Tahoe Discounts (February 2009)

by: TahoeKidsGuide.com
New snow fell on February 5th and 6th, and February Ski Week Vacation is approaching for many California and Nevada schools. With family budgets in mind, here are our family's favorite Tahoe Discounts (as of today-February 6, 2009):

Ski Tahoe North Interchangeable Lift Ticket: At only $62 per day, with no blackout dates and 2-for-1 purchasing power at Diamond Peak, this is likely to be the best deal around during the February Ski Break. Ski at any or all of the following resorts: Alpine Meadows, Diamond Peak (2 for 1 value), Homewood Resort, Mt. Rose Ski Tahoe, Northstar-at-Tahoe, Squaw Valley USA and Sugar Bowl. Call 1-877-949-3296 and press 1 for more information.

Diamond Peak Ski Resort has an entire page of discounts. Buying tickets at participating Costco stores is a great savings: $72.99 for two tickets. (Compared to $99, if you wait until you get here.) If it's your birthday...you ski free! Remember the Interchangeable Parents' Pass. With this ticket, mom and dad can share one ticket ($49), by trading off during the day. If you're taking an airplane to get here, Diamond Peak is offering 50% off a ski or snowboard rental when you show your airline boarding pass. Take out the hassle of flying with your ski equipment! Military discounts: Active, Retirees ski free midweek and non-holidays. Active, Retirees and Dependents can purchase a $39 ticket on weekends and holidays. Show a season pass from another resort, and ski for $35.

Homewood Mountain Resort offers a list of deals too. By skiing on selected days, you can ski 29 days for $29; even if you're only skiing a few of these days, this is a bargain. You must buy this ticket on-line. Show a season pass from another resort and ski for $25. Active military personnel ski free any day, including holidays. Get $5 off when you show you skied the day before, or when you ride the Tahoe Area Rapid Transit (T.A.R.T.).

Northstar-at-Tahoe offers quite a few discounts. Many of them, however, are not offered during the Februay Ski Break (Feb 14-20). The new Quad Pack Tickets are valid during this time period. Purchase your lift tickets at participating REI stores for a discount. If you start out early in the morning, and decide to quit early, turn in your single-day lift ticket by 12:30 p.m. to the ticket and pass office at the Village Center and receive a partial credit coupon for your next all-day visit. With the "Parent's Predicament Ticket", mom and dad can share one ticket ($83-two days required with a one day grace period.) by trading off during the day.

Squaw Valley: Kids ages 12 and younger ski and snowboard for only $10 every day all season. Kids don't need a lift ticket if they're enrolled in an all-day ski school program. Squaw also offers multi day packages.

Alpine Meadows: The Alpine Club offers the bulk of the savings at Alpine.

Heavely Mountain Resort: Visit a participating Save Mart or Lucky store, and walk out with an Adult Heavenly direct-to-lift ticket for just $70 - a savings of up to $16*. Teen and Youth Lift Tickets are also available .

Attention Tahoe Businesses: Contact Us with your discount offers; we'll add them to our Tahoe Discounts page, at no charge to you!

All Fired Up and Other Indoor Play Places at Tahoe

by: TahoeKidsGuide.com

As Valentines Day approaches, the kids and I went in search of a place to make a special gift for Dad. Gifts that are hand-made by children are treasures.

My mom kept a clay cast of my hand made in kindergarten. Some time in the 70's it dropped and broke into, exactly, nine pieces. Mom lovingly glued each piece back together and replaced the handprint in the china cabinet. Before mom passed away a few years ago, she made sure I had the clay handprint carefully displayed in our family china cabinet. There it proudly sits today, now a reminder of the magic of a mother's love.

With this in mind, the kids and I headed off to "All Fired Up" Tahoe City's paint-your-own-pottery studio. I was excited to learn that, in addition to pottery painting, All Fired Up offers clay classes each Wednesday from 4p to 8p. We agreed to return for a second visit to play with clay.

Since this first visit was on a Saturday, we set about to paint our pottery. There were all kinds of white bisque pieces for us to choose from. After much deliberation, the kids each decided to paint a plate. (It was a tough decision between the plate and the "cool" transformer-looking figure.)

After choosing our ready to paint bisque pieces, we decided what to paint, picked out our paint colors and brushes and sat down to paint.

Seated at a table next to us was a family with two young girls. The four year old girl and her parents were happily painting while her 10 month old sister was cooing and playing next to them in one of the highchairs supplied by All Fired Up.

We had fun creating, talking, sharing and learning. Our youngest finished his project before the rest of us, so he played with the toys All Fired Up has available until the rest of us were ready to go.

We all enjoyed our visit to All Fired Up, and look forward to returning some Wednesday to work with clay.

Our plates were placed in the kiln after we left, and will be available to pick up the next day. Out-of-town visitors will be glad to know that All Fired Up can ship your creations home, if you'd like.

For information about more Indoor Play Places at Lake Tahoe visit TahoeKidsGuide.com.