NZsnowboard.com

13th February 2008

Text, Photos and Video: Dave Nurse

Hey,
So my second report is Alpine Meadows. A sweet resort that was more of a comparison to somewhere like Cardrona. It was cool to check out because it had more of an underground vibe and was full of terrain that took longer for the locals to track out. It also has a mint terrain park, but unfortunately again our timing was off and we missed out on riding it at full potential due to all the new snow.


Chilling at Alpine

It is located between Truckee and Tahoe City. It has a massive rep as the mountain with the most accessible back-country terrain. True to its word we found several runs that rode down to highways and access roads in the area. It is also just one Valley over from Squaw which gave us similar but more varied terrain.


A view from the top of Alpine

Accommodation:
Unfortunately due to where the resort is located it didn't have anything at base level to stay at. The closest options are Tahoe City with a heap of Motel, Hotel, and Home stay/Lodge options. Or Truckee which is further away but holds very similar if not more options than Tahoe City.

Transportation:
Same deal as Squaw...
Not much scope for getting the bus regularly. Your optimum would be getting a rental car as the public transportation takes a bit longer. 1 bus every hour to each desired destination on the hour till 11:30pm so its fully recommended to get there 15 minutes before time. You meet a lot of locals, some of which are pretty out there!

We just hitchiked everywhere. Most people will pick you up and they love Kiwis. Easy to get around and majority of the time people go out of their way to help you out. Its just as easy to hitchhike as to get the bus. So keep it in mind.


Dave Nurse with a 1 footer over the beginners magiv carpet

Restuarants/Food:
The two towns are over run with diners, restaurant chains, cafes, and supermarkets to stock up with good produce. Definately look into shopping and stocking up. We did this at "Save Mart" a local Cali chain that offers everything at a discount price. But if it wasn't on the shelf good luck getting it, a downfall of shopping there.

The other option was "Safe Way" another chain that offered a discount card. Sign up for free and gain massive cash back discounts. It had more frequent stock but less stores in comparison to Save Mart.

A spot that we stopped at a lot was at the turn off from the highway to Alpine Meadows. It was a cafe/restaurant called "The Crest". It had these amazing bagels (salmon, cream cheese and avocado) being the choice, and all sorts of American style food. It also had a license for beer and you can score it sometimes at only $1.50 a handle. Definitely check it out if you can.


Roadclearing at Alpine Meadows

Overall:
Sick terrain, dope park and good base facilities. Nice people and good snow. Location a downfall but real good vibe. Overall I gave it a 7 out of 10. Now if you read my last blog you'd be saying "what are you thinking"! But the reason for the slight rise is due to the style of this mountain. Similar to back home with more snow, the park again was not in full flight but I found it to be a good flow and had a separate lift for access. Not to mention a real good vibe.

Its really sheltered and offers really good on and off piste shredding. Also it gave us a chance to take time and explore the different bowls and terrain on hand.


Big thanks to the Alpine Meadows Marketing team. Rachael and Deanna thanks heaps for putting up with us not having a phone for contact and all the support you gave us. Make sure you check out www.skialpine.com to check out the trail map, pics/vids, and any info you need to gather.

Also thanks to the people who help make this possible:
Burton Snowboards - www.burton.com
Anon Optics - www.anonoptics.com
Skull-candy - www.skullcandy.com
Quest - www.queststore.co.nz

Im just chillen in San Francisco International about to bridge the gap to Japan. So hold tight for the next check out. until then.

Peace out,

Dave Nurse