When it's snowing, this is my favorite North Lake Tahoe resort...it's situated such that it's blocked from high winds that nearby mountains like Alpine and Squaw are hit hard by. The hills aren't the steepest, but the trees are great to carve through and it's good on powder days. When there's weather, the lift lines are short, but, on nice days it does get super crowded with families, etc and lift lines take forever-- I would go somewhere else when the sun is shining. Northstar
Great little mountain to learn on when you don't need long or advance runs. If you stay the weekend, you can also check out Sugar Bowl on day 2 which next door, which is a bigger mountain. Donner Ski Ranch
Big mountain with a good amount of technical/advanced runs. Pretty solid terrain park. It can get rocky when there's not a lot of base. It's close to Tahoe City which has some good restaurants and after hour spots. Alpine Meadows
A lot of terrain and a healthy amount of advanced runs. My complaint about this place is that it frequently gets hit hard by wind...and when it's nice out, lift lines are long (but, maybe that's true everywhere). Crowd can be on the pretentious side. If you have a few dollars to burn, the Squaw Creek Lodge is pretty tight. Squaw Valley
Sugar Bowl tends to get a lot of snow, and the runs aren't bad. If you're heading to North Lake Tahoe from the Bay Area, it's more or less 1st major resort you'll hit before the Donner Pass (which can be closed during storms). Sugar Bowl is a great choice if you're heading up just for a day trip, or want to hit it up on your last day in Tahoe to miss some traffic. Sidebar: the gas station just off the highway exit is super ghetto. Total mystery why or how that is. Sugar bowl
