The Kirwood ski area is famous for challenging terrain wide open bowls and incredible powder days, but Kirkwood is more than just skiing and riding.

Some mountains live in the shadow of others with wider reputations and bigger numbers. Great destinations like Brighton in Utah, Grand Targhee in Wyoming and Kirkwood, near Lake Tahoe.

These resorts make a virtue of their smaller size, getting you to the terrain you like quickly and making it easy for skiers of different abilities to stay in contact.

Kirkwood is a standout in terms of natural beauty and terrain variety, with everything from the greenest greens to hair-raising chutes and cornices.
On holiday weekends, it’s a non-stop floor show at the top of The Wall, with skiers and riders of all abilities peering over and dropping in. You can stay slopeside at Kirkwood, or drive about 40 minutes from the resort to South Lake Tahoe.

The fun doesn’t end in the spring at Kirkwood. As the astonishing snowpack quickly melts, the area reveals an amazing new world of wildflower-filled meadows, mountain lakes and winding streams, surrounded completely by isolated wilderness.

In the summer, Kirkwood is an historic and geological wonder. This Carson Pass location makes it one of the few true gateways to the beautiful High Sierra. Carson Pass is also an access point to many points of interest and hiking trails, including the Pacific Crest trail.

Courtesy of: Spooner Lake

Many skiers feel Spooner Cross Country Ski Area is the best in all of Lake Tahoe. The area is located on the eastern shore of Lake Tahoe, within Lake Tahoe Nevada State Park.

Spooner Cross Country Ski Area offers fun for people of all ages and cross country ski ability levels. Spooner Cross Country Ski Area also offers a variety of different trails, from easy to moderate to advanced.

You can also take day-long trips into the Sierra Mountains back country or spend the night in a wilderness cabin.

The trails are well groomed and offer fantastic Lake Tahoe views! One of the popular trails is the lake loop trail, which offers a variety of ups-and-downs as you traverse the hills.

Advanced cross country skiers will love the challenge of the Canyon Loop to Marlette Lake trail. Feel the burn in your legs but the awesome Lake Tahoe views are unforgettable.

Ski Area Hours for 2010: 9:00am – 5:00pm

Spooner Lake
3709 Hwy 28
Glenbrook, NV 89413
(775) 749-5349

The Little Nell Hotel

For true adrenaline junkies, this idea should help quench your desire for excitement.

Aspen Colorado’s The Little Nell hotel is offering a new Heli Skiing Adventure program. It’s the ultimate combination of luxury, exhilaration and outdoor adventure.

The Little Nell guests can enjoy the unique opportunity to experience helicopter skiing in the backcountry of Colorado in addition to enjoying the luxury comforts of staying at a five star, five diamond hotel in the Rockies of Colorado.

Heli Skiing Adventure details:
Guests will be transported from The Little Nell in one of the property’s fleet of Audis to Aspen Airport. There they will board their private helicopter to Silverton, Colorado where they will enjoy an exhilarating eight-hour day of heli skiing, taking advantage of more than 22,000 acres of ski terrain at the highest elevation in Colorado.

Hotel guests at The Little Nell can also enjoy a gourmet lunch, packed by Executive Chef Robert McCormick, which include delectable items such as locally-sourced wagyu pastrami sandwiches, faro salad with pomegranates and squash, an array of house-made desserts from the Nell’s pastry kitchen, and wines paired by Master Sommelier Jonathan Pullis.

Groups of up to four skiers may participate in this adventure of a lifetime. Be aware that this amazing Heli Skiing Adventure trip in Aspen Colorado is only available for expert skiers.

The hotel’s ski concierge is available arrange for ski rentals, or guests may bring their won.

For additional information or to make reservations, please call 888-843-6355) or visit www.thelittlenell.com.

1937 was the first year that Donner Ski Ranch in Lake Tahoe was utilized for skiing. It’s been a very long, successful ride ever since.

