Tahoe resort comparison

Only been to Kirkwood once was a rainy day so I can't say much about it. Both Heavenly and Northstar are loaded with Jerrys. Heavenly has a garbage terrain park and some sick terrain especially in Mott's Canyon. Mott's Canyon is usually pretty empty too. Northstar has a pretty nice terrain park and from my experience almost no one is at the Martis Camp Express. Terrain is really flat though and boring imo.

kirkwood has the best terrain of those 3 by a long shot, then heavenly, then northstar

northstar has the best park (very good) but is not a big steep mountain

heavenly isn't very gnarly but has some good terrain, is big acreage-wise, and has some amazing views being so close to the lake


if i were going to one of those 3 with my family, heavenly would be my idea of the best compromise, "real" skiing is best at kirkwood, and park is best at northstar. oh and kwood isn't right near the lake like the other 2 are

Went to northstar, heavenly, and squaw last year for spring break first week of April.

Northstar for park
Heavenly was had some fun runs and some cool people.
I would definitely consider buying a pass to squaw for a day, when I went I had a ton of fun it might be worth it for you to go.

Also if youre going to be in Tahoe for a bit why not hit them all?

I haven't skied Tahoe but if you are limited to Vail resorts, Kirkwood is by far the best if you like gnar.

Yep as everyone else has said Kirkwood overall, Northstar for park, but your fam will probably drag you to heavenly for the views.

Northstar for park, Kirkwood for really fun, steep and unique lines. Heavenly if you want the ultimate Apres ski expierence as the base is right near the casinos and all that bullshit. Conditions can be great end of March, just depends on the year. What you should know is that the resorts are pretty spread out in Tahoe.

Where you will be staying the whole time will have a big impact on what resorts you will hit. EX: Northstar is deep on Northshore where Heavenly is directly on the strip in Southshore, and Kirkwood is about 30 miles SE of Heavenly. If I was you and you don't care as much about hitting Northstars park then I would stay somewhere in southshore so you can hit Kirkwood and Heavenly. Or, if you can afford to stay in two different spots you could stay in Northshore then go to Southshore, or just travel to northstar from southshore. But on a weekend traffic will blow very badly along the highway along the lake. Like really bad lol.

jacksonrisucciWhats up homies, my parents are planning a trip to Tahoe in March and unfortunately I wont be able to shred Squaw as I live in CO so have the epic pass as it makes more sense for me. Of the resorts on the Epic pass (Kirkwood, Heavenly, Northstar), which has the best terrain? Will conditions be relatively consistent throughout these resorts at the end of March? Any insight on this helps as I've never been to Tahoe.

Where will you be staying? Kirkwood can be pretty out of the way if on north shore. Definitely sick though

Kirkwood is the best terrain here on the epic. Super fun mountain. I fucking hate heavenly but there's some decent terrain there. Mtn is laid out pretty terribly imo some good view I guess but meh. I avoid it. Northstar has the most consistently good park in Tahoe. People bitch about the mountain being "flat" which is fine but there are some decently steep groomers and fun tree zones. Stampede is a fucking ripper of a trail imo.

Diamond Peak and Homewood both have good lake views and are more fun than Heavenly. Diamond Peak has a pretty fun park generally. Both have fun

Boreal has cheap ticket, not a super fun mtn compared to the others but the park is fun and on point this year. Really legit.

Sierra looks like the park is always sick and a cool mtn but Ive never made it there. Hopefully going for free with my roommates boyfriend at some point. I haven't ridden sugar bowl yet but have been in some of the terrain nearby and had fun. Hoping to get a day in there eventually as well.

I have a few cards that get you a free homewood ticket and or a half off to squaw.

If you want to ride park I'd say Northstar, Boreal, Squaw, DP, and Sierra are all decent bets. March is a great time for parks as we've (hopefully) gotten some decent spring snow by then.

I consistently have a great time at all the mtns here other than heavenly. That's the only place I really try and skip. But if all the terrain is open and it's not too busy or windy it can be fun I guess, just consistently underwhelmed when I go there, even with friends.

Def get to kirkwood and northstar on the epic though.

Nevada Side > California at Heavenly... cool little lodge in that lot too.

