Heavenly

Located right at the base of Lake Tahoe, Heavenly has achieved fame over the years for its fantastic lake views, substantial footprint, and proximity to the bustling town of South Lake Tahoe. If you’ve seen pictures of the resort in magazines, you can take solace in knowing that the real views are just as good. But the resort isn’t perfect, and a few logistical drawbacks hurt the overall experience.

Heavenly’s mountain aesthetic blew us away. Views of the vibrant Lake Tahoe from nearly every non-base area are breathtaking and unlike anything you’ll see at any other resort. The lake never freezes due to its substantial depth, and from the mountain, it feels like you’re looking down into an area that’s experiencing another season. Most Nevada side areas look directly onto a valley rather than the lake, but you’re still really high up, giving you a commanding view of your surroundings. The valley actually sits at a lower elevation than the lake, and certain upper mountain areas that offer views of both are quite a sight to behold. Heavenly enjoys clear skies on most days, which means these views consistently stay appreciable. For many people, the views from the top of Heavenly will be the most breathtaking they’ll see anywhere in their lifetime.

But it’s not just the views that produce Heavenly’s extraordinary feel—the top of the mountain itself feels otherworldly. The notable elevation difference from the base and frozen, unique tree species at this altitude make for a vibe that lives up to the resort’s namesake. 

If the novelty of skiing across state lines appeals to you, Heavenly has you covered. The resort encompasses land in both Nevada and California, with major base lodges in both. The lakeside town of South Lake Tahoe, on the stateline, features access to the resort via a long but phenomenally beautiful gondola ride up nearly 3,000 feet. If you’re choosing between mountain areas, the Nevada side is better for expert terrain, while the California side provides the best of the mountain’s fantastic views and more modern lifts.

Despite having few true bowl areas, Heavenly contains quite a diverse selection of terrain. Around half of the mountain consists of intermediate terrain, and the best resort views exist off upper-mountain cruisers. If you’re looking for a wide variety of long, moderately steep groomers, you won’t be disappointed here.

The resort contains excellent glade skiing, from shrubs at the top to large pine trees in lower mountain areas. All the woods on the mountain are reasonably spaced and skiable in good conditions, and if you know what you’re doing, you can ski down the gondola woods during a great season. Glade terrain isn’t typically known for its views, but upper mountain glade runs pass through striking rocks and trees while providing a commanding overlook of the lake.

In fact, if you can think of a natural obstacle, Heavenly seems to contain at least one area that has it. Lots of protruding rocks, ranging from small to large, exist across the more difficult gladed runs. Thicker, lower-mountain wooded areas contain stumps too. If you’re not careful, it’s possible to box yourself into a series of obstacles where you’ll have to backtrack.

Most of the really tough terrain exists on the Nevada side in the Mott and Killebrew areas. Due to their precarious nature, access to these comes only through gates. Mott Canyon, the shorter and easier-access area of the two, comprises very steep, narrow chutes. This area doesn’t contain many cliffs, but runs here require impeccable composure and demandingly short turns in some sections. Gates 4-6 are lappable via the Mott Canyon chair, while Gates 1-3 either require another lift or a bit of an uphill catwalk to reach.

Killebrew Canyon comprises precipitously steep, demanding lines with severely tight turns, steep drops, and hidden elements such as rocks. There’s no doubt this area contains the toughest in-bounds terrain on the mountain. But lapping these formidable slopes is unrealistic. Every Killebrew run leads to one of two long, time-consuming runouts with flat traverses, parts of which require uphill sidestepping. Reaching some upper gates requires prolonged traversing as well. Depending on the gate, getting back to the top involves taking two to three lifts after hitting the bottom of Mott. 

Heavenly offers two enjoyable terrain park areas. The novelty of both of these parks is the same as that of Heavenly itself—the amazing scenery. Feature-wise, they aren’t that competitive.

While Heavenly has been trying to attract families in recent years, they really don’t have a good setup for beginners. The resort’s beginner terrain mainly lives in a few dedicated pods, and there aren’t any upper mountain green trails—or easy routes between the Nevada and California sides—meaning that visitors without the proper skills won’t even be able to travel between them.

While Heavenly boasts the highest acreage of any interconnected Lake Tahoe resort, it’s hard to take advantage of the entire footprint due to a number of logistical problems. You ought to have the utmost respect for Heavenly’s mountain guides, because it should really require a degree to master getting around this massive resort. Things are pretty straightforward if you stick to the California side, but elsewhere, the logistics are a mess. The main route back to both Nevada base areas requires a long, flat catwalk, and the other, less burdensome routes are hard to find if you don’t know the mountain well. And getting to the lower-mountain Olympic area requires paying close attention to resort signs—if you’re coming from any other resort area, there’s only one connector trail. If you’ve been to Heavenly before but started at the village gondola or California Lodge base, it wouldn’t be surprising if you didn’t know these lower-elevation Nevada areas existed.

