Lake Tahoe Ski Resorts Prepare for the Holidays

Last week’s winter storm dropped up to three feet of fresh natural snow on Heavenly Mountain Resort, Northstar California Resort and Kirkwood Mountain Resort, creating a winter wonderland and allowing the resorts to open more terrain for skiers and riders hoping for a white holiday season.

“The recent storm that dropped three feet of new snow on Tahoe couldn’t have come at a better time and it insures that the Best of Tahoe resorts – Heavenly, Northstar and Kirkwood – have got you covered this holiday season,” said Bill Rock, senior vice president and chief operating officer at Northstar. “We will continue to make snow, ensuring the most amount of open terrain possible through the holidays.”

In addition to plentiful natural snow, record cold temperatures have allowed the resorts to ramp up snowmaking operations to full capacity, filling in any gaps Mother Nature may have missed.

“The difference between good snow surface conditions and great snow surface conditions has everything to do with snowmaking - snowmaking capacity, power and expertise,” said Pete Sonntag, Heavenly’s vice president and chief operating officer. “We can make more snow in a night than the other resorts in Tahoe can make in weeks. Plus, we have the West Coast’s largest snowmaking systems working around the clock to provide Tahoe’s best conditions and give guests the type of holiday experience they’ll tell their friends about.”

Along with the condition of the snow surfaces, guests also rave about the Best of Tahoe resorts’ legendary service, from the friendliness of their employees to the cleanliness of their facilities.

“We won’t open terrain just to open it. We have a standard of quality that we won’t compromise,” said Kirkwood Vice President and General Manager Casey Blann. “Because we know you’ve worked hard for your money and when you commit to spending those hard-earned dollars, and even more valuable time with loved ones with us, there’s a sense of pride that comes through in everything we do.”

Northstar is offering top-to-bottom skiing and riding with 19 trails, 10 lifts and two terrain parks with 22 features. Heavenly is now offering top-to-bottom skiing and riding on the Nevada side via Stagecoach Express, for nine miles of skiable terrain accessed by eight lifts and one medium size terrain park with 19 features. With the opening of Cornice Express on Saturday, December 14, Kirkwood will be offering four lifts with top-to-bottom skiing. Skiers and riders will now have access to over 100 acres of terrain. The Kirkwood Cross-Country center will open on Saturday with 12 kilometers of skating and snowshoeing lanes. Additionally, Kirkwood will continue to work toward opening more terrain at Timber Creek in the very near future.

“The recent snow was great, and with the continuous snowmaking, we are going to open a significant amount of terrain that other resorts just can’t compete with,” Sonntag said.

Looking toward the holidays, Heavenly plans to open a number of lifts, including Olympic Express in Nevada, and Gunbarrel Express, Patsy’s, Powderbowl Express, Canyon Express and Sky Express in California. This will give Heavenly top-to-bottom skiing in both states. Heavenly hopes to open its last base area by Dec. 21, adding the Boulder and North Bowl chairlifts.

Northstar plans to open Promised Land Express and Martis Camp Express for the weekend, giving guests access to every one of the resort’s lift pods.

“When you consider how much terrain we’ll have open relative to the competition, coupled with the service and the fun events, if you were thinking about spending your holiday ski or snowboard vacation anywhere but Heavenly, Northstar or Kirkwood, you might want to think again,” Rock said.