It may be 65 degrees in the Las Vegas Valley, but it snowed on the ski mountain a mere 30-minute drive from our house. I know, I know. The words “Las Vegas” and “snow” do not belong in the same breath, but it’s true: Las Vegas has a ski and snowboard resort that is said to rival some of the most famous mountains in Utah, and it was the first ski resort to open this winter.
So there you go.
I’ll be the first to admit that I love the warm weather that comes with Las Vegas living, so the idea of bundling up in a winter jacket and layers that involved long underwear left my teeth chattering. Add to that the fact that I haven’t skied in nearly ten years and it was a whopping 15 degrees at 9:00 on a Saturday morning when I arrived at Las Vegas Ski & Snowboard Resort and you have a fairly good idea of how I felt when I tumbled out of the car onto this place that felt a million miles from my nice warm bed.
Las Vegas Ski & Snow Resort is fairly robust considering the constraints its working within. If the mountain face was pointed even a few degrees in any other direction, the snow conditions would be drastically different, but because of its unique location in Lee’s Canyon at the base of Lee Peak, the resort is able to offer 16 trails and three chair lifts over 385 skiable acres. A large-scale renovation project expected to take 10 to 12 years to complete will increase the size of the resort to 50 trails and 10 lifts. Three special events and ski school yurts have already been built.
You know those restaurants where you wait forever to get a menu, your waiter is rude, you feel intimidated by the staff and the restaurant feels just a little untidy? Well, at Dick’s Last Resort, you get what you pay for, and what you pay for is rude and obnoxious staff and an environment where throwing paper wads at strangers is perfectly acceptable.
