Heavenly
Saturday 5 April 2003

Weather

Conditions

Vertical (feet)

Story of the Day

Although the sun was shining when I went to get breakfast, there were ominous dark clouds and the top of Heavenly was shrouded in cloud.

Snowy Lake side	Snowy Lake side near the hotel
Threatening clouds	Snowy Lake side
Two lonely boats	The jetty near the hotel
Snowy tree on the beach	The Best Western Timber Cove Inn
Snow covered tree	The Best Western Timber Cove Inn
The Best Western Timber Cove Inn	Icicles from the hotel roof
Snow covered tree	Family fun in the snow
My rental car

By the time I was ready to ski, the clouds were almost gone and there was the promise of a really glorious day.

There are a number of ways to approach Heavenly, base lodges on both the California and Nevada sides and a gondola down to the casino area on the state-line. I chose the original California side and the Gunbarrel chair that goes up the eponymous imposing mogul run and then Waterfall to get high enough up the mountain to cross over to the main skiing areas.

There are magnificent views of Lake Tahoe from many places. On a day after a big dump of snow, the Lake is at its best. Maggie's Run faces straight down to the Lake.

Gunbarrel	Waterfall lift
Waterfall lift	Waterfall lift
The top of Maggie's run looking towards Lake Tahoe	The top of Maggie's run looking towards Lake Tahoe

Next were a series of harder runs from Sky Express and Canyon Express lifts, including short expeditions into trees off the side of High Roller.

Snow covered trees by the side of Ridge Run	Looking towards Lake Tahoe from the Ridge Run
Ridge Lift .. not in use	Looking across to Sky Lift and Skiways from Canyon Lift
Trees to the side of Betty's Bowl	Trees to the side of Betty's Bowl
Looking back to Lake Tahoe from Canyon Lift

Now it was time to move over to the Nevada side of the resort.

First time, I just about made across the state line and then cut off Skyline Trail to the left. At first it looked like a short cut through the trees, but then it was clear that the camber was taking the train down through the trees back towards the California trail. Normally, I would not attempt glade skiing on my own.

The alternative of hiking back was not very attractive and there did seem to be plenty of people around, so I carried on. In the end, it was the best run of the day, with plenty of space between the trees to make comfortable turns.

Sky Express Lift	The Nevada state line
The Nevada state line

This time I did make it over to Nevada side and the more challenging skiing in Mott Canyon.

Mott Canyon	Mott Canyon - Poor cover
Mott Canyon - Poor cover

After a break at the East Peak Lodge it wa back to skiing, starting with a couple of runs from Comet including some trees to the right of the Little Dipper trail before taking Dipper Express to get back to the California side.

The view from the top of Dipper Express

To finish the day, I decided to take the direct route down under Gunbarrel lift. This proved to be a very long and tiring run; the moguls seemed endless.

The view towards South Lake Tahoe from The Face	The view towards Lake Tahoe from The Face
Gunbarrel	Gunbarrel

Back at the hotel, the clouds had gone and people were having a great time in the snow on the beach.

Blue Sky over the Lake	Fun on the Beach
Lake Tahoe at its best

Runs

Last updated: 19th February 2007