i'm not in colorado anymore

After two years of living and skiing in Vail, the mother of all American ski resorts, I have a skewed view of what makes for a good experience on the mountain. Vail’s enormity, well-placed lifts and well-trained employees spoil the average skier. When I moved to San Francisco, I was excited to make Lake Tahoe my new skiing home, but I’m finding it difficult to stop comparing the resorts to Vail. Northstar-at-Tahoe is our regular resort now, and what struck me immediately was how tiny it is compared to Vail. It’s hard to escape the crowds and long lift lines when there’s not much space to spread out, but when you get to the top of the resort and catch a glimpse of Lake Tahoe, glimmering in the sunlight and reflecting the mountains, you kind of forget that you stood in a lift line for 20 minutes. Until approximately 45 seconds later when you’re back at the bottom.