# Heavenly



## Kauila (Jan 7, 2011)

Going to be riding Heavenly this Presidents' Day weekend. Not my first choice of resort or weekend, but we're going with a group of people so it's already been decided :dunno: It will be my first time there, I usually like riding Sierra or North Lake Tahoe. I'm wondering:

--Will it be insanely crowded there because of Pres Day weekend or is the mountain large enough that people spread out?

--California or Nevada side?

--Suggestions for some good easy to moderate blue trails, either CA or NV side

--I hear a lot of complaints about the flat cat tracks there...are they really that bad for snowboarders? My son has the option of either snowboarding or skiing that weekend and he might opt to ski if it's too irritatingly flat on a snowboard. I'll be on a rockered snowboard.

Thanks.


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## sketcheroo (Dec 29, 2010)

I'll be there this weekend with friends. My friend was there this past weekend and the warm day temps with the cold night temps has made it extremely icy.

There are definitely some flat parts but if you maintain speed you'll be fine for the most part.


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## bbissell (Mar 8, 2009)

We just got back and all of us really liked the nevada side. If you do go to th cali sid there is a long cattrack back over that sucks.Find your way over to the dipper express or the comet lift lots of good blue runs right there! Have a killer trip!


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## Kauila (Jan 7, 2011)

Thanks for the advice! Now let's just hope that there's some decent snowfall between now and then.


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## vltsai (Jan 20, 2011)

Just went there last month - first big trip to a big mountain (only rode Bear, Summit, and Mt. High - from So Cal). LOTS of things going on, but AWESOME AWESOME AWESOME place.

First off, where are you gonna enter? Few options - California side, free parking, take the giant tram thing up and make your way over to Canyon Express or Sky Express. Then there's the Gondola - more crowded, but it'll get you into the middle of everything.

Depending on where you enter, you have a few options on where to go. Here's how my days went:

Day 1: Entered from the California side. Took the easy green over to the Canyon Express and Sky Express. If you're hanging on the far end of the California side, you'll be chillin here a lot. Canyon is a LOT less crowded but gives you a lot less access to the mountain - you're kinda limited to the right side, which has some nice blues which open up to some blacks (which aren't that bad either). Really fun, and there's a guy that takes pictures on one of the runs - you'll see him from the lift. He'll get you doing this:









(Me by the way...)

Anyway, did a bunch of those runs, headed over to Sky Express. Here's where I think the real fun began. It takes you up to the top, where you can take Skyline - which is a pretty flat run but honestly, I didn't have to walk it or anything...just rolled along. Hint: get a fresh wax before you go up. This gives you access to the Milky Way Bowl (black, mogul, but really, really fun if you're up for it), as well as access to Dipper, Orion, etc. If you go down the bowl, you end up getting dumped out at the Milky Way trail, which is an easy blue, and is (or was when I was there) SUPER empty. Eventually this will kick you out towards Perimeter and Galaxy, some really mellow but super fun blues. Now, keep in mind, from the top of Sky Express, it's a LONG ride down. Get stoked...you'll be on your board for a while (LOVED it). This is way on the Nevada side...so if you want to get to the California side you got some trekking to do. We took Galaxy over to Stagecoach (more blues), did a few of those, and made our way from Stagecoach to Dipper (some flats, no biggie). Dipper takes you up to the California trail, and you can take that back to the gondola - back to the middle of the park. California trail is a pretty long blue as well. If you take California trail ALL the way back down, you end up at Sky Express and Canyon Express. From there, we made our way back to the California parking lot - 2 ways to do this. You can lift it down on the tram...or you can take Roundabout. Bring your A game (you'll be EXHAUSTED by now), it's a long, windy Blue that can get crowded towards the end, and you'll already be tired. To get to this, take Mondo from where Sky/Canon is, and then take Patsy (green lift) and that'll spit you out at the top of a park. Follow the signs, peel right along the slope and you'll get there.

