Sierra-at-Tahoe

Fui à cidade de South Lake Tahoe durante minha estadia na Califórnia. Já tinha ouvido falar da cidade e do clima, que neva bastante. Eu, que nunca tinha visto neve, amei!
Aproveitei e fui aprender a esquiar no Sierra at Tahoe. Já tinha comprado um pacote com o aluguel do equipamento e a aula. Cheguei lá e tinha uma fila enorme pra pegar o equipamento de esqui. Demorei um tempão até conseguir a bota do meu número, já que eu não sabia qual era a minha numeração americana e os funcionários pareciam não ter paciência nenhuma com quem está começando. Depois que peguei tudo, fui pra fila do caixa, que também demorou bastante.
Devido a toda essa demora, eu perdi a aula de 10h e a próxima era só as 13h. Desisti e fui tentar aprender sozinha. Sorte minha que tinha uma alma caridosa que me ajudou com o básico antes de eu sair caindo por aí.
Pro almoço, tem pouquíssimas opções. Todas vendem basicamente a mesma coisa: fritas, frango empanado, refrigerante, café etc.
O lugar é bem bonito. Dá pra tirar umas boas fotos e aproveitar a neve.

While I love the hill, the website NEEDS HELP! After trying to schedule my children’s lessons, the website simply sucked… sorry, but, for a parent of four trying to schedule lessons should be simple. Not only have I tried to schedule on my, tablet, phone, and laptop… but I have played phone tag with the staff to try and lock in the time. One week later… still do not have lessons locked in…
Friends at Sierra at Tahoe… make this process easier for large families. Fix the website OR have your people pick up the phone… Much luv!
O

Sierra-​at-​Tahoe will be known as the place where my kids learned to ski, and that could be a big deal for them when they fondly look back at their childhood. This place is one of the most diverse ski resorts I’ve been to, because of two things: cheaper lift tickets and closest resort on Hwy 50 which equals cheaper on gas. I swear I look around and see about 70% of the skiiers/​boards Asian.
The downside is you get a ton of squatters in the cafeteria with their glass bowls and instant ramen using the free hot water from the café! I really think they should have a policy where tables are reserved for guests who buy food there. I tried to find a table early around 11:30 and no luck.
The food is expensive but cheaper than places like Squaw. I recently paid $ 26 for a simple burger, fries and drink at Squaw, but at Sierra, it would only run about $ 16!
Sometimes you can get free hot cocoa at the end of the day from a friendly worker passing them out, which is a real nice feel good bonus. I get great discounts through work which is yet another bonus.
The size of the mountain and variety of lifts and runs make it a premier resort with a down home feel.

Awesome day. Easy parking. Cheap lift ticket in advance on line. Good bar at top of mountain. Hard to go wrong with this place

This is my favorite ski resort. We had a wonderful time. There are so many runs, the snow is well groomed and the staff is amazing. Been coming here for 20 years and I’ll be back next year

Great prices, and plenty of fun runs to keep you busy for a solid ~2 days of skiing. Lots of variety in difficulty level on every chair, so skiing with people with different ability levels is easy to coordinate.
They have a particularly great package deal for a 2 hr lesson + lift ticket + rentals. I took the «greens and blues» lesson, which ended up being basically a private lesson (me, one other lady, and the instructor), which was awesome (for reference, this was a Friday morning).
They also have a ski waxing tent, which is free if you’ve rented their skis. However, they didn’t tell me this when I rented my first pair, which ended up really needing some wax (it started snowing and got pretty sticky in the afternoon, and my skis didn’t stand a chance). So the next day I requested some extra wax when I rented ;-)
We ate lunch in the Solstice eatery next to the apparel shop (I got a chicken and veggie curry combo with naan and brown rice, which was great!) and at the BBQ place at the top of the mountain, which has great views, though the food was just ok (I had a soup — meh — and the ribs + mac and cheese kids meal. Ribs were fine, mac and cheese was underwhelming. But I enjoyed their selection of bbq sauces).
I’d definitely go back.

