There are many reasons why some houses sell quickly and others, that are very similar, don’t.  One obvious answer to some, but not so apparent to others, is that the house looks plain bad, maybe both inside and out. 

In order for a house to sell, it needs to be presented, some people refer to it as “staged”, so that prospective buyers see it in a positive manner.  It’s just like the initial impression of someone when you meet them for the first time…and it becomes a lasting impression.

So before you put the house on the market, if you can, take an objective look at your property, inside and out.  If you can’t, hire a professional who can…and one who will help you stage your property.

Let’s face it…resort snow reports are an advertisement to get you to come to the resort, no matter what the conditions that day, for one reason…so that you spend money.  So it’s important for you to realize this fact, and to be able to decipher what that daily snow report is really saying.  Here’s an example of a typical snow report:

2-4 inches of new snow in the past 36 hours, machine groomed snow, light winds at the base with 45mph at the top.  All lifts are scheduled to be open, wind and weather permitting.

So let’s see what this all means…2-4 inches of new snow…not very much new snow.  Check to see how much new snow the resort has received say in the last 7-14 days.  If this is the first snow in recent time, then the machine groomed snow means hard pack, especially after the groomed snow has been scraped off…usually after the first few hours of the day.

Light winds at the base with 45mph at the top.  Most often, with 45mph winds, lifts at the top won’t open or will have a very good chance to be put on wind hold, so that’s why the resort puts in the disclaimer…all lifts are scheduled to be open, wind and weather permitting.

To be fair, just remember in the mountains the weather can change in an instant…so the report that you read or hear that was produced at 5:30a.m., may be way off at 9:00a.m.   Take these reports with a grain of salt.

• Snowblower:  8hsp. or more
• Snow shovel
• All weather windshield wipers for your vehicle:  they don’t freeze up with ice and snow
• Tire chains:  even if you have a 4wd vehicle, chains in the vehicle are required when traveling mountain highways and passes (it can be an $85 ticket if you get stopped without them)
• 4wd. or all wheel drive vehicle:  nice not to have to put chains on and off (if the roads are so bad that I have to chain up my 4wd. vehicle, then I stay home)
• Not having a led foot:  when driving on snow and ice, keep off the brakes as much as possible
• Good pair of snow boots such as Sorels
• Ice/snow scraper for your vehicle:  I like the kind that have a brush on one end

Obviously your first tool is the resort’s trail map.  When I’m going to a place I’ve never been before, I always review and print the trail map from the resort’s web site.  Some resorts even have very cool interactive trail maps on the sites…checkout Sugar Bowl’s at sugarbowl.com.  Look for the runs and trails that fit your ability level and see how to get to them with the least number of lifts to ride.  If you’re an expert, you may even want to take an intermediate groomer to warm up…on a powder day?…so notice where the blue runs are too.  Look for close parking on the map as well…close to the lift and ticket booth.  However, trail maps are limited no matter how great they are and there’s nothing like seeing the mountain in person.

When you get to the mountain it’s usually best to get there early or late.  If you’re a fanatic like me, one reason for this kind of timing, is so I can find the primo parking spot, plus I can take my time buckling up and choosing how to dress for the day.

Riding up your first lift of the day, be very observant…as an expert skier, I love chair lift lines to come down, because a lot of people don’t, so the snow quality many times is really good, plus these lines are usually right down the fall line and often steep.   Just be ready for heckling or comments on your style coming from the lift.  I’ve done some of my best falls underneath lifts.

Here’s a pic of a great chair liftline at Kirkwood…

Checkout kirkwood.com…watch the daily videos produced by RSN…rsn.com

Watch the people in front of you coming down while you’re still on the lift.  Pick out someone or group of ability level you are and watch where they go.  Follow where they go, or if you want to avoid the herd, go where less of a pack goes, especially on a powder day to get more of the untracked.

Watch for traverse lines that seem to lead to nowhere…many times these lead to the local, secret spots.  When you’re on these traverses, look down hill as you’re going along.  The next run you may want to start you down from the traverse sooner or keep going farther out.  Look for the nearest lift if you can see one.

Ride the same lift at least twice and keep watching the people ahead of you.   You can even follow people of your ability level and make new friends.  This sport is a social event, isn’t it?  Buy someone a beer or hot chocolate and ask them to talk about how many years they’ve had a yearly pass.  You’ll make a new friend in no time.

·         Interior Motives:  tahoeinteriormotives.com

·         Lester Stuck, Contractor:  530-308-4847

·         Tilley Plumbing, Bruce Tilley:  775-815-8517

·         Guild Mortgage:  Debbie Humphrey:  guildmortgage.com

·         Old Republic Title Co.:  Jenny Lane:  ortc.com

·         Ameriprise Financial  Services,  Rick Gross:  ampf.com

·         Sierra Ski & Cycle Works, Gary Bell:  sierraskiandcycleworks.com

·         Aspen Environmental Planning,  Mike Dill:  530-545-9323

·         RSN Television, Pete Loughlin:  rsn.com

·         KTHO Radio, Curtis Fong:  kthoradio.com

·         BioSpirit Message, Teresa Bertrand:  massagetahoe.com

·         Nepheles Restaurant, Tim Halloran:  nepheles.com

·         Heavenly Lake Tahoe:  skiheavenly.com

·         Kirkwood Mountain Resort:  Kirkwood.com

·         Alpine Meadows:  skialpine.com

·         Sierra-at-Tahoe:  sierraattahoe.com

·         Sugar Bowl:  sugarbowl.com

·         Squaw Valley USA:  squaw.com

·         Mt. Rose Ski Tahoe:  skirose.com

·         Mammoth Mountain Ski Area:  mammothmountain.com

·         North American Ski Training Center:  skinastc.com

*    Overland Meat Company:  overlandmeatco.com

Your Jewel in the Pines is your passport to the Tahoe lifestyle…active, outdoor, peaceful, thrilling times all wrapped into home ownership.  I know this is all true, because I’ve lived and enjoyed everything Lake Tahoe has to offer for over 30 years.

This blog is about helping you make your dreams a reality, with support from the best people and places in the Lake Tahoe area.

Welcome to wally the realtor’s blog…your passport to finding your Jewel in the Pines.

He made them the right length of the day of course…when I raised my hand, the tip of the skis touched the middle of my palm.

Those were the days of rope tows, where you’d go through a few pairs of gloves each season…surface lifts like t-bars…and no grooming.  You wore leather boots with laces.  Later the leather boots came with buckles…”Are You Still Lacing While Others Are Racing?”

Still later in the 60s, Head and Hart ski companies made metal skis with steel edges and better bindings.  Breaking a leg was more common in those days than blowing out a knee, although that happened too.

In the early 70s, I remember having a pair of Fischer Presidents, 215cm., that were racing screamers…they just wanted to go straight.

Now this season is my 53^rd of still being excited about the coming season and this awesome sport.  I’ve moved from Chicago to Minneapolis, to Salt Lake City, and for more than 30years now, South Lake Tahoe.

Gone are the old school 215cm skis and cumbersome boots…well let’s face it, the boots are still a little tough to get in and out of throughout the day.

So now we have much shorter skis, the world cup racers are typically using 160s for a giant slalom race… I now have a pair of 181s fat skis, that measure 98mm. under foot, that I mostly use for big powder days.  Of course the boots now fit like a glove, if they’re sized right, and the bindings are much, much safer and release in all sorts of directions.