Sierra-at-Tahoe Resort — Hotel in South Lake Tahoe

If you want a lesson to learn to ski, get the private lesson instead of the group lesson or you will be wasting your money! My family and I have NEVER skied before (my husband had but that is beside the point), but my 20-year-old son was really interested in learning and had talked about it for years. So we finally booked a trip to Tahoe and signed up for a group lesson. I had reviewed all the resorts in Tahoe and Sierra at Tahoe was supposed to be the best for beginners as they have a sectioned-off lesson area and a dedicated conveyor belt and hill just for learning. We bought all the clothing, goggles, gloves, etc, and rented helmets and skis and were super excited to give it a go.

Well...that excitement didn't last long. My daughter (18) and I (51) lasted about 15 minutes before we gave up and left the lesson as it moved much too quickly for us and the instructor had a hard time juggling the varying skill levels of my family and the other learning skiiers in the group who had already skied bunny hills the day before. We barely made it to the part of moving with just one ski on when she was "ready to move up the hill", but "was afraid we did not know how to stop yet." She was correct not only did we not know how to stop, we didn't even know how to start on 2 skis yet! So feeling like we were holding the group back and were not making the progress necessary to keep up, my daughter and I took off our skis, left the lesson, and watched the rest from the patio near the cafeteria. My son and husband continued with the lesson with a new instructor, who was teaching a different group how to stop, as our instructor had gone up the hill with the rest of our original group. The second instructor spent a bit more time teaching my son but was becoming frustrated with the lack of progress, which in turn frustrated my son, who then quit the lesson at about the 40-minute mark and joined his sister and me on the patio. My husband, having skied before, went off on his own to ski using the lift pass we got as part of the lesson. So even though we signed up for a 2-hour group lesson to learn to ski, the only thing we learned was that we are not capable of skiing and had just wasted over $600.

Personally, I believe that it would be a much better experience for everyone if the lessons began with an introduction of the group participants and an inquiry into their skill level and experience and then groups could be made based on that, assigning individuals with similar experience levels in the same group, as multiple group lessons were happening at the same time. This way no one gets left behind or holds up the more ready skiers.

Overall, we are disappointed as learning to ski was the entire reason for our trip and we just didn't get the experience we had hoped for. We knew that we would not become pros in one lesson, but we hoped to be able to learn the basics and at least make 1 run on the practice hill, but sadly that did not happen. Maybe if we had booked a private lesson things would have turned out...

This review is regarding my 8-years old ski lesson experience at Sierra at Tahoe,

On 12/26/2023, my son was placed in the Pioneer Program (Age Range 5-6) group with Instructor Owen. During the pickup time, Owen provided a Report Card showing my son's daily ski skill progress, and he spoke positively about my son's behavior. We appreciated this feedback, and my son expressed his enjoyment of the lesson.

For the second lesson on 12/27/2023, my son was in the Ski Explorer (Age Range 7-12) group with Instructor Banana. Banana praised my son's skiing abilities and highlighted his helpfulness in keeping the group together. Again, we were pleased with the feedback, and my son enjoyed the lesson.

However, the experience took a negative turn on 12/28/2023, my son's third and final lesson. In this session, with Instructor Danny, I observed a discrepancy in the number of kids in the group compared to the information provided by the manager. While I noted only six kids, the manager claimed Danny had 11 kids in his group, offering this as an excuse for any issues.

During pickup, Instructor Danny publicly made concerning statements about my son, including accusations of bullying and disobedience. I addressed this with Danny, expressing my dissatisfaction with his approach, and later discovered discrepancies in the markings on the Report Card he provided. Despite a previous Report Card indicating my son had completed Level 3, Danny marked progress on Levels 1 and 2, and my son's completion of Level 1 was not acknowledged.

Upon discussing these concerns with the manager, I found his response unsatisfactory. He dismissed the issue, citing an overwhelming number of kids in Danny's group, even though my observations contradicted this claim. The manager consistently provided excuses rather than attempting to address the problem.

I am writing this letter to bring these matters to your attention as someone who cares about the business's reputation. I believe addressing these issues is crucial for the well-being of the children involved and the overall success of your ski program. I hope you can investigate and take the necessary steps to ensure a positive and safe learning environment for all participants.

Thank you for your attention to this...

I grew up coming to this resort. Just recently came back and its still awesome.

Brought the kids here and was able to test out their kids program. Daughter (7 yo) had fun. She liked her instructor and made some new friends. Most importantly, she wants to go back and try again. They took care of her the entire day which includes lunch. The only thing they didn't provide was a helmet but you can rent one there. We brought our own.

Took my boy to the west bowl and was sad to see that all the trees got burned down but at least the runs are still there. Love the huge wide runs on that side. They have a high speed quad chair over there that you can ride all day. Unfortunately without the trees, not as much 'exploring' to do. Still fun though. There's also a nice smaller bar area to relax a bit on that side as well thats not as crowded as the main lodge.

The backside wasn't open when we went which I remember to be great as well.

The park was fun with a lot of hits, tabletops, rails, and well groomed jumps. We saw some slalom going on with gates and everything. All staff that we interacted with were super cool and informative as well.

Recommend to purchase your passes online and definitely reserve if you're going to take a class. Rentals got crowded as well so get there early. Also leaving was the WORST! There's only one road getting out of there and a lot of people need to make a LEFT onto the 50 which took FOREVER! Took us 1.5 hrs just to get out. It was probably due to the fact that it started snowing so traffic was backed up on the 50. If it snows, get off the mountain early or you'll be waiting forever to get out. They really need some sort of traffic control. There was a police car there, but he was just sitting there with his lights on. Didn't seem too helpful.

Overall, we enjoyed our day and the mountain has...