A Snowy Vacation Home.. Where Should it Be?

[Bukem_]

There is a recent thread in oot about coolest mountain towns.

I live in Tahoe now, and have lived in Breckenridge and Crested Butte so if you have any specific questions for those areas feel free to ask.

Also be more specific about what you want:
what type of skiing do you want, does it matter how much it snows, how long the season is, if the place is isolated, if you mind dealing with a ton of tourists, etc.

[Maulik]

Whistler is probably a hell of a flight, but it's great.

[Xanta]

Only place I've skiied in Colorado is Copper Mountain, and as a rule I'd stay away from Intrawest resorts, they're all pretty cheesy and more or less the same. It wasn't anything special, decent terrain, starts going early November most years, towns thereabouts are pretty friggin nice, one of the highest tax brackets in the states.

Heard excellent things about the skiing/boarding at Breck, don't know anything about town life though. Oh, and Mammoth gives you pretty sick summer options as well as amazing winter skiing, check it out.

[James282]

raptor,

i may have been a drunk douche that one time we met - but ski areas are something i know about!

i lived in south lake tahoe, CA, and this is a place with great skiing, great weather(snows a fair bit during the winter, never rains otherwise), casinos, young people from the bay area coming over all the time, beautiful scenery, tons of stuff to do during the summer. it's about 1 hour away from reno airport, about 3 hour drive to san francisco. the casinos spread small stakes dork poker when i was there, but that may have changed since i know harrahs has spread a few circuit wsop events there.

it's not the quietest town ever - but you'll have in town access to heavenly ski resort, and 3-4 other very good ski resorts in pretty easy driving distance, unless it snows.

another town in CA i know a fair about is mammoth lakes, but it lacks good proximity to an airport, and is probably more expensive too.


the other town i lived in was steamboat springs, CO. this is a quieter town. plenty of young people live in town during the winter, and the summer is OK too with hiking and biking. the actual snow quality is much better in CO(lighter, more dry) - but it will also be significantly colder than the california ski areas. it has an airport that is very close - like 20 mins from downtown or so. nightlife is basically smallish bars with specials, microbreweries with live music, that sort of thing. the mountain features a lot of mogul runs and very good tree skiing. if you like really steep, unfeatured(not bumpy or treeish) runs, this mountain isn't ideal. I believe prices have been going up in that area, but it's still plausible you could get something you'd enjoy for 600k or less. you'll really only have access to steamboat mountain and this little ski bump called howellson(spelling is wrong) hill, but this was plenty of skiing for me during the time i was there as it's a pretty huge mountain. there is also an awesome natural hot spring area called strawberry string, which are clothing optional at night!

another option is breckenridge, which is somewhere inbetween south lake and steamboat as far as how 'civilized' the area is...there are 3 mountains very close by, and pretty good night life..but i'm not an expert on the area as i would be in the others.

[pig4bill]

The thing about Tahoe is the poker kinda sucks, although it's probably better than Colorado ski towns. Most Colorado ski towns are not as convenient to an airport as you might think. It's a few hour drive from Denver airport for the most part.

If you decide on Reno/Tahoe, decide if you want to live in the snow or near it. Living in the snow means living on the California side for the most part, which can be a real PITA. There's a lot more maintenance, the cost of the house itself will be sky high, and the local politicians make life miserable for homeowners. You can live on the Nevada side in Reno or a nearby small town and be an hour or less away from the ski resorts.

There's a good excuse for visiting the Tahoe region coming up - the WSOP circuit event in mid-November is being held at Harvey's in South Lake Tahoe.

edit: And oh yeah, Carson City, home of the Moonlight Bunny Ranch, and other legal brothels, is right next door.

[john voight]

Easy:

North Lake Tahoe




North is much more balla than south shore. Its where the rich ppl from the Bay Area come, while south is where the poor college kids go.

Skiing

Awesome! Squaw Valley is so sick. It has a great village w/ bars, cafes, restaurants, etc... and great skiing. It is hard to pput into words how big this place is. You can prolly ski a week w/o going on the same trail. Night skiing as well incase you have trouble waking up early.

North Star:

Prolly even better village. Tons of stuff to do there, though I am not as acquainted. The village on the mountain is much better than Squaw's b/c it feels much more cozey. Skiing here is great too, prolly half 2/3 size of squaw, but still huge. They constantly develop it to make it better, unlike some resorts.

