Ski Tahoe

Lake Tahoe is a natural freshwater lake in the heart of the Sierra Nevada mountain range between California and Nevada, USA. It is situated between the large cities of Sacramento CA and Reno NV. Lake Tahoe is about 22 miles end to end, with over 70 miles of shoreline, it does not freeze over in the winter so it is a spectacular view year round. It is surrounded by mountain peaks in the 10,000ft/ 3300M range with Ski areas throughout them.

There are approximately 15 major ski areas in the Tahoe region. Heavenly Valley is the largest of them. Heavenly's chair lift comes down into south shore, so you can walk to the lifts. From the top of Heavenly Valley you overlook Lake Tahoe and all the majestic peaks that surround the Lake. The view is awesome.
Squaw Valley and Alpine Meadows are more on the North West side of the lake. Squaw Valley was the site of the Winter Olympics in 1960, there you will find a very large mountain with a lot of expert skiing terrain. Some of the other major ski resorts in the Tahoe region are, Mt Rose, Northstar, Kirkwood and Sugar Bowl. You will find first class skiing at all these resorts from expert runs to beginner. Tahoe is an excellent destination for a family vacation.

The ski season usually begins in November and lasts through May. The storms roll through the Sierras coming out of Alaska dumping snow then the sky clears up and you will have the bluest sky's you have ever seen.
If you are flying to Tahoe, Sacramento (SMF) or Reno (RNO) has large airports with rental vehicles. You can catch smaller commuter flights to Lake Tahoe or Truckee from larger international airports like San Francisco International (SFO). Lake Tahoe is about an hour's drive from Reno or an hour and a half from Sacramento.
Food and Lodging around the Lake are plentiful. There are large hotels and casinos on the South shore or you can find more mountain type lodging (cabins, small hotels) on the North shore, West shore or Truckee. All of these major ski areas have small villages where you can find great lodging and chair lifts that come into town.

If you are visiting Lake Tahoe and you have some down time from skiing visit Truckee. It is an old historic town originally along the pioneer trail in the 1800 then developed to support the railroads. The railroad still goes through town with a historic looking train station where you can catch the train going to Sacramento or Reno for another excursion. The Northstar-at-Tahoe ski resort is located in Truckee. There are villages at most of these resorts where you can find lodging and the ski lifts come into the village so you don't have to have a vehicle for daily commuting.