SPAM SPAM SPAM
bought tickets online w my email address and now all i get are ski-​related spam spam spam
what a joke of a ski resort

Great resort with diverse set of runs, mediocre restaurants.
Sierra at Tahoe has a great mix of blues and black diamond runs. Most of the lifts take you where you can either take blue or black to come down. And they are long enough that you can even change your mind and switch between black and blue on the way down!
I definitely enjoyed the blues, they were of multiple kinds– from wide and long, to wide but uneven/​ungroomed, to even narrow and icey! Ooyah!
Don’t constrain yourself to the front of the mountain, there are quite a few good runs. Since I wasn’t with advanced skier friends I didn’t want to do many black diamonds and risk dying (on a stormy weekend) but I did try one– the Coyote and it was great. Too much powder and ungroomed on that one so beware.
The food was a let down. There are 3 options. The two at the base camp are alright (burgers and pizza and other random uninteresting stuff)
He third option is something exciting– it’s a Mexican restaurant near the top with great music playing, drinks, and generally a chill atmosphere. Did I mention margaritas and Bloody Mary?
This resort is also cheaper than some of the others. It doesn’t have great views like Heavenly but has great runs!

Sierra, what went wrong? I like your mtn but having to wait over two hours to get from the parking lot to the highway at the end of day ruined my whole experience. Roads were dry as well with no snow. I can only imagine how long it would take to get out on a snow day. I may be back if you ever fix this problem. Was there on Sunday 1÷24÷2016. Only getting two stars because I like the terrain and views. Lift lines, rental lines, and food lines are a cluster, it seems like you like making your patrons wait their days away.

Sierra at Tahoe always has wonderful deals available at Costco with day passes for only $ 68! They also have a special 3 day pass for $ 66/​day if bought at the resort and can be upgraded anytime during the season. Compared to the other resorts which hover around $ 90 +, this place is a total steal! It is smaller than Squaw Valley or Heavenly but this means shorter lines and easy access to the slopes. Despite storm warnings, the weather was perfect and we had inches of fresh powder to ski! They have a nice range of beginner to advanced slopes and everything was clearly labeled except for some of the slopes which were closed. They also have a nice cantina restaurant at the grand view lift which is nice for people who don’t want to return back to the resort for food. The food itself was incredibly oily but hit the spot on a cold day. Next time, I will definitely come swing by Sierra! I would highly recommend taking a map and using it to choose your slopes because it can get quite confusing. It also was quite a struggle leaving the resort considering that every parking spot looks the same and so we got lost multiple times finding the car, but it helped us beat traffic driving back to the cabin. They also have an awesome beginner classes for newbies!

My favorite Tahoe area resort.
* It has everything I look for in boarding. Fantastic boarder-​cross course on the backside, Plenty of terrain park areas. But, mostly for me, I love to be in the trees and there is some great off-​trail terrain to explore. (all of this is conditional upon snow conditions of course)
* It’s great for more advanced people to bring less advanced people because almost all of the green runs crisscross with the blue and black. So you can meet up with people if you want to take a different run.
* When it is busy the lift operators are a well oiled machine and get the people on to the lifts as quickly as possible.
* There are food and drinks available everywhere. Base lodge, top of the hill, back side. So you never go hungry or thirsty. Albeit expensive, but its standard resort prices.
* The staff can be hit or miss. It is what you would expect from an business that hires seasonal employees.
* Live music in the Sierra Pub after you are done with the day.

