Friday Activities

Location:
Northstar At Tahoe. Skiing in the winter, and Tahoe's largest mountain bike park in the summer! There are over 100 miles of trails, serviced by two lifts. Everything from easy dirt roads to the gnarliest, nastiest double black diamonds you've probably ever seen. With their new trails, I would rate Northstar with trails of the following levels: easy, medium, hard, expert, and "Aww, sick." You're going to love it.

The first lift is now Northstar's gondola. The old Echo chair lift (which we used in 1997 and 2000) has been taken down. The gondola takes you directly to the mid-mountain area, where there are some fun toys to play on (see below). From there you can ride down, or take the second lift to a much higher location, with access to most of the more advanced trails. We will probably split up into groups based on ability level, speed, and intended mileage.

Pictures:
Looks like their photo gallery is up and working again. Check out some of their cool toys! My pictures should be here. Most of the man-made stuff in the photos is right at the mid-mountain area, between the two lifts.

Schedule:
Arrive at 9:00 if you are not pre-registered, 9:30 if you are. This will get you signed up and ready for the gondola, which is supposed to open at 10:00. If you arrive after 9:30 and are not pre registered, good news! Just buy an all-day lift ticket for the new price of $20 and you'll be good to go!

I would like to set aside a time, probably after lunch, for everyone to come and play on the mid-mountain toys. This will give everyone a chance to see the experts ride them, while still getting to enjoy the trails of their choice. Probably something like 12:00 for lunch, and 1:00 up at mid-mountain.

The lifts run until 4:00 pm.

Bring:
Your helmet. All riders must wear one at Northstar! Also don't forget sunscreen, and the rest of your pads. The more interesting trails here have rocks everywhere.

Getting there:
Get directions and maps on the Maps page.

Lunch:
If you signed up for the Northstar lunch, we will take your orders in the morning, and meet at the designated time and place to pick up our lunches. Or you can bring your own lunch You can carry it or leave it in the car. Parking is pretty close to the base of the gondola. Your third choice is the deli in the base village. But ordering a sandwich may take a long time due to a possible lunch crowd. The deli is in the big building at the base. You might have to walk around the construction site to get to it.

Dinner:
Unknown. We will probably split up so we don't overwhelm any local restaurants, or eat in at the cabins. We will try to set up a video night either Friday or Saturday, at whichever cabin or home has the best TV-watching situation.