Ice Bar.  This is a bar that is outside made of ice.  The walls are made of big piles of snow to block the wind and the bar is literally made out of a big cube of ice. They also have a huge stereo system set up playing club versions of "California Dreaming" by the Mamas and Papas.  Needless to say the beer was nice and cold :)

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After our late lunch we all felt tired and pretty much called it a day.  We took the gondala back but Jenica, Kristen and Paul took the 3 mile trail from the mountain top chalet down to the base/village.  It was still nice and sunny when we  got back to the village  so we met up for another drink at a very popular outdoor pub.  They have a fire pit but their was no fire when we were there.  Very fun place with dogs playing in the snow outside and lots, and lots, and lots of people flowing out from the overcrowded patio.

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We then headed into the village for a little exploring and some curry fries at an irish pub in the village.  First time we had ever had curry fries but it won't be the last.  Then we all headed back for a little rest before dinner.

We had booked dinner at PlumpJack which as it turns out is right beside the lodge we were staying at.  PlumpJack is a very nice restaurant with a mellow atmosphere.  If it were located in New York everyone would be dressed up but in keeping with the casual ski lodge atmosphere everyone was in jeans and sweaters.  Dinner was amazing.

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On Sunday we got up early and had a quick breakfast hoping that we would be able to get in a morning of boarding before we had to drive home.  At  first it looked like the weather was going to be good but while we were drinking our coffee the waitress told us that the conditions were very bad on top of the hill.  We were sad but at least we had found out in advance.  A few minutes later she came back and told us that the conditions were good and that we should go.  We were both very happy about this but when we waked outside it had already started to rain -- not a good sign.  Then when we double checked at the front desk of our lodge they told us that the conditions were bad and that the top was closed.  Our hopes of boarding dashed we called James and Francisco to see if they wanted to meet for breakfast before we drove home early.   Later Jenica caught up with us at the Blue Onion.  She had was wet but looked happy.  She had gone boarding and said that it was fun :(

After breakfast we drove home.  Pretty straight forward drive till we were about a block from the house.  My truck started making strange sounds so we drove home and transfered to the car and drove the guys the rest of the way home.

All in all a great weekend!!