Tales From The Trip | KINGVALE
by: Joe Carter
photos: Kevin Westenbarger, Joe Carter
People that live in mountain towns like Mammoth are lucky that get to
snowboard everyday at someplace really cool but sometimes we need to
get the hell out of here. I think it was on Tuesday that we just
decided to head up to the Reno and Tahoe area to see some friends and
check out a hidden gem we had all heard about in North Lake called
Kingvale and from there we had no plans and would see where the next
day would take us. So Thursday night we headed up there with a crew
of Kyle Lopicillo, Matt Moriaty, Kevin Westenbarger to take photos and
myself. Heading 3 hours North to stay the night at our some of our
friends pad for the night to head to Kingvale the next morning. Of
course not without stopping at the mandatory stop at in-n-out. That
Friday morning we piled our stuff into the car and headed up the very
scenic route 80 to North Lake to someplace very different than any ski
area I have ever been to. As you roll up you see sick rail lines,
propane tanks, boxes, some jumps, and some other shit you've never seen
before that the creative minds of the snowboarders that fully own and
operate Kingvale's parks set up perfectly for anyone to come and ride
all day with one of the most relaxed atmosphere, vibes and cheap lift
tickets. They only charge 22 dollars for a day and 120 for a season
pass for a park will never be the same for more than a week, the reason
they are always changing is because every weekends they have a snow
tubing area were the lower area of the park is, so they always are
coming up with new ideas, new setups and really cool different
features. With so many insane setups they already have Kingvale is
only in it's baby stages with huge plans for expansion in the future to
add way more terrain. So if you are someone that spends a lot of their
time in the park and you happen to be in the North Lake Tahoe area
during the week make sure to mark Kingvale for one of your stops and
support something really cool and different that is a place truly owned
and operated only by people that snowboard. I would like to say thank
you to Day, Shaun, Mike and the rest of the very friendly and hard
working staff at Kingvale for making such a cool place and giving us on
the trip an awesome experience. Anybody that doesn't get to a
chance check this place out it's your loss.
- Joe Carter
Stay tuned for Tales from the Trip | Tahoe part two