Visited this place last weekend, first time for me. I hadn’t been skiing in about 4 years, 23 before that, so I was excited. We had originally planned to visit another resort, but the little lady found an incredible deal, $ 49 equipment, lessons and lift ticket (beginner area only) — thats all we needed for our first time out in awhile.
We went on a Friday so it was a bit slower than the weekend, but still fairly busy. Weather was gorgeous and parking was easy.
The slopes were in good shape and not much of a line so it was very enjoyable.
The reason I rate 3 stars is this — their rental facility/​process is as poorly planned/​laid out as it comes. Once you pay (inside), you wait in a line in an ultra narrow corridor with way too many trying to come and go, it was just ridiculous. Just jammed in there like sardines — pretty hard to get your boots, put them on and move around in a hallway about 3 feel wide. There was one guy there working the boots door that was absolutely cool and genuinely trying to help –Im sorry I forgot your name dude!
Anyhow, overall fairly good day — they just need to rebuild/​redesign their equipment rental dept/​layout. If you don’t need the rental equipment then I would say its definitely worth it.

Still coming here and now with three kids instead of one (my original review). My husband and I STILL take the lessons because the online web price is so cheap and you can’t beat it for a lift ticket, lesson and a rental. We are level 4 now and still want to learn. No, we still haven’t bought our own gear…
My kids all take the Burton snowboard rental/​lesson/​lunch. It is very expensive with three kids $ 189 a pop per kid, per day. It gets cheaper if you buy by the package but we can never be in Tahoe longer than a day. Book early and online –seriously, with all this snow happening you need to book online for everything now. Just can’t walk up anymore like the old days.
We did a walk up for the kids Burton thing and was shut down quick. No room. Zero.
We ended up doing the whole day Private lesson. That was a small savings $ 480 whole day for up to 5 people). I sent my three kids and my husband and I did the web special we pre bought. BUT we had to go and rent the kids their gear and buy them lift tickets. Not included in the private lesson. PLUS, we had to break for lunch and pick kids up to feed them. I forgot kids have to eat! ha ha ha. So no real savings but heck we all had a good time. I told them to hurry and learn cause this private lesson thing is getting old.
Bar is still pricey. Best bet is to get there early, get a great parking spot, and then bring your own adult drinks and food.
Instructors are helpful and friendly. Try not to wear a read snow jacket or you will match the Sierra instructor’s look and then random people will walk up to you and ask you for help.

Love this place. I’ve been here a few times. Parking is insane on the weekends. I waited 90 minutes for a parking when I arrived at 11am. People got there at 8am. I had to wait for the AM riders to leave and get a parking. The staff is really helpful and very paitient. The bathrooms are smelly and needs more attention but besides that everything is good. The lines at the lifts move quick. I recommend to get here early and reserve your tickets online.

The only negative about this ski resort is that when the winds get heavy (as they often do) the main lifts to the TOP of the mountain (aka 360 degree grill) shut down, forcing the daily mass onto a handful of other lifts and making 20+ minute wait times just to get on the lift. Otherwise, great runs and exceptional snow.

#172
I have always had a great time when I have come here whether to ski or board. In fact, this was the very place I learned to ski with a friend of mine, as I had only boarded in the past.
There are tons of trails and cool people working here to help you out with almost anything. Last trip my latch broke on my ski and they fixed me right up. This trip we lost a go-​pro pole and they are helping us look for it.
It is a smaller resort than many around but really accommodating. They offer a ski/​boarding school for kids, tons of activities, a few restaurant choices and a great bar in the lodge. I always end up finding myself there, and anyone I come with knows at 4PM when the lifts stop, exactly where to look for me as I begin thawing out and shedding layers of clothing over a martini.
Fun place, a lot of parking and tons to do. I even saw a friend there getting his boarding in since the snow was so plush Monday. After a couple crappy winters it was time to return and experience real powder once again – thanks Sierra!
Stephani Smiles for Sierra-​at-​Tahoe ;)

They sold us lift tickets and rented us gear knowing full-​well that all the lifts were all on wind hold except for two. The line to do one run was 2 hours.
We saw this and immediately turned around to get a refund on the rentals and tickets before doing even one run. They refused.
The nice kid who rented us the equipment agreed refunding us the money was the right thing to do, but after talking to his manager he simply said, «That’s not how they’re running the mountain right now.»
When we tried to get a refund on the $ 291 we spent on lift tickets, we got no sympathy at all from anybody.
It’s the 7^th best ski hill in Tahoe. No reason to go back if they’re also the most evil.