Day 2: Entered from the gondola side. Obviously more crowded, but we made due. First thing - hit Tamarack to take you to the top of the California Trail and ride that down to the Sky and Canyon. Repeat day 1 shenanigans! This time, we spent more time exploring the runs on the Nevada side cause here's what's awesome about them - GREAT mellow tree runs! Make your way to Galaxy again and you'll find Galaxy Woods. It runs right along the groomer so you won't have to worry about getting lost - just keep your speed and your wits up and you'll be golden. Feel free to explore, go on both sides, enjoy the scenery. We made our way back to Dipper to try out some of the Dipper runs - Dipper Bowl (black, moguls), Orion, Big Dipper, etc etc. Great blue runs, you'll kill them. Towards the end of the day we made our way to Sky/Canyon again to do some more Canyon runs. Also, if you go up to the top of Sky, you'll notice - to the left (facing UP the mountain) is the Skyline Trail, to the right...blue runs that spit you out towards Canyon! Really long if you combine them with the Canyon Express runs, so fool around on those. Here's where we made our mistake - turns out there's only 1 way back to the gondola. Well, I don't know if this is really a mistake cause it was one of the most enjoyable chill runs ever. To get back to the gondola from the Sky Express, take Skyline till it spits you out at Big Dipper. Take Big Dipper to the Dipper Express - I linked up with Orion to do this...it'll be obvious. Take the Dipper Express up to the California Trail, and take the California Trail back to the gondola. It's a LOT of riding, but don't sweat it - they'll have a line at the gondola, so it's no rush. Just get your ass back there!

Phew! I think that just about covers it! There's a LOT to the resort so try to get around and explore - there's so much awesome riding to be done.

Oh and what helps is having the trail map available to you on your phone - saved me a few trips!

http://holmdelskiclub.org/2011trips/images/Heavenly_trail_map.jpg

That's a link to a HIIIIGH resolution one.

Get out there and kill it!

Oh and if park is your thing, there's parks that branch off of the Canyon Express runs...so hang around there.


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## Kauila (Jan 7, 2011)

cool, thanks :thumbsup:


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## tahoe420 (Oct 29, 2009)

i live in south lake and ride heavenly a good portion of the time because its right in town. for presidents weekend definitely expect the crowds(asians love spending money lol). anyways....if i was you I'd ride on the nevada side if we get a good storm right before then, otherwise california side is where you'd wana be. for the past 2 weeks theres been some straight up death ice on nevada that my banana with magne traction couldn't even grip. we got 6 inches today but that did nothing to the 3 or 4 weeks of no snow and 40 degree weather. so ya it really just depends on the weather and what your trying to ride. fyi most of the parks are on the california side if your into that kind of stuff. and the worse cattrack is getting from california side to neveda off of sky express and if your going to ride down from the california side ask the liftys on groove chair how to take advanced roundabout(will save a lot of pushing) hope this somewhat helps


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## yusoweird (Apr 6, 2009)

tahoe420 said:


> i live in south lake and ride heavenly a good portion of the time because its right in town. for presidents weekend definitely expect the crowds(asians love spending money lol). anyways....if i was you I'd ride on the nevada side if we get a good storm right before then, otherwise california side is where you'd wana be. for the past 2 weeks theres been some straight up death ice on nevada that my banana with magne traction couldn't even grip. we got 6 inches today but that did nothing to the 3 or 4 weeks of no snow and 40 degree weather. so ya it really just depends on the weather and what your trying to ride. fyi most of the parks are on the california side if your into that kind of stuff. and the worse cattrack is getting from california side to neveda off of sky express and if your going to ride down from the california side ask the liftys on groove chair how to take advanced roundabout(will save a lot of pushing) hope this somewhat helps


And non-asians don't? I see, makes alot of sense...


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## tahoe420 (Oct 29, 2009)

yusoweird said:


> And non-asians don't? I see, makes alot of sense...


living in houston you obviously dont know what its like to live in a mountain town......especially one like tahoe where the east bay area is so close(asian population is huge)
know your facts before you start talking about something you have no idea about


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## yusoweird (Apr 6, 2009)

tahoe420 said:


> living in houston you obviously dont know what its like to live in a mountain town......especially one like tahoe where the east bay area is so close(asian population is huge)
> know your facts before you start talking about something you have no idea about


So it is a fact that asians like to spend money. Got cha! I am just messing with you dude, I really don't care. But that was a nonsense comment...


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## tahoe420 (Oct 29, 2009)

yusoweird said:


> So it is a fact that asians like to spend money. Got cha! I am just messing with you dude, I really don't care. But that was a nonsense comment...


sorry i live where people vacation...obviously i'd know what im talking about


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## sketcheroo (Dec 29, 2010)

Yes we do like to spend money  good observation


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