Worldwide Ski Resorts • USA • Heavenly
Overview
One of a number of resorts situated around Lake Tahoe, Heavenly offers a spectacular setting overlooking the lake itself and views into the near neighbour state of Nevada. The resort’s main town is South Lake Tahoe. This four season holiday town is the site of the hotels and apartments, the shops, bars and restaurants and — over on the Nevada side of the state line that runs through the town — the casinos.
It is an ugly development with a mix of high and low rise buildings and neon lights. But while the atmosphere tends to be brash, there is an extensive choice of accommodation that is reportedly reasonably priced and of a generally good standard. The bonus is that if you don’t feel like skiing, there are lots of other ways of amusing yourself to be found.
Profile
Standing at 1995m, the skiing at Heavenly takes place on the mountain that towers above the town and which provides plenty of sport for skiers and boarders of all levels of ability. It has an excellent snow record and the owners have invested heavily in snow making technology that services 70 per cent of the runs. Expert skiers and snowboarders will find a variety of steep and testing black runs on both the Californian and the Nevada sides of the mountain and there are excellent off piste territories all over the area. Intermediates will never run out of suitable ski runs, with a choice of wide, fast and long runs for cruising, coupled with some more challenging blues.
The pistes are reported to be well groomed and signed, so getting lost is not a significant problem. The more advanced intermediate will find that the Nevada side of the mountain contains more testing terrain. Beginners also have excellent nursery slopes on the Californian side, together with a relatively new learning area at the top of the Heavenly Gondola. There are a number of manageable green runs on which to progress. Ski schools are reportedly of a good standard and are not usually crowded. Facilities for child care are said to be excellent. Cross country fans have have some 21 trails covering 100 km of country. The resort is fast becoming know as a haven for snowboarders who will find it hard to better the conditions and the facilities available at Heavenly, which include three first class terrain parks.
Mountain Information
The pistes at the resort cover 4,800 acres and extend from 1995m up to 3070 m. There are a total of 29 lifts, many of them brand new. There are a total of seven main ski sectors.
Three of these are on the Nevada side and includes East Peak Lodge where the best of the intermediate areas can be found. The four areas on the Californian side have some of the best steep black runs. On the minus side, the mountain restaurants have bad references and are said to get very overcrowded.
Apres Ski
With all of the casinos and the associated entertainment on offer at South Lake Tahoe you can party on all night in any number of venues.
USA Resort Guide
Resort Information • Heavenly
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Resort Height | 1962m |
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Top Station | 3060m |
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Bottom Station | 1993m |
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Vertical Descent | 1067m |
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Drag Lifts | 6 |
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Chair Lifts | 23 |
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High Capacity | 1 |
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Opening Dates | Nov - April |
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Rating Expert | 8 |
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Rating Intermediate | 10 |
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Rating Beginner | 6 |
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Apres Ski Rating | 9 |
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Snow Reliability | 8 |