... on the real buy a ticket to squaw, if only to cross it off the list. You won't be disappointed.

theabortionatorKirkwood is the best terrain here on the epic. Super fun mountain. I fucking hate heavenly but there's some decent terrain there. Mtn is laid out pretty terribly imo some good view I guess but meh. I avoid it. Northstar has the most consistently good park in Tahoe. People bitch about the mountain being "flat" which is fine but there are some decently steep groomers and fun tree zones. Stampede is a fucking ripper of a trail imo.

Pretty much this.

The layout at Heavenly is garbage. It's kind of like if you took five smaller (~1000' vert) mountains and just shoved them together. There are a couple of sick areas held together by a ton of flat traverses and you have to load up and down a gondola on the Nevada side.

Northstar is flat though, it can still be fun and there are some cool tree runs, but there is basically no gnar.

mystery3Pretty much this.

The layout at Heavenly is garbage. It's kind of like if you took five smaller (~1000' vert) mountains and just shoved them together. There are a couple of sick areas held together by a ton of flat traverses and you have to load up and down a gondola on the Nevada side.

Northstar is flat though, it can still be fun and there are some cool tree runs, but there is basically no gnar.

No gnar is different than flat imo. Most people on the flatstar train aren't riding the gnarly shit at squaw anyway. Id say more appealing is the above treeline aspects and rock/cliff/chutes, wvwn the mellower ones. Stampede is a decent ripper for a groomer at Northstar. It's not something you're like"woah thats ao steep" but its pretty steep and a food consistent grade with a fun bowl ish deal.

Also there are some fun zones that arent super steep in the trees but have good waist-head height rocks you can biist with speed. I like steep terrain but on groomers I think Northstar has close to as steep as I really need, and more than some people need. Idk i can get 8-10 hot laps on a quiet day on stampede/prosser or even one of the backside trails and it feels good. Diamond peak has some fun groomers too. Lighting ir something like that is good and decent length. And the race course area under that front slow lift is short but fairly steep.

I like things that are steeper and challenging but plenty if steepish stuff places if youre just looking ti bomb and mix some deep carves and fast turns and high speed butters etc. Sparknotes I agree no gnar. There's no run at Northstar that's even slightly scary or Iconic drop that you need to hit. The cliff under zephyr sucks to hike but is fun when theres just enough base to not hit the rocks bottoming out but alsonkt too much to shrink the thing. Still only like 10 feet maybe.

But yeah layout is rought with heavenly. That was an issue I had with Australian ski areas. Bad layouts significantly impact the riding more than the actual terrain sometimes.

yeah a lot of traverses etc at heavenly, but it’s fun, has great views, and it’s super dope how the gondola loads down right into the village right next to the lake

As many have said, the terrain at Kirkwood is nuts. It is a bit of a drive from South Lake, and quite a ways from the north side, so it depends on where you are staying. I have not been to Kirkwood in years, so I don't know if it has been built up, but if you can't stay in Kirkwood you could stay in South Lake and drive there, or have the Heavenly option. Just be aware that if you stay on the north side you will be a LONG way from Kirkwood. I really love Kirkwood, I skied Squaw when I lived in Tahoe, but trips around the lake were always fun.

Honestly, I have never skied Heavenly. The only times I have been to South Lake were to either ski Kirkwood or party. Since you will be with your folks, you probably won't be partying too hard in the casinos. There used to be a club called Neros that was fun many years ago, not sure if it is still there. The women were not always slamming, but if you were willing to sacrifice looks for a certain morally casual attitude it was fun. When I lived in Tahoe and dealt with the north lake ratios I was certainly willing to lower my standards.

East Coaster who took a trip out to Tahoe last year, first time out west. I'll keep it simple:

- Park: Northstar, not even close. Don't expect any type of park at Heavenly, don't really know about Kirk's parks.
- Difficult Terrain: Kirkwood, though Mott's at Heavenly was pretty crazy as well.
- All around Tahoe experience: Heavenly. The views were... Heavenly. Good variety as long as your heart isn't set on park. All the locals told me to go there as a tourist, and they were right.

Also went at the end of March, conditions were all very similar. Northstar seems to always have those warm, slushy park laps though.