Small/Local Resorts in Lake Tahoe

What is your favorite small/local feel resort? I just rode sugar bowl for the frat time and what a hidden gem, great pow! Diamond peak has Great Lake views and a really decent price!

sugar bowl has pretty good terrain for a smallish resort.

These resorts are decent if you decide to get a lift/bus package. Comes out to $45-$50 for a lift tix.

Anyone have opinions on Alpine and China Peak?

Originally posted by snowboardinrox357 Originally posted by Muse25 Anyone have opinions on Alpine and China Peak? Alpine Meadows is ok. They have 10 lifts operating right now so it's a medium-sized resort. China Peak is really small and barely has any snow in my opinion.

china peak isn't a Tahoe resort...it's way south, closer to mammoth, if anything.  It just happens to be in the same mtn range as Tahoe.

look at the photos in my profile and tell me china peak barely has any snow.  I've been a CP local going on 8 years and I can tell you from experience that they usually have tons of natural snow (they don't even make fake snow after dec...they take those ugly guns down and away).  Granted, last season was the worst I've ever seen it, but this year is shaping up quite well and the 2 seasons before last were absolutely stacked with knee to waist deep dumps practically every 2 weeks.  

CP is relatively small (about half the size of alpine), but at 1,200 acres, you could fit about 6 mid-western resorts on it and the terrain varies from mild to wild (a bunch of massive boulder drops and some cliffs that probably no one on this site would ever tackle). 

I would have to say Homewood.  Sugar Bowl is good too but I'm not sure I would call it a small local resort.  It's pretty well known.

i used to like bear valley as well before the ownership change... just not the same atmosphere anymore....

In all honesty, park is ALL you can do at Boreal. It is good value, especially with the 1-2-3 thing, but it's just so darned short. Night riding is the awesome though.

Love Sugar Bowl and Homewood. Also Donner Ranch, though small and janky, is cheap, you'll have the place to yourself, and after pow days still has untouched snow in the trees on the backside.

Boreal was the very first mountain I got to try out any snow sport for the 1st time. So I got some love for boreal