California’s Kirkwood Mountain Resort near Lake Tahoe is a wonderful place to ski and ride with top-notch views, lots of room on the mountain, nonexistent lift lines during the week and sometimes even on the weekend. Located in the lovely Sierra Nevada Mountains, it offers lots of open runs and big, gorgeous juniper trees. 

The area was named for Zachary Kirkwood, who in the summer of 1860 came to the remote valley and stayed for decades, at first raising sheep and cattle, then playing host to worn-out travelers and cattlemen who passed through the region. The way station he built in 1864 is now the site of Kirkwood Inn, a popular restaurant and bar. 

Today’s visitors find the same warmth that Kirkwood provided and the same beauty too. Surrounded by lofty mountain peaks, unusual rock formations, and forested hillsides, Kirkwood Ski Resort opened in 1972 with four chairlifts. Today it’s called the Kirkwood Mountain Resort for it is a wonderful year-round destination. Kirkwood is off the beaten path atop the Sierra Crest, 35 miles south of South Lake Tahoe. It receives some of the deepest, lightest and driest snow in the Tahoe region. Annual snowfall can top 600 inches, and in some years it has the highest snowfall in North America. A total of 781 inches fell last season.

There’s no doubt that Kirkwood is worth the drive. To get there from South Lake Tahoe, visitors head south on highways 89 and 88 and cross two mountain passes, the more noteworthy of which is Carson Pass, at 8,573 feet, the highest year-round pass on the crest of the Sierra Nevada Mountains.  During significant snowstorms, Carson Pass can close for hours, even days. Though it may be called a year-round pass, there are times when the pass becomes impassable.

RV Parking
My husband, Mike, and I arrived at Kirkwood from the west and chose to spend two nights at Big Meadows Resort, a condominium with close access to chairlift 6. Visitors will find an assortment of places to stay in Kirkwood Valley, including affordable lodging, privately owned condos and luxurious slope-side accommodations. RVers are welcome. Arrive in your self-contained RV and you may park overnight in the winter from Sunday through Friday, non-holidays only, in the middle chair 7 Lot at Timber Creek. Parking is also allowed on select weekends—space permitting.  Cost is $25 per night. An RV season pass is available for $199. Half of all parking fees and RV pass sales are donated to the National Forest Foundation.

Kirkwood is a beautiful mountain with over two miles of ridgeline where cornices form. It is known for extreme back-country terrain, and there are plenty of chutes, cliffs and steeps. If you’re like me and you like to avoid such areas, be sure to stay back when you see the skull and crossbones signs. The signs are there to warn skiers and riders to beware of double black diamond runs. 

The ski area is usually open from November to April. The area has 2,300 skiable acres, with a vertical rise of 2,100 feet. The elevation at the base is 7,776 feet, while the highest elevation is 9,800 feet at a lift near the top of Thimble Peak, which reaches 9,876 feet.

Sixty-five-plus trails are served by 15 lifts: two high-speed quads, one quad, six triples, one double, four surface lifts, and a lift for the tubing area. The longest run is 2.5 miles.  If you’re a beginner you’ll find 15 percent of the runs are for you, while 50 percent are rated intermediate, 20 percent are advanced and 15 percent are for experts only. 

There are fun intermediate and expert runs off the Sunrise Lift. One warm winter day we took a break and shared a chili dog while relaxing outside at the Outback Grill. Another day we had lunch at Monte Wolfe’s Mountain Kitchen and enjoyed “Wood’s Famous Fries.” 

Exploring the Back Country
If you like skiing fresh tracks instead of groomed, check out Expedition: Kirkwood, California’s only resort-based adventure program. It is the best way to get schooled in the back country. Programs are open for intermediate to expert skiers and riders. The school teaches back-country skills, including avalanche awareness and survival techniques. Kirkwood has some of the best back-country skiing—if you like extreme steeps—anywhere in the Tahoe region. When conditions are excellent and the back-country access gates open, skiers and riders find superb lines heading out of the area in all directions. Amazingly, more than 1,000 acres are accessible by climbing or hiking over remote terrain that has a true wilderness feel. 

