Our lifestyles are much different now than they were when I was growing up as a child in the 90s. It was a time before mobile phones, back when the only photos you shared were printed out and kept in an album to show your friends when they came over. The music we listened to was purchased in CDs at Tower Records in the mall and I spent hours pouring over each of my magazines.
I have vivid memories of learning how to ski with my best friend and her younger brother, their mom teaching us how to pizza and french fry down the slopes of Lake Tahoe. I remember the thrilling feeling of taking on runs that felt equal parts terrifying and fantastic. I remember the excitement of snow storms, the adventure of staying in small motels eating noodles while getting ready to ski the next day.
These days I don't see many families at my local ski resorts. I figured the combined cost of lift tickets, ski rentals and paid parking might make the experience too expensive for many families to take their kids skiing. Mixing in with the crowds might be too overwhelming for little kids and the mama bears protectively watching over them.
Then on a recent ski trip, my boyfriend and I decided to spend one day riding one of the biggest resorts in the area. The big ski resort had breathtaking million-dollar views that made the day that much more amazing. Hundreds of skiable acres and lifts to choose from added to the fun and adventure, and it was an overall great day.
The next day we drove to a small community-owned ski resort. It didn't charge for parking and we were able to find a close spot 20 minutes before the lifts started running. The building housing the ticket window and base lodge was brand-new, incorporating mountain rock and wood with large modern windows and a high-pitched ceiling. Nothing about it was outdated or rundown, as I might have expected from a small resort with affordable lift ticket prices.
The runs were wide open and we never waited in the chair line the entire day. The difference in hopping directly on another chair after an exhilarating run, rather than let my mood dim as the minutes ticked by waiting in line, had a monumental difference in my state of mind. My stoke remained high!
We rode uncrowded black and blue runs for a couple of hours before heading to the lodge for a break. There were plenty of open tables, which was a welcome change from the previous day at the big resort where people took laps around the lodge with their food tray searching for somewhere to sit. We grabbed a table and a couple of coffees, each just $3 - half the price of bigger resorts.
I wandered downstairs to see what food options were on offer and was surprised to see fresh and healthy food options like salads, wraps and oatmeal. I ended up opting for a breakfast burrito from the grill that was enough for the both of us for $13. I surveyed the guests as we sat in the lodge warming up with our coffee and burrito. There were tables of ski school kids laughing and sharing their snacks. One little girl sat to the side, peacefully reading a large book. Happy families socialized and shared updates on their lives. Not a single person was on their cell phone.
The atmosphere of the small ski resort immediately brought me back to my childhood, a time before everyone had a cell phone, when people lived and participated more in the present moment. When you could get lunch for under $15 and afford to bring your kids skiing with you, passing alone the stoke to the next generation. It was a nostalgic experience that I couldn't put a price on. I didn't know that places like this still existed.
After lunch we headed back to the slopes. Wanting to explore each section of the mountain, we headed to a chair on the north side of the resort. When we got to the top of the chairlift, it was total bliss, greeted with a wide-open view of pristine Lake Tahoe. With the resort being in a smaller neighborhood, the epic nature views were uninterrupted by development, with the only buildings in sight being a row of condos painted to blend into the scenery.
Snowboarding at the smaller ski resort felt like it was the way things were meant to be, giving the community a place to gather and enjoy their passion for skiing and the outdoors, while respecting the surrounding environment and treading lightly.
I'm sure I'll keep visiting the big, popular ski resorts around the country and beyond. The size, scale and challenging runs will always have their appeal when planning ski trips for the season. But the purity and nostalgia of enjoying the small resort stole my heart, and has me dreaming of a small local ski resort to call my home mountain.
If you've felt overwhelmed with the lines, prices and logistics of the big ski resort experience, visit a smaller resort like Diamond Peak and see how your experience compares. You might experience bliss and nostalgia like you never expected.
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