Heavenly Ski Resort Stateline, CA

Terrain	3.8
Service	3.8
Crowds	2.8
Activities	4.0
Value	3.2
Overall Rating	3.5

Number of reviews: 5

Yousef from Washington, DC	Dec 10, 2008
Overall Rating:  4.4

I love heavenly, but you have to know how and where to ski it. The best part is the tree skiing. About 80 years ago, the entire hill was clear cut to prop up a major silver mine in the area. Later they replanted the trees so they are now big, beautiful and just the right amount of spacing. There aren't that many listed tree runs but you can pretty much go anywhere on this hill and be fine. One time I was there and it was snowing so hard we couldn't get on the lift to the top of the CA side (Sky express). Instead of just riding the blue runs off the Canyon Express lift, I used that lift and turned skiers right to do a massive diaganal across the mountain. Who needs trails on this hill?!? It was some of the best tree skiing I've ever had.
My other favorite terrain is doing speedy loops on blue/black groomed terrain with high speed lifts. Heavenly has this in spades but just don't try to go for a grand tour of the place. Don't waste time crossing back and forth between CA and NV. Pick one area for a while and lap that chair lift, then move onto another lift area. This is not a great mountain to "explore" on a tour.
Of course all of this ignores the obvious draws: beautiful views and great housing/apres options.

David from Columbus OH	Feb 21, 2007
Overall Rating:  4.6

When deciding which resorts to visit in the Tahoe area, I was nervous about spending multiple days at Heavenly due to poor reviews that it received on this site. I had reserved a week stay at Harvey's Casino (which was an excellent choice) that included discounted lift tickets at Heavenly. I am here to say that I was more than pleasantly surprised at how much I loved this resort.

I have only been to a few resorts which include Breckenridge, Mammoth, Alpine Meadows, Holiday Valley, A-Basin, and Keystone, but I would put Heavenly at the top. I consider myself a level 2-3 skiier leaning more towards the 3.

Starting with the terrain, I understand how awful the layout is for boarders, but it is terrific for skiing. I absolutely loved the tree skiing, the best that I have experienced. There were plenty of skill levels available to practice this discipline, and never another person to fight over the area. I did not venture to either of the canyons, but did enjoy the Milky Way bowl. I will also add the weather into the terrain, which was absolutely stunning over Valentines day week 2007. Warm and sunny, no ice, including overnight snowfall. The interconnecting trails were sometimes troublesome, but not impossible for skiers.

I found the service all over the mountain to be extremely friendly, be it on the slopes or in the lodges. Now, we skied during the week, and maybe this had a factor in it since the crowds weren't bad, but I was actually surprised by how nice most were.

The crowds were fine for Monday through Thursday skiing, but I would NEVER come here over a holiday or weekend, and anyone who would and then complain about it is a moron. Any resort on the weekend is trouble, and even with the numerous high speed lifts, I can see how this place could fill up.

I am a 30 year old professional male, and I loved everything about this area, as I am a gambler at heart, the casinos were more active and lively than most in vegas during the midweek, weather was terrific, scenery was beautiful. I will make this a yearly destination for sure. I might eliminate 1 vegas trip a year in fact for this place.

I received discounted lift tickets with my stay at Harvey's that brought it down to about 55-60 dollars a day, which is good for me. The food was expensive, but what else is new.

I just loved this spot, the tree skiing, the weather, and the surrounding area. I will definitely be returning in the future, just avoid weekend trips and you will enjoy it as well.

Shawn from Gulf Breeze, FL	Feb 15, 2007
Overall Rating:  3.8

Heavenly Ski Resort is incredible!!!! It is nice to get away from the beach once a year and head out west. Heavenly is by far one of the best resorts. It does get rather busy, but you can't beat the excellent runs and the beautiful view of Lake Tahoe

Bill from San Diego	Jan 15, 2007
Overall Rating:  2.6

Heavenly was so cold the day I went that there was no lines at all. I was really excited because I have been dreaming to go snowboarding there for so long. What a disappointment? How can you make so many connecting cat tracks that are so flat? I realize that every ski resort has them but when you label a up hill cat track as a blue on the map? What is that? I spent so much time just walking a blue. Last thing, why wouldn't you make a gondola that you can ride to the bottom of? The gondola starts in the middle of the village but it should have a point at the bottom of the hill where you can ride down and get on. I had a free ticket to ride but the price for the day was $74 which is just stupid and no way is the place worth that. I would like to try the hill on a better day so I could give it a real chance but at $74 I don't think I can.

Q from san diego	Oct 29, 2006
Overall Rating:  2.2

Hated it, but the views are great. I tried to ride it, but i ended up taking my board off and walking a lot (tooooo many up hill connecting trails) so I changed to my skis at midday, a little better, but this is a painfull mountain and the views just don't make up for the crowds and the layout. They need to spend a summer reshaping the mountain.