Kirkwood Mountain Resort — Attraction in South Lake Tahoe

ATTENTION DAY TRIPPERS: I’m going to share an experience my friends and I had, if you could even call it an experience as we were not even able to get into the resort. This will be a lengthy post to enumerate the flaws in making a day trip to this resort.

First off, traffic was abysmal. We left Sacramento around 6 AM with an estimated arrival time of 8 AM. Not that early, mind you, but some of my friends had to wake up at 3:30 AM to get ready and leave the Bay Area in order for us to meet and make a 6 AM departure, including time for equipment consolidation between vehicles. We were unfortunately met with initial traffic along SR88 due to a tipped big rig, causing an approximate hour delay with re-routing. However, this may have been enough time to allow others to catch up and compound on the growing traffic to get into the resort.

Second of all, there is LIMITED PARKING and is NOT GUARANTEED. This information is hidden behind a link in your confirmation email. This here is the crux of the problem, exacerbated by an overselling of tickets the resort is unable to accommodate. When we arrived at the resort, the first thing we saw were cones blocking off the entrance with a few resort employees turning people away. There was also a sign posted, “Parking Full. Come back at 1:30 PM”. Really? And where do you expect us to wait? There are 10 miles of traffic backed up from where we came from, which took us 3 hours to get through on top of 2 hours of traffic caused by a tipped over big rig on top of almost 2 hours of normal driving we had to go through. Even if we wanted to wait, there’s a CHP officer stationed in front of the entrance forcing people parked on the side (who are waiting for the parking to open up) off of the road with nowhere else to go.

Which begs the following question: how does a highly rated resort exhibit such mismanagement of lift ticket sales that they cannot accommodate sufficient parking?

And if you want a refund, get this—they outsourced their customer support to the Philippines—likely because they do not want to listen to complaints such as this and want to reap as much as they possibly can to guests like myself, my friends, and all the other guests who were turned away at the entrance. If I could give 0 stars, I would. However, I will give the extra star because the refund process was smooth, with no questions asked.

I can accept and understand most forms of mismanagement but to waste everyone’s time and money, out of principle, I highly advise everyone to avoid this resort, ESPECIALLY if you are going...

Racoonfaced, the Wave prolly among favorite snow bowls, get warmed up for the Wall & Cirque (must every ski area have a wall?), except beware cliffs ahead! Had a trail plan from side to side, so explored Wave to Sentinel & Palisades with all places in between, when deep freshies & aware terrain then Kirkwood satisfies. At the time, I was skiing Heavenly more often (beside SoCal & Mammoth while long been familiar with north Tahoe from Truckee to Soda Springs) eventually had compelling urge & took a week for Kirkwood, prior visit about 18 yrs ago but unsure changes since then (edit got some impressions upon gleaning comments & other info), while capable off-piste touring beside strong endurance athlete (before injured by negligence, malevolence, terrorism, ...), was easy enough orient & find everything, beware though, could become captivated amid all the fun still need aware wilderness aspect, risks abound, beside ensure use ample amounts of sunscreen (thought I had yet still racoonfaced), maintain pace for recover, return, & do it again! Although considered south Lake Tahoe, but seems much different when traverse a pass over the Sierra Crest amid the Eldorado forest, into an alpine basin surrounded by several peaks with a water feature, Caples Lake, near base of Kirkwood Mountain Resort, higher elevation & generally colder temperatures among geographical & meteorological factors influencing ample amounts, yet rather distinct snow & terrain features. Take a tour, relax & enjoy view along the way, else prepare for Winter adventure & potentially unexpected along Hwy 88, especially heed weather forecasts even a week ahead while aware distinct patterns happening among various areas over Sierra region, ... Also consider snow conditions may vary over Kirkwood itself, either sides, features, during day & seasons, but seems dry & like sugar, than Sierra cement characteristic over areas amid lower elevation. Mebbe visit during Summer so enjoy alpine areas during all seasons beside discover what's been buried under all that snow, gets nourished by water resources, & enjoy provincial...

Kirkwood is my favorite California Ski Resort and it’s the ONLY one in my top 3 that is a big name/big brand resort, being on the epic pass. The others, Sierra and Dodge, all have a leg-up on Kirkwood simply due to much smaller crowds. Kirkwood is the least crowded of the three Vail Tahoe resorts (Northstar and Heavenly) and has the best vibe. It has the best terrain in all of tahoe - yet also has the best learning and beginner area of any major resort. It’s not only about the wall. there is plenty of thrills to be had at much lower and much higher difficulty levels. The biggest downside is that many of the lifts are fixed grip, not express lifts. However, there is an express lift to the top of the mountain and possibly the best express lift ever, timber creek express. Having an express lift in a beginner area is always a great thing, and the extremely short ride coupled with short lift lines means you can lap it like crazy at the end of your day. If snow conditions are good, it’s not just advanced skiers who get to make use of off piste terrain; its a great place for anyone to practice getting off the trail! Make the longer drive. Put on your gear. Humble yourself before the mountain, and then shred. This mountain is not your friend, it is your mentor. If your ego makes you take dumb risks, don’t go here. If you see skiing as an excuse to day drink, don’t go here. But if you want a mountain that rewards you for challenging yourself and pushes you to be a better skier, then has plenty of easy stuff to do when your legs are tired at the end of the day, you’ve found your resort. Also it has almost national-park levels of awe and beauty. When you ride the sunrise or cornice express lifts, you’ll see what I mean (if you can keep your wits about you - nothing puts you in awe of creation like standing on the top of the mountain...