The Vibe Is Alive At Mt. Rose-Ski Tahoe, NV

The news seemed to spread like wildfire across the Lake Tahoe basin- "Mt. Rose is opening on November 10th, 2023? Seriously? How is that possible?"

Despite a warm and dry start to the season, Mt. Rose took advantage of their 8,260 ft. base area elevation (the highest in Tahoe) and blew enough snow to kick off Winter '23/'24 with a bang.

I recently moved to Truckee, CA and couldn't resist the opportunity to make my first first turns of the season. I packed up the car and left way-too-early out of pure excitement for the day ahead.

Mt. Rose announced that the Lakeview Express would welcome skiers at 9AM, but a long line had already begun to form at 7:45AM as I approached the queue.

A group of three teenagers and one of their fathers had claimed the coveted first chair of the season. They were eagerly milling about in front of the RFID gates and were chugging energy drinks when I approached them.

My first question was an obvious one- What time did you show up?! The answer of "4 AM" was a shock at first, but it began to make more sense as the day progressed. The stoke for skiing was through the roof.

I then spoke with a lady donning a Viking helmet who expressed her enthusiasm for opening day. She immediately launched into a lengthy speech about why Mt. Rose is here favorite place to ski:

"Mt. Rose is the best ski area in Tahoe. No question. The people, the snow... it's everything you want as a local. I stopped going to the big corporation resort years ago and I'm not going back!"

I had to paraphrase Viking-skier lady's words as there were a few choice expletives used to described the corporations that have "ruined" the other ski resorts, but you get the point.

Mt. Rose passed out bright pink tank tops with "2023 Opening Day" logos for the first few hundred skiers to wear. The aforementioned first chair folks received tanks that spelled the word "OPEN" when they lined up next to each other.

The DJ cut the music around 8:59AM and a buzz filled the air. This was it. The Lake Tahoe ski season was about to begin.

A countdown of "5...4...3...2...1.." was echoed amongst the hundreds of skiers and riders in line. Then, a booming cheer erupted and the DJ launched back into an upbeat playlist as skiers began to funnel their way through the RFID gates.

I stood near the loading zone and watched as nearly every skier, young and old, beamed from ear to ear with smiles on their faces. The ski season had officially begun.

Mt. Rose had just one trail open, but that didn't seem to phase the overwhelming majority of skiers. Was Kit Carson Bowl a bit crowded from time to time? Sure, but it was still manageable.

A grumpy old man did make sure to express his displeasure about the crowd to me at one point:

"I'm going home. They're putting everybody on one trail. What do you think happens when you combine FIS skiers and beginners? Blah."

He actually said "blah" out loud, believe it or not, and I gave him a response that he didn't seem to appreciate. "I'm having fun!", I said.

He gave me an inquisitive look and stormed away to most likely continue his day of complaining about things that don't deserve to be complained about.

Besides this grumpy old man who clearly didn't have the right expectations for how opening day goes at a major ski area, the vibe was alive at Mt. Rose.

There's a trope about skiing, as we know it, being "dead". Many skiers are fed up with corporate takeovers, price gouging, over-crowding, and other changes that are a result of mega-resorts attempting to make the most money possible.

Skiing is obviously still "alive" at these mega-resorts, but the importance of the local community has been all but lost. That's not the case at Mt. Rose.

That "vibe" I'm referring to is the Mom and Pop community feel we reveled in at our favorite childhood ski areas. I'm happy to report it is very much alive and well at Mt. Rose, and Opening Day '23/'24 was the ideal way to experience it as an outsider.

I was more than just a fly on the wall viewing the camaraderie, stoke, and passion of the Mt. Rose faithful from a distance. Instead, the Mt. Rose community welcomed me with open arms and made me part of it.

Fancy new chairlifts, ritzy lodges, and new terrain are all flashy selling points for mega-resort marketers, but there's one thing that they can never fabricate- the feeling that comes with being part of something bigger than yourself.

I experienced that feeling, if only for a few hours, at Mt. Rose.

The day was about one thing and one thing only- skiing. Hundreds of people had showed up in early November to go skiing without lofty expectations.

It was awesome.

Happy ski season to all of my fellow Tahoe skiers, and a special thanks to Mt. Rose for getting things started.

Here's to more days on snow!

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