USA Trip , day 3 - 26th January

Woke at 4 a.m. and tried to get back to sleep. Gave up at 7 and went for a full breakfast in the hotel. We kitted up - first mistake of the trip - trying to put on ski boots on a full stomach at altitude. We waited an age for the complimentary bus to arrive, which then took us around the other casinos and finally deposited us at the base of the gondola about an hour after we got to the bus stop. We picked up our ski passes (pre-ordered through Ski-I, who also booked our accommodation) with no fuss and took the gondola up to the Heavenly ski area. The views from the gondola over Lake Tahoe were truly spectacular. Some reporters express disappointment at the way the casinos spoil the view from here. To be honest, they're only marginally worse than the rest of South Lake Tahoe.

We chose a nice easy green run to get ourselves into the groove, which went pretty well, then took a blue run down to Sky Deck area then up to the highest point of the mountain. As blue (intermediate) runs go, these were pretty flattering, and we had a very pleasant ski down the Ridge Run. The views over Lake Tahoe from this high point were stunning. Similarly, the views in the other direction over the plains of Nevada were pretty good too.

Today is Australia Day, and it became pretty clear that a high proportion of the staff in the ski resort hail from those parts. Those not working were having a party on the slopes – lots of green and gold, including helium balloons, lots of noise and by the looks of things, lots of booze.

We were pretty knackered by the middle of the afternoon, so returned to the California side, and took the gondola down to the "village". The bus back to the hotel was pretty efficient, but we resolved to use the jeep next day.

We wandered around the town to try and find somewhere to eat - easier said than done - you need to drive to sample the full range of restaurants. We ended up at Kalanis - and enjoyed some excellent Japanese fusion cuisine. The restaruant was full of families, all in town for the weekend.