I’m not normally motivated to take the time to write reviews, but my experience today was so terrible that Sierra has left us no other choice.
We arrived around 10am with no sign of trouble. We proceeded to spend $ 200 on lift tickets (blackout day) and $ 200 on rental gear for two people. As soon as we got over to the lifts, we found out that the entire mountain is effectively closed and the only open lift had a 2 hour line to access.
Our day ruined, we gave up and tried to return our skies. The resort refused to refund the money for our ski rentals and passes and told us ‘tough luck’. This was 10 minutes after we’d paid for everything and it was clear we hadn’t even gotten a single run. The younger folks working were embarrassed by the corporate policy and were actually begging the managers to refund the costs. Sadly, to no avail. Our 10 minutes at Sierra cost $ 400 and didn’t involve any skiing.
Direct quote from one of the younger employees — ‘I’m so sorry they won’t do anything for you. This isn’t how the mountain should be run.’ I’ll omit the profanity included about his management (-;
Thanks for reading and happy skiing at any other resort in Tahoe than this dump.

Way better than Heavenly.
Took the shuttle from lake tahoe vacation resort.
Less crowded and half the price of heavenly.
Found out Sierra charges $ 119 snow gear rental, lift tickets and lessons. That’s unheard of but great!
Thank you to the snowmobile man who saved me from sugar and Spice mountain and drove me directly to the bar. :)

The drive to Sierra is a lot less crowded than the 80 so definite props for that.
It feels like a smaller resort than the others but I was plenty satisfied with what they had. They had updated lockers that you can open and close to your hearts desire all day long. Forget those all school lockers and packing quarters! The downside is these lockers are pricey from $ 8-​$ 10, but I think it’s worth it to get all day access.
I was not impressed with their school packages however because the limited lift ticket only gives access to a short green. You don’t get access to the big summit which is a big part of why I go snowboarding but I also like taking lessons too! So it’s a bummer to pay so much and only get a limited lift ticket. I opted to teach myself today and thoroughly enjoyed myself!
I bought my lift ticket on recreation connection which was $ 20 off, it was the best deal I could find out there. Ski shops couldn’t beat this price.
They have a lodge at the summit you HAVE to visit! Not only do they have great views, they have great food, great drinks, and get this. They also have a stand inside to drop off your boots and gloves where they air dry them for you and give you slippers. It’s the most amazing perk ever and it’s free! I tipped of course because I loved it so much. My hands were dry but always frozen after the lift ride to the top. Visiting this little stand was a god send. I got to dry off my gloves, warm up my hands, and eat and drink and just enjoyed myself before the ride down. Amazing sweet potato fries and a great cold beer to wash it down.
The big long green from the summit called Sugar and Spice is about 3 miles long and it was the only slight disappointment compared to the entire experience. It gets 3 stars because there are two flat sections where it’s extremely easy for many people to get stuck and you basically have to just walk. It was a great snow day and I got lots of good snowboarding in despite that. I like the curve at the end. There are also a few spots where this green trail merges with blue or black and I felt it was a little dangerous because the blue/​black would merge in at a large steep slope meaning they would be coming in fast, that worried me a bit.
The lift was standard and I had no problems with how it was run and getting off the lift either.
Overall, it was a great experience, 4 stars !

The coolest ski resort in South Lake Tahoe. The snow, whether man made or not, is the freshest.
They have lifts for everyone whether you’re a beginner or have been snowboarding your entire life. I love the different route options when heading down the mountain. But my favorite thing about this park is the bar at the top of the mountain. There’s great drinks and beautiful views!