| Elko Snobowl, NV, 2/25 |
When we were planning out trip to Jackson Hole and Squaw we realized that we might want to break the drive up from Jackson to Squaw. Looking at the map, we quickly realized there was only one place to do that: Elko, NV. About a year and a half ago I had a crazy idea to try to ski at every ski area within a 14 hour drive of Seattle, WA. That's an insane idea, especially once you realize just how many ski hills are in that area! I gave up collating data at around 115 ski areas. But looking at Elko on the map I remembered there was an area very near there from working on the crazy 14 hour idea.
Sure enough, the Elko Snobowl is just an easy 6 mile drive outside of Elko. The Snobowl is a very small ski area that was started in 1992 and got their first (and only) lift in 1998. It's staffed entirely by volunteers, and the chairs and lift towers carry sponsorship tags from people and businesses in Elko. The base area is at around 6000ft and my altimeter watch gave a vertical drop of 640ft, top-to-bottom. A lift ticket cost me $20 for the whole day. A hot dog and Snickers bar from the concessions/ticket trailer ran me $3.25. We were there on a Saturday afternoon and there were no lift lines, and probably 50 other people total on the hill. It looks like we're nearing the end of their season: it was spring skiing all the way, with warm temps and some nice slush. Coverage is getting thin in spots, as you can see from the photos below.
All-in-all, I had a fun few hours at the Elko Snobowl.
A rock in the desert indicates the way on the gravel road.
The view of the entire ski area from the lift. The top of the lift is at the top of the hill in the center of the picture. The two hills to either side are the boundaries of the area.
The base area from the same point as the picture above. The building on the right is the ski rental shop and ski school. There is a white trailer to the left (through the center of a chair) that is the concessions and ticket window.
The skier's right boundary of the area from the top.
The skier's left boundary of the area from the top.
Looking up at the steep part of the Snobowl. The cornice is about chest high.
The view from the top of the ski area, looking skier's left out past the boundary.
The lift is interesting. The motor is below the bull wheel, and the entire mechanism is on small train-like wheels. The counterbalance moves the entire assembly back and forth.
A closer view of the lift. There is what looks like a backup diesel motor on the right, but I couldn't see how it might be connected to the drive shaft. The electric motor is on the left.
The electric motor that drives the lift.
This was the one cat that we saw there. It looks pretty old, but it apparently does a good job given the condition of the slope.
Overall a pretty cool place for an afternoon of riding.