California/Nevada Need Lake Tahoe primer - where to stay, how to get arround, etc

[soerenberg]

I have never skied Lake Tahoe and got the idea I like to put another pin on my map. Hoping snow ill come. Planning 7 days in mid February.
I usually do Vail, Snowmass, Park City, Telluride, etc

In general I am looking for some guidance on how "to do" Lake Tahoe. Where to stay, how to get around, do I need several tickets,..
One big difference out of the gate appears to be lodging. It seems ski-in/out is not very common.
Any thoughts/tips are very welcome!

 

[Pequenita]

Do you know which resorts you're planning or would like to ski? Generally, there is North Lake Tahoe and South Lake Tahoe. They're not particularly close and even farther apart when there is weather. It's possible to do them all, but just know that you could be driving a bit. The advice you receive will depend on where you plan to ski.

 

[Philpug]

Epic or Ikon? If you are thinking Ikon, North Lake. Epic, South Lake. For ski in/ski out, (Ikon) Palisades, (Epic) Northstar and Heavenly.

 

[soerenberg]

Epic or Ikon? If you are thinking Ikon, North Lake. Epic, South Lake. For ski in/ski out, (Ikon) Palisades, (Epic) Northstar and Heavenly.

This year neither (so far)

 

[soerenberg]

Do you know which resorts you're planning or would like to ski? Generally, there is North Lake Tahoe and South Lake Tahoe. They're not particularly close and even farther apart when there is weather. It's possible to do them all, but just know that you could be driving a bit. The advice you receive will depend on where you plan to ski.

to tell you the truth I don't know. I googled "Best places" to ski in Lake Tahoe. I know some friends did Heavenly

 

[jgiddyup]

Cheapest option South Lake or stay in Reno then North Lake and MT Rose. Phil mentioned the ski in/out options except Kirkwood (30 miles south of South Lake) but not much going on after lifts close. My first timer recommendation would be Palisades ski in/out and the village has a decent amount of après ski diversions. You can also take short jaunts (15-20min) from there to Truckee or Tahoe City for a little more variety in the evening.

 

[Tricia]

This year neither (so far)

I believe they are no longer on sale.

You can buy 4 packs of tickets for Palisades Tahoe which gives you access to both Pali and Alpine

Tickets & Passes

All lift tickets & passes work at both mountains.

www.palisadestahoe.com

Ironcially I just had this ad pop up for Sierra at Tahoe. I've never been there before but some members here havea bunch of experience there. @textrovert @4ster for example.

 

[Andy Mink]

Are you wanting to do après? In that case Palisades and Northstar, maybe Heavenly if you want to be close to gaming. If you want to pin several areas I'd stay in Reno. From there it's about the same distance time wise (less than an hour in good conditions) to Diamond Peak, Mt. Rose, Northstar, and Palisades. A little further to Sugar Bowl.

 

[soerenberg]

Après ski is not a must. At least not a party scene.
Would you recommend hitting several places if staying 7 days? And if so, I am assuming rental car is the way to go? How is parking?
Would it be reasonable to stay in South Lake? Seems like there is just more more choice.

 

[Bill Miles]

A few years back, I stayed in South Lake Tahoe because I had a timeshare deal. I hit Heavenly, Palisades, and Kirkwood. Fair amount of driving for the latter two.

 

[raytseng]

I think your request is too vague. You need to give a specific question or express some preferences on what is most important to you for this trip; with a choice to be made. No human here is going to write a generic travel guide just for you.

But lo and behold, travel guides already exist!
Read up first here and it will explain all the basics to you, then come back with a more specific questions through the lens of your preferences and your interests:

Lake Tahoe Ski Resorts | Tahoe Skiing

The are many Lake Tahoe ski resorts in California and Nevada. Tahoe skiing and snowboarding is renowned for the plentiful snow, varied terrain, amazing scenery, and vibrant nightlife.

www.powderhounds.com

If you can't be bothered or are overwhelmed to come to any final decisions by yourself and need someone to help do your travel planning; sign up for ChatGPT and AI will be happy to work with you and regurgitate something to you in conversational form, then come back here with your draft and ask us real humans what you are having trouble with.

 

[snwbrdr]

I have never skied Lake Tahoe and got the idea I like to put another pin on my map. Hoping snow ill come. Planning 7 days in mid February.
I usually do Vail, Snowmass, Park City, Telluride, etc

In general I am looking for some guidance on how "to do" Lake Tahoe. Where to stay, how to get around, do I need several tickets,..
One big difference out of the gate appears to be lodging. It seems ski-in/out is not very common.
Any thoughts/tips are very welcome!

Fly into Reno.... then you can get shuttle services or rent a car.

