Mammoth v South Lake Tahoe???!!!!

Advice desperately needed!!! we're a family of 3 (14 year old daughter). :!:

We're stopping in San Fran for 3 nights, then hiring a 4x4 and heading for a week skiing.
Will arrive in ski resort 1st April.

which will be the best resort for 1st week April for snow, activities, best value for ski hire, lift passes, restaurants etc.
Erring towards Mammoth as not that keen on the Casino culture at Tahoe..

any advice greatly appreciated.

Cheers

Lisa

May I suggest South Lake Tahoe? Much more variety of skiing to suit your family. There are many resorts around the Lake, all an easy drive from SLT base. Stay on the California side of the Stateline if you dont like casinos. But they are good value for food & lots of ressies open till late. Snow? who knows? But both areas get a lot of snow usually.
Go to the smaller resorts at weekends to avoid weekenders from S/F at Heavenly.
'Centre' of Mammoth is spread out a lot. When I visited, the better runs at the top were often subject to closure because of high winds.
Planning to go to Tahoe for fourth time this season.
Good luck,
Reg Burgess

Thanks so much for the info Reg. Much appreciated.

just a quickie...do you purchase your lift passes and ski/board hire in advance?

Hi Lisa, Checkout this website for the EPIC range of lift passes <http://www.snow.com/epic-pass/passes.aspx>
They cover Heavenly, Northstar & Kirkwood. but not Sierra and many other resorts around the Lake.
Sometimes your lodging, motel, hotel can get you discounted deals for skihire etc.
Reg

I suggest you look into the Tahoe City/Truckee area. No casinos, smaller hotels, condo's, cabins, and the like. Two nice towns. Truckee has quite a bit of history from its railroad/timber past. Nearby are Northstar with nice cruising slopes and an upscale atmosphere, and Squaw Valley (home of the 1960 Olympics) and Alpine, with lots of great terrain and views. You can now buy one ticket for both resorts. Just across the stateline on the north shore is Diamond Peak, a smaller resort but quite pleasant. If you do feel like a little gambling, the Hyatt Hotel is in the town of Incline, a beautiful area. And, not that far away is Sugar Bowl, a medium size resort with varied terrain that is at the old historical area of Donner Summit. I believe it is now offering some tickets that are also good at Squaw and Alpine. I have a cabin in a neighborhood near Sugar Bowl called Serene Lakes. We love the area. For my money and time, I would take the North Shore/Donner Summit area over South Lake Tahoe.

when you say South Lake Tahoe, you guess you really mean Heavenly. I much prefer Kirkwood over Heavenly or the other Tahoe resorts. Best is Mammoth, large area with diverse terrain and much better snow quality. The base elevation of Mammoth (about 8800 ft) is about where the other top out. So, especially in April, you'll enjoy Mammoth much more.

Stay on the California side of South Lake Tahoe. Ski in Heavenly, Kirkwood (my favourite) and Sierra - excellent combination for a ski trip!