Northstar-at-Tahoe

Thank Your For A Great Season!

Well, farewell to you all.  This is the end of the winter season for Northstar Resort; soon we will be kicking the golf and mountain biking into full gear.  Don’t be a stranger this summer; we are a year round resort offering many different activities and events all summer long.  I’ve had a blast this year and I sure am hoping it was the same for you, so many great powder days, spring park days, and those cruising days were awesome.  I just wanted to thank all of you for reading the blog and riding here at Northstar.  I must say we do truly have one fine resort!  I hope to see everyone next season!

See ya at Sierra tomorrow,

Chris

Sunshine and Smiles!

We are winding down with only 2 days left for skiing and riding this winter season.  Thanks for the great year!  Get ready for some warm spring skiing, with highs this weekend actually reaching into the 60’s.  I would suggest making the majority of your turns between 9am and 3pm today and tomorrow, the skiing should be awesome during that timeframe.  Oh yeah, “Don’t Forgot Your Sunblock!”  Our Superpipe was cut last night, so you ought to check that out, especially on a day like today.  As usual the Terrain Park Crew is killing it with 5 groomed Terrain Parks with over 80 features, and that doesn’t even include The Stash!   Remember to grab your season pass before April 30th if you want to save $50 or so dollars, then just think you’ll be ready to go as soon as the snow starts flying next winter.  The Grooming Team also laid out 91% of groomable terrain overnight; that is a lot of corduroy.  If you drive a hybrid, we will give you free parking in the preferred parking lot as a thank you for caring about the environment.  So if you’re cruising one of those green vehicle, be sure to take advantage of the best parking at the resort.  I hope to see you up here today, I’ve really enjoyed updating this blog and I’ll talk to you again tomorrow, for the last day of the season.

See ya,

Chris

Only 6 Days Left!

Now is the time to get some spring ski laps in, especially since we are down to the last 6 days of this season.  It is sad to say we are almost at the end, I don’t think I’m ready to put my snowboard back in the closet for the year.  Today is looking like sunshine, sunshine, and more sunshine!  We could see a little weather the next few days, but a sunny weekend finale is in store for our closing days.  There is still time to get your $25 Tax Day Relief Tickets and your Earth Day 2-Paks.  Oh yeah, we are now offering some great specials on cocktails at the Day lodge and be sure to check out happy hour at the Overlook Bar after your ski day is over.  Oh yeah, remember our last day for the season is this Sunday, April 19th, 2009, but our Sister Resort Sierra is open through Monday.  The last day at Sierra is off the hook, I really recommend checking it out.  Sorry no video for you at this time, hopefully I’ll have one with my next update.    

See ya,

Chris

Snow Today, Sun Tomorrow!

8 inches has fallen in the last week with a few more inches expected today then clear sunny skies tomorrow.  It should be a great weekend up here at the Northstar with the Easter Bunny making guest appearance in The Village at Northstar and on the mountain.  There will be an Easter Egg Hunt at 11:00am followed by an Egg Toss at 4:00pm, a great way to spend the holidays with the family.  We are unfortunately winding down for the season with only 9 days of skiing and riding, now is your opportunity to get in at least one last hurrah.  I don’t know about you but I’m going out with a bang, at least 8 out of the 9 days left I’ll be on the hill riding.  You can’t really ask for better spring ski conditions right now, except for mountain of powder of course.  The trails are freshened with fresh soft snow, while the sun starts peaking out and clear just in time to make your Holiday Weekend a little better.  I’ll let you know what is going on towards the end of the day, be sure to check back.

See ya,

Chris  

Pond Skimming!

As I promised below is some footage from the 2nd Annual Pond Skim at Northstar™ Resort! It really was a good time; you’ll notice the crowd getting into it even more than the skimmers. We are counting down to the last days of this great winter season, don’t worry it is not too late to come get yours! You still have time to take advantage of the Double Whammy Season Pass, the best value in Tahoe. You get the rest of this season on next year’s pass, so now is the time to invest your next winter of fun. Just think; you’ll already have a season pass and be ready to rock the first day we start riding again. I’ve also included some of our session the other day after the Pond Skim, so I hope you have an extra 4 and ½ minutes to watch the video. It is my Friday so I’m taking off, I should have another update on Thursday.

Hope to see you on the hill,

 Chris

Spring Time is Good Times

The Spring It On event was a ton of fun for all the competitors and spectators, to say the least “very entertaining!”  The costumes were completely ridiculous; unfortunately some of the guys were down to their skivvies or speedos.  I mean come on now, seriously!  One guy was dressed up as a beer bottle, another as a clown, and the list goes on……I just put a business suit on and skimmed away!  I’m so glad I stayed dry because right before we started skimming the pond keepers were breaking ice away, I wasn’t about to fall in a pool of ice.  My favorite skim was by the guy who won the whole comp; sorry I forgot your name.  He actually made it across not strapped in at all.  Very Impressive!  I will put some of the footage in the blog tomorrow, so be sure to check back. 

If you come up here very often, you’ve probably been surveyed by our Snow Reporter, Stacey.  Yesterday was her last day of work for us this year, but I can guarantee you it is not nearly her last day of riding.  She has done a great job up here this year, I want to give her a big THANKS!  I followed Stacey with the digital camera on a few park features yesterday and is posted below, so be sure to click the picture.  We only got a few shots, but all of them are included, there were no crashes by Stacey so the editing was super easy. 

