Back to Tahoe, at the Ritz

Tahoe has managed to dissuade me from pursuing skiing as as hobby. I stayed away from its powdered slopes for over 10 years. Now I have kids and I somehow convinced myself that skiing was a bonding activity I ought to teach them Most ski resorts are a 4 to 6 hours drive from the San Francisco Bay Area. It is usually packed during winter resulting in long lines at most lifts. Slopes have been flattened to cater to the masses of ski novices. In 2024 I finally swallowed the pills, traded an obscene number of credit card points for a stay at Ritz-carlton, thinking this was the way to make my first experience with my kids on the slopes a fun one. The Ritz-carlton is one of the very few hotels on the slopes, there is ski concierge that makes your shoes and skis ready in the morning. You can start and end your skiing session right in front of the hotel. It is glorious but costs an arm and a leg.

Van Life

In prevision of my future skiing adventures with the kiddos, I did a reconnaissance trip solo in 2023. I slept in my van on a nearby parking lot and skied at Palissades. It worked very well, nights were warm enough and the drive to the Palissades parking lot was short. This sprung the idea of attempting the same approach with the kiddos. But voila, parking legally overnight has become complicated. Most skis resorts, Northstar, Heavenly and Kirkwood do not allow overnight parking. To make things worse day use parking now demands a reservation on week-ends. Yes, one must really want to go skiing.

Plan

Park at the Northstar Village Parking lot. Hop on the Highland Gondola and ski Overnight parking plan cannot be shared If Northstar turns out to to be too much of a headache, try Meiss Meadows and Kirkwood.

Where to park around Tahoe

Sno-parks

Sno-parks offer public access to some snowy areas. Free parking, overnight allowed. Only downside there are none close to the ski-resorts. More details can be found on the OHV California Website 2025-Jan-California-Sno-parks California Sno-Park Sites.pdf

Meiss Meadows

The Meiss Meadows Sno-park is 9km away from Kirkwood 2025-Jan-Tahoe-Meiss-Kirkwood-map

Reserving and Paying for Parking at the Resorts

Parking info

  • There are several parking areas around Tahoe where payment is handled via the Park Mobile app

  • Parkopedia is a good resource to explore parking options around the world