Anybody who visits Donner Ski Ranch, quickly realizes that it has a much more relaxed atmosphere, compared to its other sister ski resorts around Lake Tahoe. Donner could be the perfect resort for those in search of a relaxed experienced while still having access to some of the best snowboard and ski experience.

Sadly, Lake Tahoe’s Donner Ski Ranch is the kind of mom-and-pop-style ski area that is regrettably dying across the U.S.  It’s a ski area where you can kick back and not feel cowed by hard-skiing hotshots or the dictates of ski fashion.

The Donner Ski Ranch offers every amenity that’s available at most of other major Lake Tahoe resorts, but without the pricey expenses and big crowds.

The Donner Ski Ranch Resort definitely offers a simpler atmosphere that is comfortable for the whole family. Atop Donner Summit at Donner Ski Ranch,  there is an average snowfall of about 33 feet. The result is an abundance of serious powder all winter long.

There are all types of terrain throughout the Donner Ski Ranch in Lake Tahoe, which allows guests the opportunity to venture out and explore greater than 45 different wide open runs, all with a variety of challenges set to test even the most advanced skier or snow boarder.

Donner Ski Ranch is usually not uttered in the same breath as the other Lake Tahoe “hot spots”, such as Heavenly or Squaw Valley. Donner is regarded as a simpler and more traditional ski resort. But for a rewarding family ski outing, Donner Ski Ranch is a great vacation spot offering lower costs across the lines (food, beverages, souvenirs, etc).

One can also expect to experience shorter lift lines, uncrowded skiing and snow boarding all day long. Donner is quite possibly the most affordable and relaxed ski resort in all of Lake Tahoe.

The experience and courteous staff at Donner Ski Ranch prides themselves in offering the lowest rates for lift tickets, ski and snowboard lessons, and rentals for all types of winter sports.

Donner Ski Ranch is located on Historic Old U.S. 40 near Truckee in Lake Tahoe.

Donner Ski Ranch
19320 Donner Pass Rd
Norden, CA 95724
530-426-3635

Aspen Mountain

Ski season is getting near at America’s popular ski resorts.  But for the those who don’t wan tot wait in lines, consider purchasing an “Ultimate Ski Pass” at Aspen, Colorado Ski Resort for $25,000!

Aspen’s “Ultimate Ski Pass” allows a skier to have unlimited ski runs before the resort’s ski chairlifts are open to the public.

If you happen to be in Aspen over Thanksgiving weekend, the exclusive “Ultimate Ski Pass” also allows pass holders to meet members of the U.S. Women’s Ski Team, who are in Aspen for a ski race.

Not just limited to Aspen, the “Ultimate Ski Pass” is transferable and can also be used at the following ski resorts – Aspen Mountain, Aspen Highlands, Snowmass and Buttermilk.

This upcoming ski season marks the third time Aspen ski resort has offered the sold the “Ultimate Ski Pass”. The $25,000 ski pass will only be available for 18 buyers and to date, just one has been sold.

Matt Hamilton is the Skico director of sustainability and was quoted, “We’ve typically sold two or three (of the passes per season) so we don’t have an expectation that we will sell them all.”

There are additional perks for buyers of the $25,000 “Ultimate Ski Pass” so get yours now!

We all know the winter holiday season is the best time of the year for an upscale ski trip. The best North American ski resort towns supplement skiing with great apres-ski activities.

The best upscale ski resorts fill up quickly around Christmas. For the family that loves to ski, a winter vacation isn’t complete without time on the slopes. And, of course, the luxury of warming up by a Christmas fire apres-ski is something anyone can appreciate, regardless of their skiing skill level.

To read the full article by Jennifer W. Miner, CLICK HERE

Winter is getting near. Everyone needs a great getaway vacation / holiday. Why not treat yourself to a luxury ski holiday.

