AWESOME VIEWS! Nice big/little resorts with all types of level of skiing, snowboarding or skiboarding. Not as crowded as other resorts either. Just a neat place to ski. Even though family oriented, no play area for the little kids, but we did anyways with our saucer! Chairs have been upgraded, yeah!

We used to come to Homewood as it offered nice value for your money with tix prices ~$40 and kids under 10 skied free.

It has 1/2 of terrain of nearby Alpine not as much of vertical drop on most runs with snow quality usually inferior compared to Alpine, Squaw, Boreal or SugarBowl, probably due to proximity to the Lake.

their staff from South America is friendly yet not alway trained enough to operate the chairs...

Well, it has changed this year, with prices going up from $25 to $39 on midweek and $44 to $53 on weekends and Fri, $58 on holidays and $10 for kids...that's 20-50% hike.

yep, they replaced a quad char with high-speed one, but there is no new terrain to match it. Basically, if I would get bored after I rode all the trails I can navigate 2-3 times in 5 hours last year, now with high-speed char I can do it in 3.5-4 hours. No much valus for me in this. They also mention about new food facility at norht lodge, I have not checked it yet, we always lunch up at the cafe on the mountain, nothing changed there, some construction is going on for 2-3 years but not end.

If they could make the trails and join with Alpine, that would have been something (they are owned by the same company btw).

yeah, this year theyr introduced ticket scanners at the bottom chairs, it slows you down somewhat...

basically, the sprit went from good ole times to more money oriented enterprise...

i now see more value for my buck in SugarBowl or Alpine...

We love Homewood. Not only do you have lakes of Lake Tahoe from most slopes, but it's not as overpriced, making it very attractive for families. With have four kids, three of them ski already. There are plenty of easy slopes for beginners, but also has black diamond slopes worthy of their name. Not a huge area, but the great views, the decent snow (not as icy as many other Tahoe ski resorts), and the family friendliness make this our favorite destination.
The cafe at the South parking lot is very convenient and friendly. With a baby, we take turns skiing; the other parent is either at the cafe, or goes home to a nearby cottage. Given that the area is not too crowded, it's reasonably easy to find parking.
The favorite "apres ski" for us is the Tahoe House, a couple of miles North (about 1/2 a mile before reaching the Y at Tahoe City)
No, it's not Northstar, and we hope it won't turn into one, either. There's a new quad express chair, which is phenomenal. On the top of our wishlist would be to replace the 'ellis' chair lift also with a modern express chair lift.

I'm writing a review for Homewood now that they are closed so i can sum up my season with them. the snow is great there after freshies but it melts away quickly later in the year. i expected the snow to turn to ice like last year but it just seemed to melt into water without the freezing part. it felt like the winter went straight into summer without the spring. near the end of the season there was bare spots everywhere, but that was to be expected with no fresh snow dumps. this season was really really short and didnt have to many large dumps.

homewood is one of my favorite resorts because the views and the super short lines. the views at homewood are breathtakingly awesome and pictures do not do them justice! also, one day at homewood is equivalent to multiple days at more crowded resorts because you get more ski/board time in. the food there is not the best, but the runs are fun as hell. generally there are no crowds except at the choke point where the first lift drops off. (the lift with the midpoint loading)
one of my gripes with homewood is that they close at 4ish. if only they could stay open longer. also once the resort closes, it closes. there is no chilling around because everybody leaves as soon as they hit the bottom of the hill.
also the family friendly applies to people who can ski deciently. homewood is hard to learn at because the runs are eather steep bowls and faces (really cool ones i might add) or narrow runs.

First thing about Homewood is its spectacular view. It's very close to the lake, so you get to have a unobstructed sight. I think the snow condition was okay when we were there given no snowfall in the past two weeks. You can feel that they work hard to make the condition acceptable. Also, because of the smaller crowd, the snow was not as packed as in other large resorts. The facility was old, no doubt. Most lifts are slow and old, the cafe is not fancy, either. And because of the closeness to the lake, it warms up rather quickly. And when it's warm, the snow gets sloshy. So, go early if you can.
Overall, I think it is a nice place to be if all you wanted is some quality playtime on the snow. And you can't beat the price ($27 all day for spring time)

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