Panos from Spring Break '18

From my sunset skate ski on day 1.  

Potluck dinner!

Top of Dick's with Sam and Drew

Top of Maggie's on our way back to the car.

Sunset wheelie practice.

Dawn patrol up Castle with Drew.

Skate skiing

Weekend in Tahoe with Ko.

too bad the weather never cleared up like this until Ko left... taken 5 hours after Ko got on his flight home. 

My brother is headed to INSEAD Singapore next summer, so he wanted to make skiing a priority.  He flew into Reno on Wed, rented a car, and picked me up in Truckee.

• Wed - Rode Amtrak to Truckee, Ko picked me up.  Went to Tahoe Sports HUB, where I ran into Drew so that we could do a dawn patrol tomorrow.  Ate at Tacos Jalisco.  Fixed Hot Tub (one of the pipes was leaking everytime it was recirculating/heating... we had to fill it up with snow and water to get it back up to the normal level), dishwasher (had broken glass stopping the impaler), door knob (was locked), shoveled out a bunch of snow everywhere.  

Check out the Sierra Hotel.  These 

I boarded the Amtrak from Emeryville, a pleasant experience with a variety of friendly people on board.  I was seated next to a German student who had just finished his internship at Bosch and decided to take the train to Chicago.  Then I moved to the "observation car" which is where you should spend all of your time.  The seats are pointed out towards the windows, there is plenty of room, and you are forced to start chatting with the person that sits next to you.  Along the way I talked to a Vietnam Vet on his way to a VA hospital in Colorado for a check up for exposure to Agent Orange; a lady from Berkeley escorting her grandma home to Pennsylvania as she was afraid to fly (if you get a sleeper cabin, its the same price if you are solo or 2); and countless other folks who were either commuting, going on vacation, or were just avid train enthusiasts.

This conductor was hilarious... and would whisper "...ice...cold...beer" every once in a while to lure you to the beverage cart.

Check out this car... at the Safeway parking lot.  

There was some major repairs that I had to take care of.  First was this hot tub.  We found the leak (a loose pipe)... and filled it up 5 gallons at a time... and added a bunch of snow... then it started going again.  This was really close to losing the tub as if this would have frozen, that would have been game over... 

• Thurs - Dawn Patrol on Tressle with Drew.  Then SB with Ko which was quite stormy with flat light.  Wet, heavy snow... good thing I wore my Rain Bibs.  Those have been great purchases for wet storm riding in Tahoe, which unfortunately is happening more and more.  Along with my PVC snowblower gloves, I can ride bell to bell in rainy conditions... which I really don't mind as long as I stay warm.  We tried to go to Truckee to eat but there was a train parked at the entrance of Serene Lakes for over an hour... so we made pasta at home (it's always good to keep some non-perishable food stashed there).  Kimbo came up with the fam late night.  

Summit? shot...

Should've gone with a movie here....

Drew sticking the landing... 

The train that never moved... for over an hour.  We were on our way to Truckee to go eat... turned around an hour later and it was still here.  

• Fri - Ko and I were heading to Squaw when it started raining.  So I called Drew, who was already there and told me he was calling it quits due to visibility.  So Ko went to Sugar Bowl while I dug out the house some more.  I made a snow cave with the boys and during Nikko's naptime I took Kai out on his first snowshoe trek in preparation for our family hut trip in April.

Lots of pasty heavy snow... 

in Truckee... started pouring rain... so we went grocery shopping and I sussed out the situation...

We decided to turn around... Ko went to Sugar Bowl and I dug a snow cave and a cleared out the driveway some more

This Honda rocks!

The boys like the snow cave... 

During Nikko's naptime, I took Kai around the block to test out his snowshoes.  

The back of the house... that's the second story... 

Kai did really well on his snowshoes.  

This snowshoe trek ended with some hot tubbin'!

The viw from the hot tub...

Nikko refused to sleep... 

He finally slept next to the door... what a stinker

• Sat - Dawn Patrol on Andesite with Miley, Dozier, and Drew.  Then we all went to Sugar Bowl, which was a mess getting there.  There was one crazy local yelling "go back to the BAY"... she was quite amazing.  The conditions were pretty rough on the kids (stormy with high winds)... at one point the kids told me "the snow hurts daddy when I go too fast" so I had to fix their Buff so that it covered their mouth and nose.  Very proud of the boys who skied until 3 pm.  Then I skied a few laps with Ko and Jack.  

The kids on the Gondola... 

testing out my new boots (TX-Pros)... I thought I was done with NTN, but Louie picked these up for 80$!!!

Joe serenading us with some Beatles covers. 

The boys getting to spend some time with uncle Ko.  

my losing hand... 

along with my losing face...

• Sun - Dawn patrol up Soda Springs.  Turns out when it isn't cloudy it gets light enough about 20 min before sunrise.  We should've started earlier so we were at the top around 6:30.  Then we could've done a lap on the other side before making our way back home.  Came home and made pancakes for everyone.  Then we went to Sugar Bowl... we got an earlier start this time, but the Judah lot was filling up quick.  Skied White Pine once, then to Judah where the park was really fun.  Did about 5 front flips and one back.  Got to ski with J-dub and Dylan from around lunch time.  Had to go get the car for the fam around 2 pm, but we skied until 4:15.  Really fun... Lincoln, Disney, Judah... got home and it started snowing as we were watching the Super Bowl and packing up.  Then is started REALLY snowing... should have put up more boards to protect the garage door.  The drive home was star trek warp speed... at 30 mph.    

Nikko "ready to shred"

This was my view for the most of the day... 

They wanted to ride the magic carpet for a few rides...  while I got the car and Kimbo got ready to take them home... 

While the A-town crew was downing a few beers...  I rounded these monkeys up after a shot and was free for the day!  On our first lift ride out J-dub fell off the chair.. I almost pee-d my pants laughing

Hitting up the terrain park!

The Ashland Boys

Would suck to own this car... this is why you don't leave your car overnight during a snowstorm w/o any poles marking it... 

parting shot...

Andesite Peak Dawn Patrol

Dozier skating back to the car... past the two on ramps... dodging cars and dry patches.

with Miley, Dozier, and Drew.  Nick fell off a cornice... it snowed a lot, but it came in pretty pasty and very stable.  Saw a snow hare on the way up.  The peak is fine, but it's a bit of a slog for 600 ft of vert.  I think I'd rather go out to Castle or Basin and just wake up earlier... 

There's some snow at the summit...

Love these trees with the snow pasted on...

Provided a nice shelter from the wind too...

Dozier's B-day ski... with a kid expected at any second... probably his last outing for a while...

Drew the machine...

Doz

Miley the goofball...

On the second lap he skinned right up to the edge of this fat cornice which collapsed on him.  At the time it was pretty scary... it was quite a break.  He deservedly took a nice 10 ft header into (thankfully) soft, buttery snow.  

Dozier laughing...

And back by 9.