You will enjoy the natural beauty and be treated like royalty when choosing just the right resort. Here are some of the top 5 resorts to choose from for your upcoming ski vacation – holiday getaway:

– Chamonix, France
– Tignes, France
– Arabba, Italy
– Whistler, Canada
– Vemdalen, Sweden

The Lake Tahoe Ski season got off to a late start due to the lack of early snow.  But the Tahoe ski slopes are now fully operational as record crowds enjoy terrific skiing and snowboarding at beautiful Lake Tahoe.

But before you make the drive or fly in, check out some of the best web sites offering up-to-date snow conditions.

On The Snow
http://www.onthesnow.com/california/skireport.html

SnowWeb
http://www.snoweb.com/

Virtual Tahoe
http://www.virtualtahoe.com/SkiTahoe/SkiReport.html

Weather Underground
http://www.wunderground.com/ski/CA/

Ski Report
http://www.skireport.com/california/sierra/

Tahoe’s Best
http://www.tahoesbest.com/Skiing/skireports.htm

Gold Country Best
http://www.tahoebest.com/skiing/lake_tahoe_ski_reports.htm

Ski Lake Tahoe
http://skilaketahoe.com/cms/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=56&Itemid=69

Ski Central
http://skicentral.com/rpt-california.html

In addition, each of the local Lake Tahoe ski resorts have their own sites, offering the latest ski and weather conditions.

Boreal Mountain Ski Resort in Truckee, near Lake Tahoe is nothing short of a thrill. The resort comes equipped with something to do for everyone.

With a vertical rise of just 500 feet, Boreal’s emphasis is on terrain parks rather than expansive terrain, a place where snowboarders and new-school trick skiers in particular can get their kicks.

But Boreal’s real selling point is as a place for first-timers to learn to ski or snowboard. The area claims to have taught more than 300,000 “never evers.” If you want to learn the sport before heading to the bigger resorts in the Tahoe area, Boreal is a good place to start.

For kids, there’s the Big Kid Surface, and a tubing hill that was installed last season. A moving carpet was also added to get you to the top. There are now three four-person (Quad) chairlifts, as well as five other lifts that will take you to any of their forty-one exhilarating runs.

Boreal is located in Truckee, a mere thirty minutes from North Lake Tahoe, directly off of I-80. An easy location to reach, and an even easier place to adore.

For more information, please visit the Boreal web site

It appears that the Lake Tahoe area may make another run at bringing back the Winter Olympics. It’s been 50 years since the Winter Olympics were last held in the area – at Squaw Valley.

A Lake Tahoe organizing committee is now beginning to put together a bid package to try and secure the 2022 Winter Olympics.

Squaw Valley founder Alex Cushing worked tirelessly to bring the games to Squaw Valley. Now his widow, Nancy Cushing, is leading the move and organizing a committee to try and bring the games back to the Tahoe region in 2022.

This past weekend saw the start of the bidding process. Squaw Valley is hosting a 10-day Olympic Heritage Celebration. The goal is to begin a capital raising campaign to build a new Squaw Valley museum.

Back in October, the United States Olympic Committee officially ended the hopes of Reno-Lake Tahoe to host the 2018 Winter Olympics. The area has now failed in six attempts to secure the Winter Olympic games.

For the 2022 games, Olympic bids are due in 2012. By 2022 it will have been 20 years since the Winter Games were last held in the United States. Salt Lake City, Utah hosted the XIX Olympic Winter Games.

If Nancy Cushing is successful, the games in Lake Tahoe could be hosted by numerous world-class resorts around the scenic, Reno-Tahoe region.

Val d’Isère

Spend the holidays by cozying up to the fire in the beautiful town of Val d’Isère, a commune located in south-eastern France just 3 miles from the border of Italy.

Val d’Isère is perfect for lovers of luxury ski holidays as it is a part of the Rhône-Alpes region known for its snowy peaks dusted with white powder.

The town of Val d’Isère is known for its “chalet” architecture and is often called the “Most Beautiful Ski Area in the World.”