Northstar-at-Tahoe

Imagine calling the phone company or your favorite corporation and getting trapped in endless computerized voice mail. All you want is to talk to a real person.

This is the frustration waiting for you at the new Northstar. All you want is to get to the slopes, but first you must overcome the obstacles of very limited parking, shuttle buses, condos and a nonsensical village in the way, and rude crowds between you and the slopes. Heaven help you if you forgot your beanie back at the car.

Northstar is determined to be what they are not: Deer Valley of Tahoe. What was once a fun family resort is now marketed to the shallow rich, persons more interested in dumping the kids in ski school, making a couple runs, and spending the rest of the day shopping while drinking Starbuck's before noon and overpriced cocktails after noon.

For persons with more money than brains, who use skiing as an excuse to strut, shop, and get drunk, then Northstar may be for you. But if you appreciate the soul of the sport, if your heart races at the sight of fresh powder, if baloney sandwiches on the lift to maximize skiing time sounds logical to you, than forget the new Northstar and go skiing/riding. Sugarbowl, Mt. Rose, Alpine Meadows, Bear Valley, Kirkwood await you.

Northstar - what a waste of what used to be a fairly good intermediate ski hill.