023 - 7 Things To Do In A Winterless Mountain Town
Saturday, January 24, 2026
I moved to California last year with the intention of re-setting after living in NYC for four years, exploring my creative self (cheesy but true), and skiing excessively in the mountains in winter. So I signed up for my first ski lease with a bunch of friends-of-friends who I had never met before. Now I have a beautiful house in Lake Tahoe from January through early May and couldn’t be happier. Although there is still a seven-hour drive keeping us apart, it’s better than a six-hour plane ride from NYC.
Despite all this excitement, there is no snow in Tahoe. They’ve had two storms at this point, which were amazing and I relished in them, but now the snow has melted and it’s 50 degrees every day with no sign of another storm. Now I’m in this house with new friends, making the best of a snowless situation—which is still better than not being in the mountains. So here’s a list of things to do in a ski town when there’s no snow for skiers to play with.
Play Jenga — My housemate and I have a streak of playing Jenga every night. After dinner, we sit on the couch scrolling phones until someone says, “Jenga?!” at which point we drop everything and set up course. I’m down 3–8. And the only reason I’ve won three games is because he started pulling cubes from the bottom. So basically he isn’t even playing against me and is actually just playing against himself. Also, the cubes are old and wobble on their own. Or maybe that’s what I tell myself because I don’t think I’ve ever been worse at a game. I touch the cube and it wobbles. Meanwhile, he pulled off a karate chop at one point. So that’s that.
Cook — I love to cook, but often I’m uninspired and don’t cook because I can’t fathom cleaning up. In this kitchen, though, we have every gadget under the sun (thank you to the owners) and all the time in the world. The house is cozy, the people are fun, and I feel at peace. I scroll NYT Cooking until I find a fun recipe to make and leisurely cook, not stressed about the time it takes to clean up since there’s nowhere to go or be.
Sauna — Tragically, we don’t have a sauna on the premises, but there’s a sauna at the gym, and on the weekends there’s a pop-up sauna on the beach. There’s nothing like a sauna in the cold. My dream is to have a sauna boat on the water one day.
Jump in a lake — At the end of a workday, there’s not much to do at sunset. But there’s something inspiring and challenging about doing a polar plunge in the beautiful Lake Tahoe. Every time I do it, I’m mesmerized by the clear lake. It’s astonishing and beautiful that a lake so close to a big metropolitan city like San Francisco hasn’t been polluted. Please keep it that way.
Have sex — Obvious. Duh. Say less.
Pool / darts / eat popcorn at a bar — There’s something so classic about going to a bar in a ski town to play pool or darts (dealer’s choice) and eat popcorn. If you aren’t drinking, get a Coke; if you are, have a $5 Miller Lite. Always a good time and so easy to make friends and hear interesting stories.
Hot tub poaching — Nothing like a hot tub after skiing. You can jump in the snow and go back in the hot tub, you can drink alcohol, you can kiss your lover… the possibilities are endless.