Resort at Squaw Creek
Lake Tahoe, Calif. 800-403-4742
The Resort at Squaw Creek is a year-round luxury vacation destination situated at the base of Squaw Valley USA with its 4,000 acres of skiable terrain. The dramatic 195-acre resort offers a winter wonderland of activities, including ice skating, cross-country skiing, sledding, sleigh rides and more. North Lake Tahoe’s only ski-in/ski-out resort features its own chair lift to transport you to some of the world’s premier skiing in just minutes. The full-service resort off~rs 403 guest rooms, five distinctive restaurants, an ice skating pavilion, an outdoor heated pool, four Jacuzzis, a fitness center with spa and massage services, a shopping promenade, pro ski shop with equipment rentals and Mountain Buddies children’s program. The Ski FlexiPlan allows guests to use vouchers for skiing, snowboarding, salons, restaurants or shopping credits.
While enjoying all the amenities, don’t forget to ski! Six-time consecutive World Speed Skiing Champion Franz Weber returns to the Resort as director of skiing for the 1999-2000 season and is available to ski with you and give lessons. All good seasons must come to an end, but fear not – when the snow melts, you can take advantage of The Resort’s championship 18- hole golf course, two tennis courts and mountain hiking and biking trails.
Diamond Peak Ski Resort
Incline Village 775-832-1132
Diamond Peak Ski Resort has it all: pristine views of Lake Tahoe, breathtaking downhill tuns and 35 kilometers of the highest altitude cross country and snowshoe trails in the region. You can even go skijoring with your dog (while you ski, he runs along in front pulling a bungee cord attached to your belt). Why should humans have all the fun? In addition to offering a variety of programs and clinics for skiers of all levels, Diamond Peak also offers classes for children at the award-winning Bee Ferrato Child Ski Center. While the majority of resorts raise their ticket rates several dollars each year, Diamond Peak refuses to follow suit. For the third year in a row, Diamond Peak has held the line on an adult all-day lift ticket at $38 per day and proudly calls itself Lake Tahoe’s affordable ski option.
For that once in a lifetime millennium ceremony, couples are invited January 1 to come take the plunge (literally) at the mountaintop Snowflake Lodge with the most gorgeous alpine view imaginable as a backdrop for their wedding. The Diamonds and Devotion package includes all-day lift tickets in addition to a wedding with all the trimmings.
Las Vegas Ski & Snowboard Resort
Mount Charleston 702-645-2754
When people think of Las Vegas, their mental picture usually does not include skiing down a snow-covered mountain – a sand dune, perhaps, but not a snow-covered mountain. Yet downhill skiing has been a popular winter activity in Southern Nevada since the 1930s. Just a few short miles away from Glitter Gulch is a terrific place to take the family for a day of winter fun, including skiing, snowboarding and sledding. Las Vegas Ski and Snowboard Resort at Lee Canyon, approximately one hour northwest of Las Vegas on Mount Charleston, has 10 ski runs and three chair lifts. The base offers a snack bar, cocktail lounge, ski and snowboard rentals. If you want to learn to ski or snowboard, try an inexpensive beginner package that includes equipment rental, lift ticket and a one-hour group lesson. Special rates are available for groups of 20 or more and feature a private barbecue.
Snow season runs from Thanksgiving to Easter, and if Mother Nature is uncooperative, the snowmaking reservoir holds two million gallons of water to ensure the 40 acres of slopes are covered all winter long. After all, it’s Las Vegas- you have to know the odds and hedge your bets.
