Best resort at Tahoe-

I'm prob biased because I work there but sugar bowl is one of my personal favorites good variety of terrain.

kirkwood for me, they seem to get the best and most snow combined with great terrain and moderate crowds! So I'll drive further to get to it;)

Kirkwood has the best snow and terrain.  If its raining at the other Tahoe resorts it'll probably be snowing at Kirkwood.

Kirkwood doesn't have the best lodge amenities, its kind of a no frills resort, slow lifts but great terrain, good snow and a lot less people specially on holiday weekends.  People are more chill here.

Squaw is good too and has much more amenities than Kirkwood but it's a lot more crowded this year. 

Sugarbowl is always underrated with their terrain, I've had great pow days at Sugarbowl

Northstar has definitively built up its amenities since I started but it gets crowded, snow is ok, I think the best park setup.

I despise Heavenly because of crowds and other personal experiences, at least its close to hotels.  Stick to the Nevada side if you go here. 

Alpine is good too and not as crowded as other resorts.  Great terrain, its close to Squaw.

Homewood has some good tree riding and its cheap.

For terrain:
1.  Kirkwood (chairs 6, 10, 4)
2.  Squaw (KT-22, be prepared to wait on a pow day)
3.  Sugarbowl
4.  Alpine

For best overall including amenities
1.  Squaw (if its snowed recently, but it'll be crowded)
2.  Kirkwood (bare bones park, best terrain)
3.  Northstar (best park in Tahoe)
4.  Sugarbowl/Alpine

Heavenly is the one resort I don't mind being a skier's only resort.  Then I would have an excuse not to go there when my group wants to go there.

I want to go to Sugarbowl and Alpine more often

I like Sierra, is closest to the bay. And is only 20 min. away from S.Lake casinos. The runs are perfect length for me. Parks are great. Lots of tree runs. Snow is second to kirk to my experience. People are chill. Groomers are perfect and well maintained. 

Top 3 (in my opinion) are Sugarbowl, Kirkwood, and Heavenly.

I like Northstar for mid-week shred time. 

Boreal is a great place for park, Sierra is awesome and close to where I stay.  I like Sugar Bowl and Kirkwood, but my crew needs a bit more time for progression before season passes are worth it there. 

1. kirkwood
2. sierra
3. mt rose
4. squaw/heavenly
5. alpine
6. sugar bowl
7. homewood
8. northstar
9. boreal

squaw and heavenly tie because i can't stand the amount of people even mid-week at both. as people have said before stick to nevada if you go to heavenly. california side is really only worth it if you're there when it opens, its dumping, and parks are open.

if you've never ridden at squaw at least make the trip once. also, while i ranked N* near the bottom they do have the best terrain park.

Alpine (If you are willing to hike, the bowls are AMAZING - I'm a bit biased though..)
Squaw (so much terrain, you can usually find what you are looking for)
Northstar (for the park and backside trees)
SugarBowl (fun mountain, fewer people)
Mt Rose (because of the chutes)
Kirkwood

Kirkwood!!

Who has the best snow...this late in the season?

Originally posted by carebear Who has the best snow...this late in the season?

Kirkwood and Squaw for sure.

I like Heavenly, mostly only because of the convenience of having all the hotel casinos there and stuff to do when NOT riding. Plus there's nothing like riding down the Ridge run on a clear day and seeing the entire lake in front of you. Beautiful.

I like northstar alot. but you should go during the week days, you can probably avoid the crowd by doing so. I went there on a sunday, it was so crowded when we were waiting for the Gondolas. but once you got up to the snowboarding area, it gets less crowded as people head to different trails. much shorter wait for lifts

Originally posted by pat_tical 1. kirkwood 2. sierra 3. mt rose 4. squaw/heavenly 5. alpine 6. sugar bowl 7. homewood 8. northstar 9. boreal squaw and heavenly tie because i can't stand the amount of people even mid-week at both. as people have said before stick to nevada if you go to heavenly. california side is really only worth it if you're there when it opens, its dumping, and parks are open. if you've never ridden at squaw at least make the trip once. also, while i ranked N* near the bottom they do have the best terrain park.

Kirkwood. Then it's a tie between Sierra and Heavenly depending on whether I'm on my way in, out or staying in South Lake.

How long has Kirkwood been open? It's fairly new right?

I have only rode in South Tahoe as well and the three resorts there are great. if you go to SLT you shouldn´t miss the bumps at heavenly and the woods in the nevada side, "the wall" and parks at kirkwood and the parks at sierra. Have fun!

Does Heavenly have enough terrain variety to keep me interested for a month and a half stay? I will be getting a 5Wood pass to Kirkwood to do day trips, but i'm just wondering if i'll hate Heavenly by the end of it all

Heavenly

motts canyon has some fun stuff if they aren't avy blasting...

The lure of heavenly :
-its free for Epic pass holders- I've got 20+ days there in the past few years of trips
-Its close to hotels/nightlife
-Its a very large resort
-The trees are great there(CO Trees are generally closer together = trees of death) and there are always pow stashes to be found that aren't tracked out

- From what I've seen, the Tahoe Vibe is MUCH more accepting of snowboarders---You don't get those: "why the fuckkk are you on my mountain looks" that you get from the angry skiers at Vail.

I went to Heavenly late in the season a  couple years back and it wasn't that bad.  Definitely not a snowboarders resort though.  Their park sucks, pretty sure their staff don't know how to build jumps.

I will definitely have to try out Kirkwood and Sugarbowl this season.

thats definitely kind of the norm for squaw, some people, (myself included) like that they dont groom a lot of the mountain. They try for that whole natural vibe. and much agreed on northstar on the wknds.. those lines are a killer. vertical plus is a must, but even then, it can be ridiculous at times.

everybody stay away from tahoe...especially the north side...just stay away!

i'm glad i see some ppl in favor of heavenly because i'll be there for a half of january with some friends

if you want not too big, good for less than pro level folks (also good for families), a beautiful lake view, a cool board park, and cheap, then i think it is tough to beat diamond peak in north tahoe (incline).