Moishe House Palo Alto Ski Trip Reflections

Back in January I went to Lake Tahoe with my brother and a few others to the cabin for rest and relaxation. There was not much snow, but I figured I would go again to the basin later on in the winter season. In late February I got the opportunity to join members of the Moishe House Palo Alto in a group cabin vacation and ski trip. While I felt packed in with a crowd when it came to accommodations, I had a wonderful time in the mountains and on the ski slopes.

This time I traveled to Lake Tahoe and stayed with a group near the Heavenly ski resort. I only paid fifty dollars to stay at the cabin, and for that price I should have known the place would be packed. I ended up sleeping on the floor, but at least someone lent me an air mattress to sleep on. Dinners on Friday and Saturday night were lively, and I got to relax on Saturday with a few people. I hiked on the road guiding some of my peers to the Boulder lodge at Heavenly, where we checked out the old pictures at the lodge and walked up a snowy hill out of the way from the ski slopes. I was glad to see more snow on the mountain and expected at least one good day of skiing.

Sure enough the trip to Heavenly resort was much better than the last time. The slopes were less icy, and more runs were open on the mountain. I took some advice from the last trip and focused on my technique, so I was better balanced while speeding down the runs. I was still too slow for the others. At one point I stopped on the run and looked back not seeing any of the other group members, not realizing that they had already skied down to the chairs and had finished another run by the time I caught up. Twice we crossed over to the California side, where for the first time I traversed a black diamond run. At least I think it was a black diamond, as the intermediate runs on the upper Nevada side are challenging enough. When crossing back I pressed my luck on an intermediate run I had not tried before, but it was too steep and had many moguls, so I ended up falling for the first time in years. Thankfully it wasn’t too hard getting down, and I was not as winded as I was the last time because there was more snow to keep my balance on turns. At the end of the day I split up with the group to shoot a video of the slopes. I think it turned out pretty well given the low battery on my phone and my inexperience in shooting video. I should actually post it to the blog some time.

The Moishe House Palo Alto ski trip was an overall excellent experience. For the little money I spent on food and lodging, it was a great deal, and I got to intermingle with plenty of people with the opportunity to hang out with them further. The skiing was much better than the first time I hit the slopes, and I wasn’t as exhausted for driving home, except when we encountered a traffic jam on the mountain pass. I should visit Lake Tahoe again before the summer season starts to get away from the daily grind around here, but I will have to see if I get the chance to do that.