Be sure to check out the 5 day forecast, there is some snow coming in next week which will hopefully put our season total snowfall to the 400 inch mark.  That will be 50 inches more than our annual season snowfall average!  I think I’m going to put on some sun block and head on up Vista Express for some park riding.

See you up there,

Chris

A Nice Freshened Mountain!

3” of new snow is sitting on our summit last night, just enough to freshen everything up a bit!  I already took a few laps and the choice between groomers and a fresh blanket of powder is all over the mountain.  We didn’t quite get enough for the good powder tree skiing, but our 85 trails are really nice today and should be fairly soft all weekend.  Monday and Tuesday we are expecting even more snow, something like 6-14 inches by Wednesday.  Woohooo, More Powder!  The temps are going to stay cool meaning some of incredibly light snow in April, who would have thought?  The Superpipe was just recently re-built last week and is in really good shape, probably will be freshly cut tonight as well.  Come on people, it is not over yet!  

Tomorrow we will be hosting the Spring It On event including; pond skimming, live music and more!  There will be BBQ's at the Lodge at Big Springs and at the Summit.  This event is such a great time, I can guarantee you a few laughs from the skimming.  I’ll be out there, trying to keep myself from submerging in the pond.  I hope you can come join me!  If you need a little Tax Day Relief, you can pre-purchase a $25 lift ticket available online only and is also a first come first serve basis, so I recommend taking care of it as soon as possible.  I cruised out with my camera and a large group of friends, there were some good times at hand.  Click the picture below for a few shots, I was only able to edit the first few minutes out of something like 30 minutes of footage due to a few technical difficulties.  You might see a continual video throughout the week with my friends and I, so be sure to check the blog.  If you ride here much you might know a few people in this one including; Keith Rutherford, Fancy Rutherford, Dan Connelly, and me.  We met up with some other friends who should be in the sequel; sorry I didn’t get you guys in the first one.  Be sure to check back!

See you up there,

Chris

Spring Into Snow!

Blue clear sunny skies today and a good chance for a few fresh inches of snow overnight and tomorrow.  Just what the doctor ordered; a nice freshening of snow and with cooler temperatures following, the conditions should really hold up and maintain good consistency.  Monday through Wednesday is looking promising for an additional 6 to 12 inches with warming temperatures no where in sight.

 The temperatures will be staying right where we want them, meaning the variance between the lows overnight and the lows during the day will not be too extreme.  Basically this means, the grooming can be laid out really nicely due to the fact the snow doesn’t freeze, then thaw, and freezes again.  A great time to come up for some spring skiing!  Don’t forget this Saturday we are hosting the 2nd annual Pond Skim Event.  I can guarantee you this event will be loads of fun and extremely entertaining!  Be sure to check back for another update either tonight or tomorrow morning, there will be a video with myself and a few friends riding the parks.

Enjoy You Day!

Chris

Sunblock, Wax, And A Smile!

We are going into one of the warmer days of the season today.  Temps will be in the 50’s on the mountain and tons of sun.  3 words; “Bring Your Sunblock!”  These kind of spring days are my favorite, the snow becomes so pliable I don’t ever want to leave the Terrain Parks.  Bring a few buddies up for this beautiful Saturday because there is sure to be good times awaiting you.  Don’t be fooled, temps will start dropping this afternoon through tomorrow with increasing winds, so don’t forget your jacket even knowing you won’t be needing it today.  The forecast is saying to expect a high near 33 degrees, in my mind I’d say it will feel more like 40 degrees.  With that said, the sun will actually make the real temperature feel warmer, especially if you’re wearing a wind proof jacket.  I took a little bit of video from the ButterBox Highest Ollie event last weekend and caught a few people enjoying their day on Pinball yesterday.  You’ll see what I mean when I say, “from snow to sun in a single day!”  The conditions are most definitely springy, prime time for skiing and riding is between 10am to 3:00pm right now in my opinion.  Come on up and check it out, there are all kinds of discounted lift tickets available.   Shoot me a comment, let me know what you think!

See ya,

Chris

Spring It On!

I don’t know about you, but I do love spring skiing!  Of course the numbered powder days are what we look forward to, but the last month of spring park and groomer riding is always fun.  When the sun is shining and temps are mild there always seems to be a good vibe out on the hill, everyone is smiling and generally in a good mood.  Correct me if I’m wrong, but that seems to be contagious in this atmosphere.  It is a perfect time to cruise up with your friends to ski or ride the terrain of your choice; I don’t think you’ll find me outside of the parks because Northstar’s Terrain Parks are off the hook right now!  5 different terrain parks, a regularly cut Superpipe, and of course The Stash make for one sweet day on the hill.  Not to mention we are always hitting at least 70% of groomable terrain daily, way to go grooming team!  There is ample coverage and maybe a few hidden powder stashes as well, so again summer is not here, get your weekend ski plans ready!  Check out the photo provided by David Stillman and more like it, thanks David!

Spring it on is coming April 4th with our second annual Pond Skim!  Grab your favorite outfit or something completely ridiculous and come on out, let’s see your skimming skills.  I’ll be out there skimming the pond as well, come on out let’s grab some of the BBQ, a cocktail, and go skimming with a smile!  Oh yeah, Live Music will be going on as well, this event will be one you don’t want to miss.

Hope to see you there,

Chris