Kirkwood Ski Resort
Resort Review:
I really enjoyed Kirkwood Ski Resort, and I hope to come back in the future.
I was surprised at how few people there were on lifts 1, 2, and 3—especially given that it was a Presidents’ Day holiday weekend. Kyle and I basically did not have to wait at all at any of those three lifts.
I rented the skis from the demo center and the staff was super helpful. They were knowledgable, friendly, and were just fun. For people who are looking to rent skis that they plan to buy in the future, I highly recommend the demo rentals at Kirkwood.
We ate at a small cafe/grill near lift 4, and I really enjoyed the burger there (they also had hot dogs and a few other simple items). They don’t accept cash—only credit cards.
Snowkirk/Hay Flat (Green)—I don’t remember the amount of times we lapped this run, but it was fun! Snowkirk is sloped similarly throughout, where as Hay Flat gives you a bit more slope early, and then lets you run it out on a flat section.
Herringbone Straight/Bud’s Alley (Blue)—This was my first blue on skis, and did not do well. It did not help that the run had an angle to it, that I had difficulty adjusting to. I fell twice on this. The run itself was nice and wide, so I’d like to try this again next time.
Whiskey Slide/Low Whiskey (Blue)—I really enjoyed this run! I felt comfortable for the most part and was able to go fast while remaining in control. I think we started to go down Flying Carpet, then switched over to Whiskey Slide pretty close to the start, which was a fun little ride through the trees. The trail was wider than Herringbone, so I’m sure that helped with my comfort.
What I Learned:
I skied blues for the first time! My first run down blues was disastrous with two falls (though they were pretty slow). On the other hand, my second run down a blue run was stupendous! I was able to build speed while maintaining control and I just felt so good, since the slopes looked steep at first glance.
I demoed the Blizzard Rustler 10 skis. I had trouble with these in the first few runs—getting used to how they felt—but after a few runs, I felt really good on these skis.
I got more practice going faster, but I want to get more comfortable at speed.
I went into the trees—twice! I had a great time and plan to do more in the future.
It had been a long time since I had ridden a grayhound-like bus, and I remembered how I get carsick in these if I ride for more than a few hours. Since Kyle was driving back after the skiing, I bummed a ride off of him instead of riding back on the bus. Also, there is no headrest on the bus (which led to discomfort) and the bus driver was pretty darn aggressive, which didn’t help w/the nausea.
Media Consumed:
Eat Pray Love
Friends:
Kyle met up with me at Kirkwood and we skied together the whole day. We had great conversations and it was really fun to ski with someone with a similar ski expertise. Instead of riding the bus back, I rode back with Kyle, who generously offered me a seat in his car, which led to more conversations.
What Happened?
I wanted to experience the ski bus, which my coworkers had told me about years ago. So I booked one through tahoeskitrips.net. When I got to the pickup location at 3:50am, I found the bus was pretty packed. Actually, after the two more pick up points (I got on at San Jose, and there were two other stops—at Redwood City and Pleasanton), the bus was completely full. There were a few people chatting a bit too loudly at the beginning, but it all quieted down after about 30 minutes.
Once I got to Kirkwood, I met up with Kyle and we both rented our gear (I went the demo route and he went the standard rental lines). I found the demo experience to be much better than the factory-like experience at the regular rental lines. The staff was friendly and knowledgable about the different skis and how they’d feel on the slopes. I had requested the Salomon QST 106 in the 170mm range, but they only had a 180mm available. I was still going to take that one, until I asked about the Blizzard Hustle 10. They didn’t have that, but they did have the Blizzard Rustler 10, which has the exact same shape as the Hustle 10. So I borrowed those.
On the green slopes, it took me a few runs to get comfortable with the Rustler 10s. Because the skis were much wider (102mm waist width) than what I had learned with, it took me a fun runs to get used to them and actually feel great with them. But once I got used to it, it felt great! Especially when I was coming down the blue Whiskey runs.
After 5 or 6 hours of skiing, Kyle was getting pretty tired, and I didn’t want to ski by myself, so we called it a day and headed back. On the way back, we stopped by Nena’s Mexican Cuisine and had some really yummy food.