The beauty of a road trip is you can go wherever you want, whenever you want. After riding Mammoth Mountain to bits, we were ready for a change of scene. We had our eyes peeled closely on an incoming snow storm that was hitting the Sierra Nevada region. It hit earlier than expected and without a second thought we packed the car and hit the road straight to the iconic Palisades Resort in Lake Tahoe which is also on the Ikon Pass.
The easy 3.5 hour drive had us in the resort by the afternoon and it had started nuking snow by this point. We were in for an absolute treat. Thanks to Palisades we had lined up one of their amazing guides to show us ‘blow ins’ the best spots and boy did we score. We also had local legends and Spring Break Snowboarding ambassadors Alex ‘OZ Man’ Scott and Ben Rice kindly show us their white waves of choice on a powder day.
Palisades is in a league of its own. The accessible freeride terrain this resort has is mind blowing for us Southern Hemisphere snowboarders. I’m talking cliffs, chutes, spines, pillows, steeps, bowls, natural hips, waves, wind lips…whatever you want, Palisades has it. Their Terrain Parks are on point too…but Palisades is like one big natural terrain park, and we got it on a strong day with some strong fresh. Stars aligned. We scored.
After spending the entire day searching around the resort for every last turn we could lay into. We could not call it a day…yet. We dived into the local après scene head first, and it exceed all expectations. A salut to the day at ‘Le Chamois‘ had us feeling like proper locals on day one, and then we proceeded to go and get royally ‘slotted’ at the iconic ‘Slot Bar‘ – a shoebox bar where pretty much anything goes. We’ll leave it at that.
Pallisades is the largest resort in the Lake Tahoe region, with LOTS to ride. It boasts an elevation of 1,890m and over 6,000 acres of rideable terrain. There’s 30 lifts…so you can avoid traffic and ride new zones all day long. Our kind of spot.
After we smashed the resort to bits. We were surprised to find out that right next door there was another resort on the same pass! The sun popped it’s head out and Alpine Meadows was calling our name.
The temperatures stayed cool, meaning that there was fresh snow out there to still be enjoyed. We got straight into exploring the resort which again boasts some incredible terrain and steeps. We followed our trusty guide into the best snow and terrain we’d scored the entire trip. The resort is pretty much an open field for anyone to explore…If you’re willing to walk the extra little bit, there’s a tonne of gold on the other side.
After a solid few days boarding around Palisades and Alpine, 100 odd chairlift laps and equal amount of shots. We were completely content. A successful road trip abroad that ticked every box. Would we go again? We’re already booked in for next winter with Ikon Passes ready to go…
The 22/23 Ikon Pass just went on sale. So make sure to check it out and lock yours in today and get adventure planning, it’s good for the soul.
