(lots of words, but there’s a video at the bottom)

Reno is a special kind of ski town. In fact, I bet many of the inhabitants of its casino and pawn shop lined streets would be surprised to hear it referred to as such. “Bowler’s paradise,” now that’s a name the locals could get behind. We saw a few snowboard bags being dragged through Harrah’s, but shredders were desperately outnumbered by mustachioed men in bowling attire. They’re a jolly bunch, and were all too happy to point us to the National Bowling Stadium just two blocks from our hotel. We expected raucous drunken crowds a la Kingpin (which was filmed there), but what we found was an empty grandstand that overlooked more lanes than our eyes had ever beheld. We did the only natural thing, picked a team and chanted their names until they noticed us.

With entertainment on lock, our stomachs were the next concern. Based on several recommendations, we made sure to hit up the Awful Awful burger at the Nugget. The diner is as sketchy and greasy as we’ve come to expect from Reno, but the burger is a kickass reward after a long flight or a full day of shred. If you find yourself in Reno you won’t have to ask too many people for culinary advice before the Awful Awful is mentioned. The thing is cheap as dirt and leaves you feeling like kicked shit.

Regardless of how appetizing that all sounds, what draws us to Reno isn’t its kitschy charm, it’s the cheap skiing. Casino rooms are cheap in winter, and the free shuttles run seven days a week to Squaw and Northstar with weekend service to Alpine Meadows. It’s hard to beat the price, and I’d argue that having those three resorts within an hour gives you some of the most diverse shred options you can get in one place.

We shot a bunch of footage at N’Star to highlight some locals, but what you can’t really see in a video is how damn cool the scene is. In addition to the coveted title of minishred paradise, I’d give N’Star the award for friendliest park vibe. We took some laps with local shred Kevin Sellon, who absolutely threw down, but unfortunately I didn’t bring the camera skills to match (I missed more shots than I got). Later in the day we ran into the Happypro crew from Norway; you couldn’t ask for a more stoked crew of skiers and snowboarders. Now I’d be shitting you if I didn’t mention the epicness of the liftline fashion show, but at least these fashionistas are friendly.

The Tahoe region had a pretty nice snow year, and on the advice of Luke at Moment we took our crew to Alpine Meadows for a powder day. The place offers a massive amount of terrain, and a less “resorty” vibe than its neighbor Squaw. The ticket office made me feel like I was back at a PA mountain where every employee is somehow related to the manager. The crowds weren’t bad at all for a weekend. When the easy stuff got tracked, a patroller with Pennsylvania roots shared some local knowledge and pointed us towards a traverse that accessed unlimited powder. East Coast legs were burning and shins were banging, but the smiles didn’t stop.

Big thanks to Jessica VanPernis at Northstar and the staff at Alpine Meadows for being so damn accommodating! Enjoy the edit.