aussie skier - truckee or tahoe city (Alpine, Squaw Valley: rental, house)

[samtheman]

*Gday*

I'll be in the tahoe area for the next ski season 06/07 and just wondering which is the better place to stay - truckee or tahoe city?
Ill be aiming to work at either sugarbowl, alpine meadows or squaw valley. which area is the cheapest place to stay for a few months? which is the most convenient with or without a car?

cheers

see u on the slopes soon!

sam
melbourne, Australia

[Ryan]

Truckee is going to be quieter, cheaper, but harder to find a place to stay. Tahoe is slammed during the season and more expensive, but also has more potential places to stay. Tahoe is the most convenient without a car. Also check out Boreal and Bear Valley. Both are in quieter areas with less expensive accommodations, and great skiing. Bear is my favorite. Boreal has the best snow making setup I've ever seen, so the season is always longer there. It's also right off of 80 and very accessible with good runs and lots of lifts. They're always hiring as well. G'Luck.

[samtheman]

i didnt expect truckee to be quieter. it looks much bigger. so tahoe would have more "nightlife" as such in the ski season due to all the tourists?

bear valley looks like an interesting setup. I will definately make sure we spend a day there.

thnx!
sam

[Ryan]

Tahoe has much, much more of a night life, especially during the season. BTW, Sugar Bowl is one of my favorites as well. They've done so much to improve it in the last few years. It was great before but it's amazing now. Both Sugar Bowl and Bear get the best powder and have the best quality trails, imo. Good luck with your move.

[samtheman]

dont worry. sugar bowl has not been counted out yet
calling them in a few minutes. but the night life is a big part of my decision, so tahoe looks like the go. its weird cos truckee looks so much bigger on the map.

[DanaB]

I lived in Truckee for ten years. The lake area is easier to get around if you don't have wheels. There are busses. Truckee is larger and right on I-80 freeway, but 10 miles or so from the nearest skiing. The closest resorts are Northstar and Boreal. Next would be Squaw (Olympic Valley) and Alpine Meadows. Then you get to the Lake. There are several Resorts on the West Shore going south and Incline and Mt Rose going east into Nevada. More night life and skiing around the Lake.

[Been There]

I would pick Tahoe if you like a social life. The powder is great and there just is a more vibrant atmosphere there. Truckee is nice too but quieter and I notice older people like to retire there which is great if you want peace and quiet but for a nightlife and great skiing, it's Tahoe for me!

[califgal]

I live in Truckee now-so can tell you accurately-If you want to work at any of those 3 resorts, you'd want to stay in Truckee. The traffic from Tahoe City to those resorts during ski season is brutal-while it's a short distance to SV and Alpine (15 min w/o traffic), it can be 1 1/2 hours with traffic. Sugar bowl is another 20 minutes farther that that. If you can live very near town in Tahoe City, there is better public transportation-but Truckee has all the stores within walking distance of any place near town too. Look at Sierrasun.com It shows rental listings. Truckee is NOT quieter. We have an average %50-%80 SECOND HOME people here (NOT retired). Approx 14K full time residents. It's quite the zoo during ski season and summer-figure it out-for example in Tahoe Donner (largest development) there are 6,000 homes but only 20% live here full time-so the population swells radically in high times.

By the way, best skiing-hands down-Squaw Valley-for the serious skier. Second of your three- Sugar Bowl-small but many very challenging runs-third-Alpine-Bear Valley is not a serious ski area....sorry-I'm also a Professional Ski Instructor...

[tsp]

For what it's worth, I noticed a number of Aussies, or were they Kiwis?, working at Royal Gorge (a large cross-country complex) near Sugar Bowl & Boreal.

[greatbasinguide]

Aussies and Kiwis are preferred over Americans as they have better work ethic. If you work at Squaw, get a room in a house in the valley.
The traffic at holiday periods southbound from Squaw or Alpine to TC is horrendous.
The skiing at Boreal is bad, really bad. 600 vertical. For a serious skier,, SugarBowl is the place. Live in Truckee, drive old 40 when it is open (slowly)
Cheapest housing,, is at the West end of Donner Lake.
Nightlife in Truckee is downtown, Bar of America has been a hot placed for decades.
But,,, generally private parties are the best place to meet and greet.

A room rental in Truckee is going to be at or above the $500 per month range, my guess is TC is higher.

If your budget is a problem, try Tahoma or Homewood and ski at Homewood,, a pretty good hill and uncrowded.