Other nearby ski resorts:

Alpine Meadows (very big)
Homewood (smaller, and less crowded)
Sugar Bowl is a bit of a drive, but not too bad. It is known for its great snow (much higher base altitude)

Diamond Peak: kind of [censored] IMO, but if you stay near it, you will be much closer to the casinos (Reno, north state line, and south shore). Amazing views though of the nevada desert from the peaks. Worth the view IMO; you see a desrt on one side and you see snow covered forest w/ lake on other side.

BTW you can also see this if you go to Heavenly Vally, the biggest mountain in Tahoe.

Gambling:

Obv South shore wins, but IMO I dont go to tahe in winter to gamble. Now, that said, you can drive (maybe 1-2 hour depending where on north part you at and wht time your driving) to get to the big casinos. I dont like the atmosphere there, but you will action. State line (north) has some low class casinos, that dont spread poker. If you need a slot machin or BJ fix, they are suitable.

Next option is to drive to Reno (prolly 1-2 hour also depending on weather, etc...).

Activities

I'm guessing south might have more activities suitable for young kid, like maybe a few clubs, w/e. North would be more for like 30+yo demographic and family demographic. Incline Village is kinda shady IMO, but has all teh casinos. Tahoe City is super nice, but offers little besides restaurants, small bars, and nice views. IMO youd have to hit up either the Village @ Squaw or Northstar to find college type of atmosphere. Maybe even a club or something. But I cant imagine south shore is crakin like crazy either, IDK.

High Class

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Tahoe+CIty,+USA&sa=X&oi=map&ct=title

IMO the best places to stay are from Homewood (on the west side) up to Dollar Point (north west) this region gives you many options for skiing, keeps you close to city life, and keeps you in a nice neighborhood.

Now, home prices have plunged in the last year I believe, and by "high class" I dont mean you need 1mill to buy here. I'm guessing you can find a decent 2bed 2 bath cabin for maybe 500k. Although 700k would prolly ensure that its not a POS.

HOwvere, IMO: renting is by far the +EV move here, b/c IMO renting out when you are not living in the house will not be even close to covering the mortgage payments. IMO it is best to pay 1k-5k a week(or 20k if you and your balla friends wanna live like kings?)in the winter. Owning here would not be a good RE investment IMO, simply b/c the prices are sky high, and the market that rents only rents for seasonal purposes.

Lots of times I'll talk to ppl who are filthy rich as I am sitting on a chair lift of gondola. I have even gotten high w/ a dude on a chair lift, as he was kind enough to offer me a free toke out of his pipe. Its really a mixture of pleasant ppl. And I have always seen it as an extension of San Fransisco in terms of atmosphere and friendliness.

Lastly, there are lots of hot girls.

Other random pictures to convince you to come to Tahoe:










[image]http://www.snowboard-mag.com/img_assist/gen/14656[/image]

Sidenote: most extreme weather conditions I have ever felt in life @ 8600ft altitude. Roughly 140-160 MPH winds at the ridge of a peak I was on. It was blowing off all the snow , and visibility was about 15 feet. You could not tell which way was up down or left, b/c the wind was pushing you so hard that you could not ski down (w/ gravity). They closed the upper part of the mountain. Was an amazing experience, total adrenalin rush.

[Maulik]

voight,

was your sidenote typical of skiing at the peak?

[john voight]

BTW, if you plan on spending 2+months a year in the house, you might wanna buy (if you would rent for balla house prices, which I am sure you would)

IDK your financial situation, so I would first say this: rent, and see if you like it there, before making any big decisions.

[Jman28]

Thanks so much for the suggestions guys.

We don't care much about local casinos. We won't be playing much live poker.

Lake Tahoe looks great to me bc of the location. I have a lot of friends and relatives in LA and San Diego, and Vegas isn't too far away. It'd be nice to be able to drive (I know it's still far) to or from these places.

[ QUOTE ]

the other town i lived in was steamboat springs, CO. this is a quieter town. plenty of young people live in town during the winter, and the summer is OK too with hiking and biking. the actual snow quality is much better in CO(lighter, more dry) - but it will also be significantly colder than the california ski areas. it has an airport that is very close - like 20 mins from downtown or so. nightlife is basically smallish bars with specials, microbreweries with live music, that sort of thing.

[/ QUOTE ]

This sounds appealing to me too.

I was busy today but I'll look into everything you guys suggested tomorrow, including that other thread.

Thanks again.

[lacky]

tahoe is much easier for me to visit than CO, fwiw [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]