Tuesday, March 3, 2015

Ski Resorts - Not Just for Skiers!

We visited two different ski resorts on this trip.  The first was called Heavenly, and the base of it was located just across the street from our hotel along the south shore of Lake Tahoe.  Heavenly is accessed by a seriously crazy gondola, and the ride - and the view it allows you - is well worth the wee bit of stomach churning you go through to get there.


As you may have guessed, Heavenly's gondola takes you up a very steep slope.  At the top of this slope, an observation platform gives everyone absolutely tremendous views of the entirety of Lake Tahoe.


Here's a view of the lake with the gondola in action, and below is a panoramic view of the lake itself.  The town of Stateline, Nevada, is neatly laid out in the foreground.


Here's an even wider panoramic taken with my phone:


After the observation platform, you hop back in the gondola and travel along a much gentler slope until you reach the actual ski area.  Which is huge.  I had no idea of the scale these big resorts reach.  I also didn't expect an ear splitting dance party to be underway in the lodge!  


One of the things we quickly noticed is that ski resorts attract true characters.  This guy, who we nicknamed Thor, is fresh off the slopes, and on his way to absolutely killing it on the dance floor.  


The pictures of the Heavenly gondola from the actual gondola cars do not truly give you an idea of the slope.  Our hotel room view gave us a better perspective on just how darned steep it is!

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