Expert skier is looking to ski @ Lake Tahoe in March of '99. Heavenly, Northstar or Squaw Valley? What to do, what to do....

Squaw Valley is the most open, Heavenly the most impacted by poor snow conditions, and Northstar is the smallest of the group. My favorite would be Heavenly if the snow is good. The advantage is that you can ski the Calif side or the Nev side. Crowds are a problem at all of them, so I would suggest mid-week if possible. However if you are looking for challenging skiing, go to Mammoth. Its huge, diverse, and full of thrills. Hope you have a great time!
Dan

Of the three you specify, Squaw Valley has by far the most to offer in the way of challenge and diversity. Northstar is a nice intermediate and family location, but not much on black diamond or long runs. Heavenly has some good slopes, but the hill is fragmented and there are too many non-skiers for my taste.

Think about trying Kirkwood (about 35 minutes South of Tahoe) which has a shuttle from South Shore. This is one of the best imaginable. Try Alpine Meadows (next to Squaw) which I enjoy even better than Squaw. Try Ski Sierra off of Highway 50 (about 10 minutes from South Shore) for a day. Better yet, try them all!!!

dlaredo

I think Heavenly, Northstar and Squaw Valley are all overrated, given how crowded they all get. I agree with the poster who suggested Kirkwood and Alpine. I also recommend Sugar Bowl (off of 80 close to Donner Lake) and Mt. Rose, which is between Incline Village and Reno. Hardly anyone knows of Mt. Rose besides locals from Reno, and they have some really good skiing.

I like Heavenly the best because you can get something like 45 minute runs if you plan it correctly. Squaw is also wonderful, esp for advanced skiers, but I think the personnel are rude...
Agree--Northstar is for intermediate skiers, but Kirkwood is very nice.
I think Mt. Rose and Sierra are for intermediate skiers too... no flames please.
We always skied Alpine as kids, but after their avalanche in the 70's (80's?), we stopped going there as a family.

Don't discount Mammoth in mid-CA either! Great place and excellent skiing!

Living as I do with expert skiers - definitely Heavenly, Squaw, Kirkwood and Sugar Bowl - not necessarily in that order.

Kirkwood is remote, and if the weather is bad , or even threatening to be bad, you want to stay away; it is on the Carson Pass which is really so high and so rugged and snow impacted that it should not be open in the winter, but it is!

Heavenly is wonderful. To get a little jump on the crowds, enter from the Nevada side - I think it is called the Stagecoach lift - which is up Kingsbury Grade at the east end of the casino area at South Shore. You are going to swear you are driving all the way to Carson City, but take heart - it's there, and it is decently signed.

Sugar Bowl is one of the oldest resorts in the Sierras, and I think one of the nicest. They have done lots of facilities upgrades. And even in a light snow year they will have good snow, because they are on the west side of the Sierras - and when those clouds move in, west to east, they dump it at Sugar Bowl first! Great skiing, and usually not unbearably crowded. Because of their access (mostly by tram from the parking lot) they control their numbers more strictly than other areas, or at least they used to. Someone might want to correct me here.

Squaw is Squaw. It's huge. It has mega mountain. It's huge. And with huge comes huge numbers and all the management techniques that go with those numbers. For those of us who live around here, it is not usually a restful place to go. My kids rarely go there.

Mammoth is also great - and it is really big. But it is also about a 5 hour drive from Reno (4-5 from L.A., depending on where you are coming from in the LA Basin - perhaps longer if you his especially nasty grid lock). But it is beautiful. The drive itself is wonderful from either direction, on US 395 down the east wall of the Sierras.

Happy snow!