Waited out 3-4 days of highway closures, had to cancel our North Shore reservation and tickets, then pivoted to a South Shore mission when highway 50 popped before 80 did, plus it's a bit shorter trip from the in-laws property in Rancho Cordova.
Despite the chaos we had been seeing / reading for days on CalTrans Twitter and other sources, our ride up was really efficient. Raining overnight and scattered showers when we left mid-morning which turned to snow once we got a ways up the hill. Cal Trans let me roll through the chain check point, confirming I was in 4wd, and just warned me about some tree crews working the highway up ahead. No stopping, and hardly ay congestion the whole way up. Roads were buried from half way up all the way into South Lake Tahoe.
After having to accept that I might not be Snowboarding in Tahoe for the 14th December holiday in a row, I was pretty bummed, so needless to say when we pulled it off and the sun started coming out the afternoon we arrived the stoke was very high.
Walking out to the snow beach...
The South Shore has simply blown up the last 10+ years. First came here in 2008, and while I still love it, we generally go elsewhere around the Tahoe region. Still, lots of people investing in this area with the old properties being renovated and expanded. Parked the truck when we got in and didn't move it until we drove home. Walked to the Gondola and a couple good dinners at CA Burger Co. and Kalani's.
I really need a rockered board by now... Jones Aviator 160w + Union Falcor bindings. The wife has been on a Womens Flagship 154 for a few seasons and loves it.
Pretty A+ when you cant see any other colors but white...
The real foul was when the weather turned in the afternoon and all the lifts started shutting down due to wind, so a great morning turned until a sh*t afternoon of 20* temps, flat light, and wind, with a long wait to get out of east peak Nevada with only Comet Express open, and then back to the gondola for another hour+ wait to get out. Made me question whether we will be heading back to the South Shore during the holidays ever again.