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Resort Guide

Lake Tahoe, often simply known as ‘Tahoe’ is a large and beautiful Alpine lake in California’s Sierra Nevada mountains. 22 miles (35km) long from north to south, the border between California and Nevada runs through it, a point of interest to tourists largely because the different laws in each state have an impact on après ski activities! The lake is surrounded by a ring of spectacular mountains, within which 13 ski areas are located – so you can stay a fortnight and ski a different each each day. Six of the largest resorts – Heavenly, Squaw, Kirkwood, Alpine Meadows, Northstar and Sierra at Tahoe are included in a joint pass available to international guests.

Ski areas are located all around the lake with Northstar, Squaw Valley and Alpine Meadows at the north end and Heavenly, Kirkwood and Sierra at Tahoe at the south. The big choice of skiing means all the resorts have to stay competitive and offer excellent experiences. The seven smaller areas each tries to carve its niche and generally offer lower cost tickets, albeit for smaller ski areas.

Boreal is known for its regular night skiing up to 9pm every day of the season rather than just weekends as is usually the case. Soda Springs is a small beginners area that you can rent privately if you have the wherewithal. It is one of the closest areas to Reno and Truckee in the north. Donner is one of the oldest resorts in the area, founded in 1946, along with nearby Sugarbowl. Homewood, by contrast, is one of the newer resorts, opened in 1970. It offers great views of Lake Tahoe from 90% of its trails. Mt Rose is the closest ski area to Reno and has the highest base in the Tahoe region, along with the Northwest Magnum Express six seat chairlift which can transport skiers to the resort summit in four minutes. Sugarbowl was the the site of California's first chairlift and is the closest major Tahoe resort to Northern California's main population centres. Finally, Tahoe Donner has a friendly family atmosphere and incorporates a confidence-building beginner/intermediate ski area.

Most visitors are likely to spend much of their time at the larger resorts however, and Heavenly on South Lake Tahoe is one of the biggest in North America. The resort is now owned by Vail and the South Lake Tahoe area at its base (the most developed around Tahoe) has seen about a billion dollars spent on improvements over the past decade. Heavenly has spectacular views of the lake and spectacular skiing over 100m (3300ft) of vertical with runs up to five-and-a-half miles (eight kilometers) long and bases in both California and Nevada.

Squaw Valley is the leading area at the north of the Lake. The site of the 1960 Winter Olympics, it has a huge number of chair lifts, a ski-in resort at Squaw Creek opened in the early 1990s, a new base village and more than 4,000 acres of terrain.

Other larger resorts include Kirkwood which has a European feel and a large amount of cross-country skiing and Northstar which has seen a lot of investment in a new resort base and new ski areas opened up on the mountain in recent years.

Beginners

All of Lake Tahoe’s ski areas offer great facilities and ski schools for beginners. If you want the least intimidating ski area, it is probably the smallest, Soda springs. However big resorts like Heavenly and Squaw both have all the excellent facilities you expect from North American skiing – convenient rentals, ticketing and ski school buildings, separate nursery areas, dedicated lifts and special programmes for beginners in ski school.

Intermediates

It’s difficult to know where to begin, or to end, if you’re an intermediate level skier, with access to more than 500 runs you can ski spread across more than a dozen ski areas. Where do you choose to go each morning? Between them, the six largest resorts offer 18,000 acres (7,300 hectares) of terrain – similar to the giant multi-resort areas of Europe, and you really need to stay all winter to be able to check them all out.

Advanced

Several of the world’s top ski racers, past and present, grew up in the Tahoe area, as testimony to those seeking challenging terrain. Thirty percent of Heavenly’s terrain is classified advanced and there are famous runs to try such as Gunbarrel, along with off piste tree skiing. Squaw, home to famous freestyle skier and Olympic gold medalist Jonny Moseley, is equally well equipped. Try the infamous KT-22 peak and, if you’re brave or fool hardy, the previously-thought-unskiable 75 Chute.

Of the smaller ski areas Homewood has been voted best powder tree skiing resort in the US by 'Outside' magazine. Sugarbowl has some of the steepest descents in California.

Snowboarding

Given the Californian surf scene and laid back atmosphere it’s no surprise that boarding is very, very big around Tahoe – arguably more than anywhere else on the planet. With the buying power of the boarding community here, the resorts compete to offer boarders more than their neighbours, driving standards and the availability of terrain park facilities ever higher.

Other Activities and Facilities

There is a huge choice of things to do around Lake Tahoe and its resorts. The long list includes sleigh rides, dog sledding, snowmobiling, tubing and ice skating. Heavenly has its casinos and also offers hot air ballooning. You can also travel between Heavenly and Squaw Valley across Lake Tahoe on a paddle steamer which offers evening meals and dancing. Other options include ecological tours at alpine Meadows. There are tennis and swimming club and an Action Zone with bungee trampoline at Northstar and new snow sports like snow bikes and scooters at Sierra at Tahoe.

Après Ski and Dining Out

All of Lake Tahoe’s medium and larger ski areas have their own resort bases with a selection of dining and night spot options. The biggest area spreads along South Lake Tahoe which has been upgraded dramatically over the past five years. The area crosses the state line and giant casinos tower up a few inches in to Nevada. Besides gambling these have excellent leisure facilities, restaurants, night clubs and shows, all at exceptionally good value.

Families

As with all other aspects of your ski holiday, Lake Tahoe’s ski areas are all well equipped for families, so you simply take the best standards of family ski holiday provision and multiply it by lucky 13 (the number of ski areas to choose from). Heavenly has daycare for the youngest children, from two months old. At Homewood, Kirkwood, Northstar and Sierra at Tahoe children are accepted from age two with ski lessons available from age three. The other areas have children’s ski school starting from age three and four, with all centres offering special children’s classes.

Accommodation in Lake tahoe

• Best Western Station House - 3 star, bed & breakfast
• Big Pines Mountain House - 3 star, bed & breakfast
• Embassy Suites Lake Tahoe - 5 star, bed & breakfast
• Forest Suites Resort - 3 star, bed & breakfast
• Forest Suites Resort - 3 star, bed & breakfast
• Harrahs - 4 star, bed & breakfast
• Harveys Lake Tahoe - 3 star, bed & breakfast
• Horizon Casino Resort - 3 star, room only
• Marriott Grand Residence Club - 5 star, room only
• Mont Bleu Resort Casino & Spa - 4 star, room only
• Resort At Squaw Creek - 4 star, room only
• Squaw Valley Lodge - 4 star, room only
• Squaw Valley Lodge - 4 star, room only
• The Ridge - 4 star, room only
• Village At Squaw Valley - 3 star, room only

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