Kirkwood also offers Lake Tahoe’s only resort-based cat skiing operation. Groups of up to 10 people enjoy four runs of fresh turns on either Martin Point or Red Cliffs.  Avalanche beacons, shovels, probe and backpacks are provided. Cost is $150 for Red Cliffs and $200 for Martin Point per person.

If you’re a beginner, and even if you’re not, be sure to spend time skiing and riding the beginner and intermediate terrain at Timber Creek. Rated by USA Today as one of the finest spots in the nation to learn and progress, the area offers lessons, rentals, food and beverage. A complimentary in-valley shuttle links Timber Creek and Mountain Village.  Lodging guests can also arrange for a free shuttle by calling guest services.

When I ski I always enjoy watching the younger folks making use of the terrain parks. There are four terrain parks at Kirkwood, a freestyle skiing and snowboarding paradise. If you’re a beginner, check out Adventure Land Beginner Park, located off chair 9. Beginners will find plenty of features, including spines, rollers and whoop-de-doos. The Rip Curl Playground is Kirkwood’s newest addition. An intermediate park, it’s located off chair 7 at Timber Creek and boasts of a halfpipe as well as a variety of jumps and boxes. Stomping Grounds is for expert freestylers. Located off chair 5, the area offers challenging jumps and rails. Also located off chair 5, Skier/Snowboarder Boarder Cross is Kirkwood’s permanent Skier/Boarder X Course and hosts a number of boarder X competitions.

Winter Variety
The mountain is a potpourri of winter activities. In addition to skiing and snowboarding, visitors can snowshoe and cross-country ski at the Kirkwood Cross Country and Snowshoe Center, with more than 80 kilometers of groomed trails open to ski skating, cross-country skiing and snowshoes.  Two trails are dog-friendly. Rentals are available at the center, which is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily.  Guests may also enjoy tubing at High Alpine Adventure Center, open weekends only from noon to 5 p.m., and Zip Tahoe Canopy Tours.

Kirkwood is a sleepy resort. In fact, if you require après-ski action, you’ll want to park yourself in South Lake Tahoe. A shuttle bus runs to and from the resort a few times daily, so you don’t have to drive. But if you’re a skier like me, you don’t go skiing to shop and party, you go to ski. 

If you want to learn more about the mountain, you can always hire a private guide. In addition, there are Women’s Only Ski & Snowboard Camps, All Mountain Ski & Snowboard Camps, Telemark Clinics, Adventure Clinics for Skiers, Progression Sessions for Snowboarders, and for the kids there are Junior Expedition Teams and All Stars Clinics. In the back country you can enjoy programs such as Snow Cat Skiing & Riding, Avalanche Level 1 and 2 certification courses, Avalanche Awareness Courses, Back Country 101 Courses, and Two-Day Back Country Courses. If you’re interested in skiing in the back country, be sure to check out Kirkwood’s Beacon Basin, California’s first avalanche transceiver training facility.  During the winter season, on the first Sunday of each month, Kirkwood lift ticket holders can participate in a free, 90-minute transceiver clinic. 

For more information, contact Kirkwood Mountain Resort by calling (209) 258-6000 or check out kirkwood.com.

Donna Ikenberry is a writer and photographer who lives in South Fork, Colorado.

KIRKWOOD UPGRADES:
Kirkwood has added more than $6 million in improvements for the 2011-12 season. The Mountain Club underwent a $5 million facelift after a fire in May. The upgrades include new two-bedroom loft condominiums, a full workout room, and spa and massage treatment facilities. The ground floor commercial area includes a new Monte Wolfe’s cafeteria.

Expedition: Kirkwood  has opened a new $1 million facility across from the Village Plaza called Expedition: Kirkwood Outfitters. It includes a classroom/conference center and retail area, and will be the learning hub for anyone interested in exploring the area’s back country.

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