When you’re planning your day at Heavenly, try to choose between the California and Nevada sides and stick with one or the other for a while. The only way to get from California to the Nevada side areas—including the gondola back to South Lake Tahoe—is by riding the Sky Express to the absolute top of the resort and taking the Skyline Trail, which is relatively flat and annoying to do over and over again. Getting from Nevada to California isn’t as bad and can be done from a lower elevation, but the main California Trail can get quite crowded at peak times.

Getting to and from the most popular mountain areas can take awhile. It takes two to four lifts to get to the top of the resort from each base area. Signage isn’t bad, but the resort could use trail maps at more intersections due to its confusing layout.

Lift logistics at Heavenly are generally adequate, with the busiest areas containing at least two high-speed lift options servicing similar terrain. There are a few issues, however. The Powderbowl Express lift, which provides the only access from the California Lodge base to the rest of the mountain, can get backed up. In addition, with the Sky Express providing the only crucial Nevada-side access from California, the route often becomes a chokepoint, especially at the end of the day.

Although most areas enjoy high-speed lift service, it’s really disappointing that a resort of this caliber has so many unavoidable long, slow lift routes. Unless every other parking lot in the town of South Lake Tahoe is completely full, avoid starting your day at the Boulder base. This area is in serious need of an upgrade—it takes two slow, fixed-grip lifts and about 20 minutes to get from there to any other mountain area. Also in desperate need of an upgrade is the Galaxy lift. This lift was actually completely replaced a few years ago, and it’s astounding they didn’t upgrade it to a high-speed. This fixed-grip triple provides exclusive service to some intermediate terrain and takes almost 15 minutes to ride from bottom to top. There’s no other way out from this part of the resort, so if you take any of the Galaxy area terrain, you’ll be stuck riding this lift. Despite the less tracked terrain here, the painful lift ride isn’t worth it.

While Heavenly has an aerial tram, it’s perhaps the most redundant application we’ve seen so far at any resort. The lift line is short, and it parallels the much more practical Gunbarrel high-speed quad. Unless it’s really nasty outside or you’re coming straight from the parking lot, it doesn’t make sense to spend the extra time waiting up to 10 minutes for the next tram car.

You go to Heavenly because of its views, not because it has the best snow in North America. While the resort sees impressive accumulation most seasons, snow tends to be wet and heavy as a consequence of the nearby lake. In addition, variable weather patterns make for somewhat inconsistent snow conditions and occasionally result in thin cover on some trails. If it’s been a bad season, be especially careful on off-trail wooded terrain, where a thin layer of snow can easily mask serious hazards. The Killebrew area tends to get hit hard when Mother Nature doesn’t deliver—the runs there typically maintain sufficient cover, but some obstacles become hidden or much trickier to navigate. In addition, notable sections of the long runouts can become bare.

Like at other Lake Tahoe resorts, wind exposure is somewhat of a factor at Heavenly. A number of areas across all elevations can suffer from wind blown cover even after snow storms—snow on top parts of trails tends to be pushed to lower areas, and the steepest, most exposed terrain typically gets hit the hardest. Upper mountain areas see the strongest gusts, and lifts up here are subject to occasional wind holds. 

However, Heavenly ultimately stays resilient thanks to excellent snowmaking. The resort employs snowmaking on more than half of its terrain and maintains operations throughout the season. During the early season or in a less-than-ideal winter, be prepared to ski through some active snow guns.

Heavenly is hard to beat when it comes to on-mountain facilities. Lodges with dining options exist at most major resort junctions. Many of them have outdoor seating, which is great for soaking up the sun on warm weather days.

Lodging

While there aren’t any lodges on the mountain itself, a wide variety of lodging options exist around Heavenly thanks to the resort’s prime South Lake Tahoe location. The most prominent of these options are the massive casinos surrounding the Nevada state line, which top 10 stories and look completely out of place for a ski town. The Heavenly Village at the gondola base contains a range of family-friendly luxury hotels and activities; however, options here are incredibly expensive.

Plenty of cheaper inns and motels exist a short walk from the gondola just past the village. We highly recommend the Mellow Mountain Hostel, a spot that enjoys some of the most social vibes of any U.S. hostel and offers insanely cheap rates for a shared-room bed. Their staff are friendly and happy to socialize with guests.

You can find a number of lodging choices a short drive from the resort as well, in both Nevada and California. These don’t tend to book up as fast as those with direct resort access.

Apres-ski

Heavenly’s apres-ski scene impresses, also thanks to the resort’s South Lake Tahoe presence. A number of bars and restaurants exist a short walk from the gondola, as do the domineering casinos. Bars and pubs with more local vibes exist within driving distance.

One factor that clearly stands out is the presence of a beach nearby. It’s a short walk to the water from the gondola base and many hotels, although if it’s not late spring season, you probably won’t want to jump in.

Verdict

So Heavenly suffers from a few logistical problems that diminish its size advantage and can’t boast the same snow quality as the best North American resorts. But that’s not really what the resort’s about—you go to Heavenly for its extraordinary lake views and diverse terrain, and in that regard, it absolutely delivers. Ticket prices are undoubtedly expensive, but if it’s Heavenly’s unique feel that you’re looking for, there aren’t any other resorts that can match.