The last reviewer is right about one thing, you should not waste your time at the Wood. Yes, please go elsewhere so I can have some of the Deepest Snow, Sickest Terrain, and LEAST crowded slopes anywhere in North America.

Whaa Whaa Whaa, with a base of 8000 feet and mega storms coming out of the Gulf of Alaska, the weather is bound to get hairy once in a while. I am sorry that your day was such a waste, should have been there a day or two after your horrible day. It was Epic with multiple FEET of Pow and no one around.

But again, please avoid Kirkwood at all cost. Enjoy a wonderful day of riding and skiing at Vail Jr. " Heavenly"

Skier for 10 years, snowboarder fo the past 4

I love Kirk, but I must be unlucky. 3 weekends ago the wind was blowing at 190 MPH on the wall,(the highest chairlift) so they opened only 2 lifts,(5 and 11) for about 8 different runs. Last sunday was supposed to be the "perfect day"... powder all night, good weather.
I got there by 8:30 geared up and realized that the lifts were not moving. Out of power for an accident. Damn!

They handled the problem pretty quickly, giving out $35 tickets
(instead of 72) for cash to the people in line, by 10:40 I was on the lift and didn't stop until 4 PM. And the ticket is valid for any other day until the 27 of April that is not bad at all.

Once again they opened only chair 6, 11 and 1, I don't know why, since the wind seemed gusty but totally manageable, at least on some of the closed lifts.
Other than that, Kirk is great for the quality of the snow, the variety of the runs, the huge and accessible off-piste, friendly atmosphere, a bit more on the expert-level, and for the drive.

The park is not really big, apart the 3 huge jumps, but I seldom ride the park preferring long fast carving, woods runs or the occasional gully.
The crowds are never overwhelming and the lift lines quick enough.
Plenty of fun for all skills/ages *WHEN* it's all open.
Sunday I spent my day basically on 4 runs..and I still I loved it..the quality of the powder is second to none.

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Husband and I rented a condo there for Sunday and Monday night and had a lovely time. All the staff we met were friendly and nice. The mid-week ski and stay is a great deal. We got 2 2-day lift tickets and 2 nights in a charming little fully furnished condo (with full kitchen, etc) for just about $400-- including taxes and fees. You can hardly beat that anywhere in Tahoe.

Food prices at concessioners were similar to any other resort in Tahoe, which is to say, rather pricy. No surprise there. We mostly cooked in our kitchen, but we did have a hotdog one day at the village's hotdog stand and it was overpriced but delicious. At same stand, you can get 24 ounce beers at $8 a can for a good beer or $5 a can for a Coors Light.

It was more crowded than we anticipated on a Monday/Tuesday, but still not bad at all. We never waited in a lift line longer than about 5 minutes. The other skiers and boarders we met were nice and we didn't encounter any rudeness. There was minimal "out of control" skiing and riding going on, so I give the clientelle a big thumbs up.

Kirkwood is a favorite of expert skiers/riders, and I can see why. There is a lot of black and double black terrain. My husband and I weren't quite up to most of it. We can do single black providing the snow is soft but most of the single blacks were choppy and/or covered with killer moguls, even though a big storm dumped many inches of fresh the night before we arrived. So we were kind of limited in how much of the mountain we could see. We took one lift to the top so we could see it. We took Cornice up and skied down Olympic. It was super-challenging for us as intermediate skiers. We got down it fine and unharmed and enjoyed ourselves doing it, but it's not the kind of skiing we can just do all day. There were enough intermediate runs to keep us busy for the rest of our 2 day Kirkwood experience, but we had skied them all at least once or twice by the end of the 2nd day.

So if you're a great skier/rider who loves steeps, moguls, and double blacks of all kinds, I think you will have a great time here. If you're an intermediate or beginning skier, you can have a good day here, but you might enjoy somewhere like Sierra at Tahoe (for the south shore) or Sugar Bowl (for the north shore) a little better. There they have that small resort feeling like Kirkwood but with more terrain available for intermediates.

I was a North Lake Tahoe snob from the Bay Area since the early nineties. Discovered Kirkwood a few years ago after a brief hiatus with toddlers. It's about the only place we go now because of the awesome terrain, the best conditions, short lift lines, minimal traffic and more personal feel to it. This week they had 56" of new over four days and arriving by 9:00 we were no more that 5 cars away from the lodge every day. On top of that the set up for family skiing/boarding (advanced to beginner) makes skiing together and still getting your shredding fix possible without having the separate for the whole day. Lastly, the management of the mountain is run with a great attitude. Everyone who works there seems motivated and empowered to do the right thing for the visitors. If it seems out of the way, it's worth it!

I'm a San Francisco Bay Area local so I've been skiing at Kirkwood for over a decade now. Kirkwood have some great runs for everyone (I love the 'wall' - experts only, where you can drop in and ski/ride until your legs burn), and you can mix it up with tree runs.

Unlike Heavenly, Kirkwood is rarely crowded even on a busy Saturday or on holidays. The downside is that there's not much apres ski activities/no night life. You'd have to go to South Lake Tahoe stateline and enjoy the nightlife there on the Nevada side where there are casinos, live music and lots of dining options to choose from.

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