We are off to Tahoe on Friday for a week ... super wohoo!!

BUT ... looking at the weather for SLT its agonna be snowing and our eastern carvers aren't gonna make it on ungroomed slopes or powder. SO ... looking for recommendations for rentals .... Midfats? We tried Rossi B2's earlier this month at Snowshoe when we lucky enuf to be up there for the 19" dump. But that was nice fluffy stuff, not Sierra cement. The B2's did okay, I wasn't terribly impressed, maybe it was the demo bindings.

Any and all suggestions are welcome. Skier levels are:
me= intermediate - blue groomer
my female offspring = advanced - groomed blacks and double blacks
Both of us have negligible powder experience.

URGENT .. need as soon as possible so we can reserve. And that brings up the important question as to what is the best shop in the South Lake Tahoe area for rentals?

Thanks for any help.

Skiing some of the huge dumps in past years here in the Mid alantic, and some decent storms in vermont. I would just say anything big enough to kepp you above the snow. A 90-100mm waist ski will keep you from ever really having to "muscle" turns in heavy snow. Remember you can probably go stiffer than what you are use to too. It is much easier to bend a ski in soft snow, and the groomer out there are going to be much softer than what we have here. Have fun out west, and lets usknow what ski you used and how they did.

Sierra cement might actually be lighter than WV powder!!

I tried some Elan M666 midfats this year, in WV powder and crud, and fell in love with them. They make crud skiing a lot easier than my Fischer RX-8 (which are pretty dedicated hardpack carving skis). The M666 have a 76mm waist, and are very stiff, but smooth. They float/plow over stuff which would deflect the RX-8. Crud skiing used to be a challenge for me, but the M666 make it easy. So consider that a vote for mid-fats. Of course, if you're only skiing west coast, you can go even wider. Elan M777 and M999 are further up the chain from the M666, as an example.

Don't know about the best, but Tahoe Demo Center and the Boot and Bike works at the base of Heavenly have been very good to me.

Other models:
Head im72/ wild thang/82 maybe
Dynastar 4800/8000
Volkl AC3 (& AC2 depending on weight)
K2 Lotta Luv/Recon

(basically you want a pow-capable bump ski).

Thanks guys ... for giving me a couple of good starting points. I am really looking forward to Tahoe .. haven't been out there for several years and with some good snow coming on, its going to be awesome!

The snow levels were real high yest (82to8300') but according to yesterdays report they should be lowering just for you all in the coming days!

It was raining all the way up to 8500' today but will be dropping soon....Good timing on your trip!

We've been really lucky this year; SLC, Snowshoe and now Tahoe ... great weather, lots of snow. Yipee!!!

Try Tahoe Dave's. They have shops all over Tahoe.

BTW - On Monday, it was actually raining & snowing at 9700':(