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You want to ski, snowboard and party at Tahoe, but you're on a budget. How can you afford some of the most outrageous winter fun close to the Bay Area without watching your bank account drop to zero? Ski tickets can cost over $50 per day. Renting equipment is around $30. Getting there, staying there, eating and drinking can run you $200 per day, easily. Out of the question, right?
How does a total of $50 per day sound? You want to stay overnight? How about $25 for a cozy cabin in the woods or $35 for one with a deck, spa and more stars than you can remember existed? All of this is possible, it just depends on how you want to travel.
A day trip to Tahoe can be cheap. If you have access to a car that can make it up the steep grades of I-80 bound for Reno and North Lake Tahoe or I-50 on your way to South Lake Tahoe, you'll pay $20-40 for gas and from $10-48 for a lift ticket. Don't worry if you're car less. The San Francisco Ski Bus (415-567-3263) will get you from San Francisco or the East Bay to a Tahoe ski resort and back again complete with lift ticket, continental breakfast, alcohol and snacks for $89. This is about the same or less than the cost of renting a car and driving up on your own. Plus you get to party on the way up and back!
Staying overnight in Tahoe can make things a little more expensive, unless you or a friend knows someone who lives in the area. Ask a friend. Maybe they'll want to go with you, cutting down on your transportation costs even more.
If you don't have a place to stay with friends, take some of them with you and get a cabin for a few nights. You don't have to ski every day to have fun, and renting a cabin for a group of 4-10 people can bring the cost of lodging down to $25 per night or less.
On the north shore close to Squaw Valley and Alpine Meadows ski resorts, Tahoe Park Realty , Tahoe Rental Connection and Hauserman Realty can set you up with some plush cabins. The homes these realty agencies offer include newly constructed 3 bedroom, 2.5 bath cabins with a fireplace, microwave, television set, cable, VCR and sometimes even hot tubs. On the south shore of the lake, close to Heavenly Valley and Kirkwood ski resorts, realty agencies like Century 21 Yanks and Lake Tahoe Realty can set you up with similar deals.
So what about the ski resorts? Are the horror stories of $48 lift tickets keeping you away? An inexpensive alternative is Homewood ski resort in North Lake Tahoe. At Homewood on Wednesdays, tickets are two for the price of one. The regular lift ticket price is $25 if you are 14-18 years old, $35 if you are 19-60 years old. That means a day ski trip for two people at Homewood could cost as low as $35 each, including food.
Granted, the costs stack up if you don't have your own equipment and need to take lessons. But ski resorts usually offer package deals to skiers or boarders who rent equipment and take lessons, often bringing the cost down to less than what you would pay for buying a ticket and renting equipment separately. At Alpine Meadows, tickets cost $47, lessons cost $15-32, and snowboard rental packages can run you $29. But if you purchase a beginner's snowboard package, you can get a ticket, equipment and a lesson for $25-35 less than if you didn't buy the package.
Generally, the smaller the resort, the more reasonable the rates. At Soda Springs resort, you can ski for $15 and rent equipment for another $17. Don't rule out renting equipment in your home town before you drive up either. Your local sports stores will often give better weekend rates on equipment rentals than many of the major ski resorts. At Lombardi Sports in San Francisco, $20 will get you skis, boots and poles for three days and nights. The same package would cost you $45 at Soda Springs and $75 at Mount Rose.
If you don't want to drive home after a tiring day on the slopes, there are lots of places you can stay and party other than a cabin. Reno, of course, is the most glaringly obvious locale. Reno casinos regularly offer cheap deals to lure innocent San Franciscans to the card tables, but if you can avoid the temptation of losing more money, you are bound to make out like a bandit in their rooms.
If the ambiance of gambling just isn't for you and you don't want to bother renting a cabin, call up one of many Lake Tahoe motels and make a reservation. On the south shore of Lake Tahoe in Carson City, the Super 8 motel has rooms for $39 per night. The Tahoe Tropicana and Value Inn will cost you $35-45. On the north shore, you'll find similar rates at the Foothill Motel, Homeside Motel or the Northwood Pines Motel. For $28-55, you can have clean sheets and a fluffy nylon bedspread to cuddle under.
Don't give up on getting to the mountains of your dreams just for the sake of cost. Chances are, there's someone sitting next to you with the same thoughts. Why not get together? Groups cut down on gas and lodging costs and add to the fun. Look around you for commuter buddies, get up there and have a blast!
©1998 PRISM Magazine and specific authors. All rights reserved.