The Tahoe Hustle: Avalanches, Trams, and a Record-Breaking Winter

After an incredible summer working the beach club on Catalina Island, the snow was calling my name again. But before I made Catalina my permanent year-round home, I had one more mountain to conquer: Lake Tahoe, California.

I packed up my trusty Jeep once again, but this time I wasn't going alone. I brought along my friend Kyle, who I actually met working on Catalina. In a crazy small-world twist, he is also originally from Michigan! He had never really traveled outside of the island, so introducing him to the mountain lifestyle was a huge part of this adventure.

The Housing Jackpot

Unlike Steamboat Springs or Catalina, this was my first seasonal job that did not provide employee housing. Finding a place to live in a ski town is notoriously difficult, but we struck absolute gold.

We managed to secure a beautiful log cabin to rent with one other roommate, located just 12 minutes from the resort. It had a hot tub and sat right at the base of some backcountry hills. Our landlords were incredibly accommodating and even let us borrow their snowshoes so we could hike up the hills right in our backyard and snowboard back down.

The Craziest Commute in California

For my mountain job, I worked at Palisades. But I didn't work at the base, I worked at the very top of the mountain. My daily commute literally consisted of riding the aerial tram up to work.

While it sounds incredible (and it was), there was a massive catch. The year we lived in Tahoe was a record-breaking year for snow. With massive snowfall comes high winds and extreme avalanche danger. In fact, it was so bad that an avalanche actually took out some apartment buildings lower down the mountain while we were there.

Because of the high winds and avalanche risks, the tram had to shut down constantly. And if the tram shut down, my job was closed for the day.

The Side-Hustle Survival Guide

While the management and staff at the top of the mountain were incredibly fun, working a job that is only open half the time is not exactly lucrative.

To make rent, I went into full hustle mode. I picked up DoorDash and Instacart shifts, dog sat, and nannied, whatever I could do to make a buck. Eventually, I landed a second job at 22 Bistro at the bottom of the mountain. I absolutely loved it there, but because it wasn't owned by the resort, I still had to keep my mountain job just to maintain my free ski pass.

Palisades vs. Northstar (And The Traffic Reality)

If you are planning a ski trip to Tahoe, let me give you a piece of insider advice: be prepared for the traffic.

There is essentially only one road in and one road out of Palisades and Northstar. On a busy powder day, you can easily sit in traffic for two to three hours. We learned very quickly that if we wanted to secure parking and actually make it to work, we had to leave ridiculously early.

On my days off, I had access to three mountains: Palisades, Alpine (through my job), and Northstar (I bought an Epic Pass). While my housemates loved Palisades, I found it to be much more geared toward skiers. As a snowboarder, I vastly preferred Northstar. When the traffic wasn't insane, the tree runs at Northstar were my absolute favorite place to be.

Exploring Beyond the Slopes

Even with the job stress and the traffic, we made the absolute most of our time in Northern California.

We took a day trip down to Heavenly Ski Resort, which offers the most surreal experience of snowboarding while looking directly down at the massive blue lake. Because we were within driving distance of the coast, we even squeezed in a weekend road trip to San Francisco to see the Golden Gate Bridge.

The People Make the Place

Seasonal work isn't for everyone. It can be exhausting, unpredictable, and financially stressful. But for the right people, it is everything.

Seeing Kyle experience the mountains for the first time was incredible. He fell so deeply in love with the winter seasonal life that he is now bouncing around working different seasonal jobs, recently landing in Jackson Hole. Knowing I got to be a part of introducing him to a lifestyle he loves so much is exactly why I do this. You meet people along the way who might just be temporary, but others become lifelong friends.

As the snow melted in Tahoe, I knew exactly where I was heading next. It was time to go back to Catalina Island and this time, I wasn't leaving after just a few months.