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Hometown mountains—they’re just another mountain until you get to know them like the back of your hand. At least that’s my experience. Located on the northwest side of Lake Tahoe, California, is my hometown mountain, Alpine Meadows, which I got to know like the back of my hand during my five years on the ski team and my continued explorations.
Confidence is key; when I joined the ski team, it was my first time at a new mountain and as a seven-year-old, I was intimidated by so much new terrain. Learning the names of lifts and runs while also making sure to not get lost from your team seemed beyond impossible. But that didn’t stop my coaches from taking our entire team all across the resort. There was not one place we did not ski because they wanted to make sure we were in control and confident in all types of terrain. Your teammates were required to hype you up if you did not think you were capable and when it was something the coach knew you enjoyed and “had mastered”, you were either leading the group down “your way” or you were put at the back of the pack to help teach and make sure everyone made it. After my time on the ski team ended, I was confident in my abilities, and my friends and I continued to ski every inch of the resort, taking turns each run to decide where we were skiing next.
Knowledge & confidence turned passion—I think most skiers would agree that you will not experience the best conditions every time you ski. And as a kid, when it was too cold, icy conditions or the Sierra Cement was falling and sticking on your ski clothes more like rain than fun snowflakes, being out for six hours a day was not the most ideal. French fry and hot chocolate breaks, single ski practice on the bunny hill, no pole runs, and snowman-building hike breaks kept me coming back. I learned how to persevere through the miserable conditions and ultimately make those days fun and memorable. Now, no matter what the day looks like, whether its gnarly conditions, a powder day, or the classic Tahoe spring skiing day, I leave with a smile on my face. And I think that is why Alpine will always be my favorite place to ski – it is where I became confident in my skiing abilities and learned that I have an intense passion for skiing.
I am proud to have Alpine as my home mountain and take any opportunity I get to rip the runs that I have known and explored for the last 17 years of my life.
