# Tahoe area advice



## philadendron (Oct 21, 2011)

Planning a Tahoe trip for the weekend of December 2nd. A couple questions:

Is it too early in the season to make it worth it? Will the snow be decent?
Someone mentioned I should rent an AWD vehicle or there's a chance they won't let me up into the passes to get to the resorts. Should I make sure I rent an AWD, or will any SUV type vehicle do? Don't wanna get all the way there and not be able to get to the resorts.

I will have two full days of riding. My idea is to hit Squaw for one day, then maybe a local place the other day, maybe Homewood or Diamond Peak. What do you guys think?


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## neednsnow (Nov 30, 2007)

philadendron said:


> Thats a little early, and the resorts will have just opened up. The past couple of years they have had anywhere from 30 to 120 inches of total snowfall by Dec 3rd. Check out the Snowfall tracker.
> 
> 
> Homewood is supposed to be beautiful, so worth checking it out...if there is snow.
> ...


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## philadendron (Oct 21, 2011)

Thank, the snow tracker will be a useful tool. If you have a 4x4 but no chains, will they let you up, or do you have to have chains?


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## Psi-Man (Aug 31, 2009)

Mt. Rose would be in better shape and more preferable to Diamond Peak if there's snow IMO.


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## killclimbz (Aug 10, 2007)

90% of the time you can get through with a 4wd. I believe there are conditions that CalTrans requires you to have 4wd/Awd and snow tires or chains. Then there is R5 which means you have to have AWD/4WD and chains. If they are letting you through with R5 conditions, it's not really worth it and the roads are going to close shortly anyway. Usually they close before that, but maybe 2-3 times a decade they'll let you through on that. True white knuckle driving no matter what you are in.


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## neednsnow (Nov 30, 2007)

I think it depends on the road and the conditions. I've seen "Chains or Snow Tires" (i.e. no 4wd required) and I've seen "Chains or 4WD" (no chains required on 4wd). I do believe there is a higher restriction of chains on all vehicles, but I don't know how often that is used.


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## killclimbz (Aug 10, 2007)

neednsnow said:


> I think it depends on the road and the conditions. I've seen "Chains or Snow Tires" (i.e. no 4wd required) and I've seen "Chains or 4WD" (no chains required on 4wd). I do believe there is a higher restriction of chains on all vehicles, but I don't know how often that is used.


Only with R5 conditions. Chains and 4WD required. It's not used very often. They are more likely to close the road, but on rare occasion they go with roads being open under R5.


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## philadendron (Oct 21, 2011)

So you guys think I should rent an SUV since maybe there's a better chance it'll have snow tires at least on it, or would anything I rent in the Reno area have snow tires?


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## killclimbz (Aug 10, 2007)

I'm not sure if they put snow tires on any of the rental fleets. You'll have to ask them. If you can't get a vehicle with snow tires, try to get a 4WD or AWD model.


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## wvbms (Apr 16, 2010)

If there is any snow in the forecast for the days you'll be driving, I would def. go with a 4wd SUV. 95% of the time the chain control sign reads "Chains Required - 4x4 w/ Snow Tires ok". Basically if you are driving a 4x4 the guy will shine a flashlight on your tires and as long as they have tread, they will let you through. However, Mt. Rose Highway (which is what you will take from Reno if you are going to the North Shore) may have tighter restrictions from time to time if it is really dumping. I think that would be a rare scenario, especially for early Dec. 

Here is a good site for Tahoe weather forecasts: Tahoe Weather Discussion - No Hype Lake Tahoe Weather. This guy is pretty accurate, and unfortunately right now he is predicting a late start for the winter, an early finish, but a good bit of snow Jan-Mar.


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## killclimbz (Aug 10, 2007)

Then again, being California, you are going to know if you are going to have a chance of driving in a storm. The weather is pretty easy to forecast there. If snow is in the forecast go with the 4WD, if not, I'd say save some bucks and just get a 2wd model.


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## philadendron (Oct 21, 2011)

Thanks for everyone's help, can't wait to get up there.


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## KIRKRIDER (Mar 18, 2008)

philadendron said:


> Planning a Tahoe trip for the weekend of December 2nd. A couple questions:
> 
> Is it too early in the season to make it worth it? Will the snow be decent?
> Someone mentioned I should rent an AWD vehicle or there's a chance they won't let me up into the passes to get to the resorts. Should I make sure I rent an AWD, or will any SUV type vehicle do? Don't wanna get all the way there and not be able to get to the resorts.
> ...


Last season my first day was November 24th...with 2 feet of fresh. Yes AWD is always better on snow. Wasting 30 min to chain up and then travel at 15mph is not the best solution.


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## pmetz (Sep 15, 2010)

Check out the rental places in Reno. If any of them rent a Subaru, I'd go with that. I'm up at my family's place on Donner Lake often during the winter riding squaw and the other north shore resorts. Subarus are AWD and the CHP are generally looking for the "M+S" logo and the tread on them. As for resorts, I love squaw, but also hit up Alpine Meadows with my cousins who live in Reno. Never been to Homewood yet, but Mt. Rose is great if there is fresh snow and the whole mountain is open. Northstar is also a fun bet on a weekday (less crowds) if there is snow. Not sure however how the snow is going to be early December. I normally go up around Jan-Feb.


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## cocolulu (Jan 21, 2011)

December 3rd is a bit early. Squaw is shooting for end of Nov., and Alpine is going for Dec. 10.

Homewood is nice for the views, but it's pretty small, and at least as I remember it, it's not really wide open bowls or terrain. Homewood and Heavenly (way on the south side of the lake) are the best places for views.

If you like doing terrain parks, Northstar is nice. They have loooong runs, but most of them are short drops followed by rather extensive greens (thus the name, 'flatstar').

I would recommend Squaw and Sugarbowl if you want both decent size resorts and terrain (and you're staying on the north side). Pick Homewood only if you want to do a chill day, just enjoy the views, and don't mind a small resort. Mt. Rose is also really fun.


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## surfinsnow (Feb 4, 2010)

First, why risk getting stuck? Get an AWD. It'll already have the red-dot M+S tires that Cal Trans looks for, and if you've never driven across the road from Reno to North Lake Tahoe, you'll be thankful for the peace of mind. Some freaky-ass roads out there! 

Second, I recommend Homewood. Mt. Rose and Alpine are both great, but if you've never been to Tahoe, Homewood will blow your mind. Yeah, it relatively small, but it's got lots of glades and steep stuff (in fact, there are only two green trails on the whole mountain), a big steep 55 degree bowl (unfortunately you have to make a short hike to get to it) and it's quiet and one of the most beautiful places at Tahoe. You'll be stopping every five minutes to take pictures. If you don't care about that kind of stuff, Alpine Meadows is between Homewood and Squaw and has lots of wide-opeen terrain and big steeps. Parking sucks, though. Another reason I like Homewood...it's like pulling into a 7-11 parking lot and you can park right next to the lifts at either the north or south lots.


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## WasatchMan (Aug 30, 2011)

Wow, I really wished they enforced ANY of the 4x4/chains/snowtire rules here in utah. 

At MOST they will have some cop sitting in his car drinking coffee letting honda civics, toyota camrys pass by without a head turn. It's fucking ridiculous. especially when they're driving past you head on.


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