Other than that, you're too vague. Once you pick your resort(s), then people can further help you

 

[dbostedo]

Would you recommend hitting several places if staying 7 days? And if so, I am assuming rental car is the way to go? How is parking?

To briefly answer a few questions (and keeping in mind I've only skied Palisades among all the resorts)...

• I wouldn't recommend more than 2 or 3 places in a week, and if there's snow driving around the area can be a bear. On my trips, I tend to stay in one place more, and would probably pick one resort and stay close, then decide if I wanted to drive elsewhere as I got closer to the trip and understood the likely conditions.
• Driving all the way around the lake to get to resorts, depending on where you stay, can take a while. For instance, without traffic or weather, South Lake Tahoe is about an hour from Palisades and Northstar, but close to Heavenly.
• The major resorts are Palisades (incl. Alpine Meadows), Northstar, and Heavenly. The others are more secondary, though still popular - Sugar Bowl, Sierra, Mt. Rose, Diamond Peak, Kirkwood, Homewood, and some smaller ones.
• Palisades is Ikon, Heavenly and Northstar and Kirkwood are Epic. Since you don't have a pass/lift tickets yet, know that those places will likely have $150+ day tickets. The smaller places will be a lot cheaper. For instance, if buying a 4 day pass in advance to Palisades, mid-Feb, it is currently $639, or $159.75 per day. A 3-day pass to Sierra-at-Tahoe is currently $267, or $89 per day.

I agree with others on getting to some more specific questions... are you good with lots of travel/driving? How much of a budget are you on? What are you looking for in terrain, lodging, or nightlife? Etc.

 

[Tony]

While one big storm can change everything, are you sure you should be booking Tahoe 1 1/2 months from now when ski areas are reporting 16 and 17" (Diamond Peak, Heavenly) to 50, 54 and 59" (Kirkwood, Sugar Bowl, Mt Rose) total snowfall? That means Diamond Peak and Heavenly are limited to runs with man-made snow. Palisades is at 39". All data from OpenSnow post yesterday.

Some other advice/comments:
1. Without a car, it is difficult to ski more than area. (I no longer count the two sides of Palisades as two areas.) I drove from South Lake Tahoe (less than a mile from Stateline/Heavenly gondola) on 12/5 to ski Palisades. It took an hour with very little traffic and no stops or weather besides frost on roads in some places. This was going around Emerald Bay which is beautiful and worth seeing at least once, but closes with much new snow.
2. Even with pass blackouts, you probably don't want to ski Sat or Sun of President's weekend (or any Saturday) or the following week as most Bay Area schools are off and lift and lodging prices will be high. So 2/11-2/16 will be less busy than 2/18-2/23.
3. Northstar is $269/day walkup or advance for the rest of this week and Palisades is similar.

 

[Tricia]

Après ski is not a must. At least not a party scene.
Would you recommend hitting several places if staying 7 days? And if so, I am assuming rental car is the way to go? How is parking?
Would it be reasonable to stay in South Lake? Seems like there is just more more choice.

South Lake has a lot of lodging options, but less ski options. Heavenly, Sierra at Tahoe, Kirkwood
North lake has Northstar, Palisades/Alpine, Sugarbowl, Diamond Peak, Mt Rose.

You could make it a non resort, hit the smaller hills ski trip and get a ton of good skiing in. Mt Rose, Diamond Peak, Sugar Bowl, then maybe take a day trip to south lake to hit Sierra at Tahoe.
Lots of great skiing without going to a mega resort.

 

[soerenberg]

I ended up booking at the Marriott Grande Residence club, so by Heavenly Gondola.
Since I did everything late this year I don't have any Season passes and I believe I also missed out on the local pass. Are there any tricks for tickets if I want to try other places (other than Heavenly)?

 

[Philpug]

Are there any tricks for tickets if I want to try other places (other than Heavenly)?

Mt. Rose has something going on for a few days , Senior Mondays, "Two for Tuesdays" and "Ladies Day" on Thursdays.

I am not sure about the other resorts.

 

[New2]

I ended up booking at the Marriott Grande Residence club, so by Heavenly Gondola.
Since I did everything late this year I don't have any Season passes and I believe I also missed out on the local pass. Are there any tricks for tickets if I want to try other places (other than Heavenly)?

Sierra-at-Tahoe's $267 pass-for-the-rest-of-the-season is potentially a good deal... it's a fun mountain, not much of a drive from S. Lake Tahoe, and you could certainly have several days of fun there. Heavenly and Kirkwood are both Vail properties, so I wouldn't expect any particular deals.

 

[soerenberg]

How about at Heavenly itself. Just walk up to window or is thee value in advance booking?

 

[BC.]

Least when u walk up to the window to buy daily lift tickets…..there won’t be a line. You might the only guy on Earth that doesn’t have a pass of some sort….

It’s only money…Hope you have a great time!