Mountain Review: Heavenly, California/Nevada

An in-depth video review of Heavenly Mountain Resort, a ski area located in South Lake Tahoe, CA and Stateline, NV.

Overall Mountain Score: 71/100 — #2 (tied) of 10 in Tahoe
---
Snow: 7/10
Resiliency: 7/10
Size: 8/10
Terrain Diversity: 8/10
Challenge: 7/10
Lifts: 6/10
Crowd Flow: 6/10
Facilities: 8/10
Navigation: 4/10
Mountain Aesthetic: 10/10

See our full Lake Tahoe rankings:

See our Mountain Score criteria:

Follow us on other channels!

[sorenjones]

4:04 Talk about the Galaxy lift! So freaking long, over one mile long! One big reason it didn't go detachable when it was upgraded is because the Galaxy area doesn't open very much. That terrain is very underrated, there are some great, long cruisers there. I did get the luxury of riding it when I came to Heavenly in spring 2019.

[mh-iczj]

lines seem to get longer here with every passing season. only a few major chairs are open and a lot of lower NV is closed, do your research before you commit $175+ for a pass. Other than that, great mountain! highly recommend woods in between dipper and comet on NV

[archstanton_live]

"A few choke points exist too." This is an understatement.

[bigslacker]

Heavenly is my home mountain, I live 10 minutes from all the base areas and this is a very fair assessment. Just a TON of great tree skiing, lots of natural terrain/obstacles, amazing views that still take your breath away even if you've been seeing them for 30+ years and a big mountain to explore. Tons of blues but not many greens, traversing to get around, some slow lifts and yep it's a bit of a mission to ride Killebrew. The biggest thing is the inconsistent snowfall. I have skis to bomb groomers during long stretches of no snow (thanks snowmakers!) and the board comes out for pow days. But OMG when the snow is good it's an amazing resort.

[SolaceEasy]

I have worked on the mountain for two full years while I lived on the South shore for 20 years. As an expert, you can have some real fun on the mountain, but it's not a good mountain to tour around on. Take a spot and work it. Maybe two. You'll have the whole mountain figured out in no time, outside of Mott and Killebrew Canyons, which will take one season to work out completely. If there's plenty of snow, and the trees are open, it might be the only place you can ski in the South shore. The Face and the trees on both sides can keep you quite busy if it is snowing hard.

[jloo]

Really impressed with your review man. Great job

[calibomber]

kirkwoood is my go to but i occasion i go heavenly. its a great place especially after a storm and being able to stay on the strip. ill go to heavenly as it opens and after i check in to monte bleu . rest eat gamble and drink. then get ready for a full day of skiing w no driving or waking up early. on cali side on a heavy pow day. ridge run is fun and sometimes the sun will peep thru the clouds closer to closing. and the view of the lake and having some ipa with friends and fam make it so fun. like really some of my fave things to do on earth. is there a kirkwood ep?

[MeAMuse]

Pretty fair review here. Motts is probably the best option if you are looking for challenging terrain.... killebrew canyon is just a lot more awkard on the way in and way out. The key to Heavenly is working out where to go when busy....Comet and Dipper can end up with lines that are over 30 mins... and the same is true for Sky... when that happens try to aim for Motts, Stagecoach, Olympic, Gunbarrel or Powderbowl. All offer good options for more advanced skiers (e.g. Eastbowl Woods, Hogsback, PowderBowl Woods, Stagecoach Woods, or the Burn). If you are looking for more interesting terrain on the epic pass though.... you should definitely check out Kirkwood.

[rotorookie-]

Re : Killebrew exit, they could build a summer road from the base of Mott over to the base of Killebrew Canyon and grade it appropriately, something wide enough for a snow groomer. A groomed exit road would make egress out of the Canyon way easier for everybody, not to mention less headaches for ski patrol when injuries occur there.

[TaylorPhase]

Turns? Why not go straight and not scrape the snow?

[TheMohawkTrucker]

Nice review could you guys do a review on Mont riguad?

[weirdbeard]

Before this season every time I was ever at heavenly was either teaching or in an exam. So I got to actually ski it with my kid who shreds. It has some really fun terrain that's really cool and interesting to ski. I still stand by my initial comments but I have a higher opinion of it now.

[mrepix]

Heavenly is upgrading North Bowl lift to an express quad this season

[hipoopy]

Hey what camera did you use for these shots? It's very vivid, clear, and expansive! Good stuff.

[banff]

Was thinking about going out to Keystone/Breck/Vail this season, but after seeing the epic snowfall that has graced Heavenly--and being that I've not skied Heavenly/Kirkwood with Northern Cal relatives in a while--I'm thinking about a trip to South Lake Tahoe this 2023 season. It's now January 12th, and we're thinking late February for the trip. Any advice out there about whether to go or not?

[kanyonpenn]

Great Review! Maybe do northstar next? Or Sierra!

[SilverState]

One of the worst downsides of Heavenly is how popular it gets, South Lake Tahoe/Stateline is impossible to get through on weekends and holidays, all thanks to all the tourists coming in.

[lseagle]

Trying to decide where to go for a 2 day trip, Utah or Tahoe... Usuallly I go to bear/snow summit since they are the closest but I would like to go somewhere with wide groomers and (hopefully) better snow. Got any recommendations within a day's drive of socal? Snowbird and heavenly are at the top of my list right now

[ericsilva]

Honestly if you think Heavenly views are great, you need to check out Homewood.

[Sammeep]

I broke my leg here, on the NV side in 2019....