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Tahoe Winter Weekend: Snowboarding @ Mt. Rose, Hampton Inn Truckee, Snowshoeing & Snowmobiling

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Good morning everyone, happy Thursday.  Last weekend, my brother and I went on a road trip from San Francisco to Tahoe (in the Sierra Nevada Mountains).  Along the way, we stopped in Roseville (just outside Sacramento) and visited Topgolf (read: My First Time to Topgolf: Family-Friendly Driving Range with a Sports Bar).

After leaving Roseville and our cheap 10,000 Marriott point Fairfield Inn Roseville, our first stop was Mt. Rose, a snow-covered mountain about 15 minutes outside of Reno, Nevada.  We were planning on staying at a hotel in Reno, but changed our plans at the last minute, but we had already committed to Mt. Rose lift passes.  The mountain is not as popular or crowded as Squaw Valley or Northstar, which was nice.  Lift passes are $105/day, which might be more/less than the other mountains, I’m not sure.  Here are some pics from around the base of the mountain near the ticket window and atop the slopes.  #snowboarderforlife

After a day on the slopes, we drove to the Hampton Inn & Suites Tahoe-Truckee, which looked beautiful covered in fresh powder.  The hotel was going for $300+ per night a few days before we checked in, but luckily I was able to snag a room for only 40,000 Hilton HHonors Honors Points.  The hotel is 3 floors and I was upgraded to a nice room thanks to my Hilton Diamond Elite Status.  The hotel has complimentary breakfast and a hot tub.  On Saturday night, they had a movie night near the lobby and brought out the popcorn machine.  Here are pics from outside the hotel, inside our room, and of the huge icicles hanging from the gutters.

For dinner, we checked on Yelp for a nice restaurant and settled on the Cottonwood Restaurant which is only a 5 minute drive away.  Make a reservation and get there early so you can get a nice table that overlooks “downtown” Truckee.  I had the seafood stew which was great.

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On Sunday morning, my brother and I did a 3 hour snowmobile tour with Eagle Ridge Snowmobile Tours.  The price was $335 for 2 single riders, so $167.50 per person/snowmobile.  This was my first time on a snowmobile and I loved every minute.  The handles have built in heaters so you hands don’t get too cold.  I think they are a little more dangerous than ATVs and Jet Skis since they are a little harder to turn and can tip more easily, but that extra danger made it more exciting for me.  I got to roughly 40 MPH on the downhill part, but my brother (aka the speed demon) got up to 50 MPH.

After driving on top of the snow, we decided to walk on/through the snow and get snowshoe rentals from Tahoe Sports Hub.   You can rent a pair of snowshoes for ~$16/day.  They attach to any pair of shoes/boots you wear and make it a little easier to walk on/through the snow.  It is quite exhausting walking in fresh snow, so go slowly.  I knocked off a big piece of snow that was attached to a tree stump and tried to round it into a giant snowball.  Here is me attempting to lift and through the world’s largest snowball at my brother.

After dropping off our snowshoe rentals, we grabbed a quick bite of lunch at Morgan’s Lobster Shack & Fish Market.  I had the lobster roll and my brother had the fish and chips – both were excellent.  Near downtown Truckee, there is an Amtrak stop, which I must have passed through on my journey from Denver to San Francisco on the California Zephyr.  After we got back to our car, we made the long and slow drive back down the mountain to San Francisco.  The drive took 4-5 hours but luckily my brother was in the driver seat and I just worked on my laptop.

If you have any questions about Tahoe, Truckee, snowboarding, snowmobiling, snowshoeing, or any of the restaurants we ate at, please leave a comment below.  Have a great day everyone!


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3 thoughts on “Tahoe Winter Weekend: Snowboarding @ Mt. Rose, Hampton Inn Truckee, Snowshoeing & Snowmobiling

  1. Jay

    Thanks for the trip report. I plan on doing what you did. I haven’t been to MT Rose in ages.
    Any ideas on how to get discounted lift tickets?

    Reply
    1. Grant Post author

      I’m not sure. My brother’ company gives him $200/year for health and fitness credit. Lift tickets qualify, so he paid $210 for both lift tickets and got $200 reimbursed.

      Reply

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