Last weekend, Cam and I drove up to South Lake Tahoe for a couple days of snowboarding and escape. Tahoe is too far from us for a one-day there-and-back trip. But it’s close enough (~4 hour drive, sans traffic) for a weekend getaway. It was Cam’s first attempt at boarding. I say, she did remarkably well given her lack of any prior experience skateboarding or surfing. She even skated off the lift a few times without falling (no small feat, for those who haven’t tried snowboarding yet.) She came home quite sore and bruised in a few places. But I think enough of the bug was caught that she’ll be willing to try it again soon.
I’d just like to leave one note for anyone else planning to board or ski at Heavenly in South Lake. Do not rent your equipment from Heavenly Sports on the mountain. I repeat, do NOT do this. That is, unless you like waiting in line for up to two hours, only to get inside and deal with the chaotic process of renting from the most unorganized team of rude, clueless “equipment specialists”. We made this mistake once, but we won’t make it again. The equipment is old; the specialists lack any knowledge in proper adjustment of basic bindings. It’s pretty bad when the instructors employed by the same resort advise all of their students to avoid the mountain rental shop at all costs. Instead, either rent locally and drive up with your gear. Or rent at any one of the small shops closer to the lake. Or get your gear from the Burton demo shop in front of the California lodge. Just don’t plan on renting anything from Heavenly.