I have never tried skiing before and found the Heavenly Ski School a very good way to learn. The place is amazing and safe; I can´t compare with other places, but for me as a beginner it was excelent.

You start at the base of the mountain, you have the option to rent your equipment in several stores in the area or rent directly from Heavenly, is more pricey but they have good equipment and in my case is came bundled with the ski instruction. You can leave the skis overnight in their shop after the initial setup, which is very convenient. Also included in my lesson fee was the use of the gondola and day pass for the lifts. One 2-hour, 45-minute class with rental equipment and gondola/lift ticket was $115 per person.

As we are not used to walking arount town with the ski boots, we found extremely convenient to rent a locker at the top of the gondola (there are other at the base) to keep our street shoes inside, and so we didn´t suffer the boots more time than needed. There is a flat fee of $5 for the whole day with unlimited accesses, just remember your locker and pin.

At the top of the gondola you find restrooms and a small restarant named Adventure Peak Grill, the food is mediocre but extremely expensive, we eat there as they are the only source of hot food in the area, as going to the base is not an option because you have to pay for the ride up again. At the top of the gondola you also find beside the ski school an area for tubing, snowshoeing, snowbycicles, etc., which cost extra of course.

There are several lifts in the area some for students and the normal ones for skiers. The system is very convenient and specially safe, the operators are very professional and keep an eye on you in case of any trouble.

Some of my friends like to ski in other resorts around Lake Tahoe, but I found Heavenly to be very convenient and easy. When I pass to more difficult levels I will try those, meanwhile this is a very enjoyable vacation spot.

You have to pay to take the lift to the lodge even if you don't ski (which I don't) -- I go to relax and take in teh many beautiful views!

The many parking entrances are confusing when it's your first time.

Maybe it's the tickets - at $57 adult, they're the most expensive in the region. Maybe it's the people - with a gondola right down to the casinos, the mountain attracts more casual skiers, more dilettantes... people who ski one day, sleep late and hit the casinos the next day, then go on a sleigh ride and go home to write about their ski vacation. Maybe it's the terrain - there is an experts only section, Mott's Canyon, but it seems somehow an afterthought. Maybe it's the lift lines - they were the only lines of any consequence anywhere on our trip, at the Sky Express and Dipper Express, and they were under 10 minutes... but, dammit, at Kirkwood and Squaw there were NO lines. Maybe it's the curse of Sonny Bono, who hit a tree in the Orion trail area... we can take Cher or leave her, but we loved that little guy! Anyhow, intermediates can find lots of long cruising trails on the Nevada side. Experts should be able to find some interesting tree runs after a storm. Beginners get stuck, however, since the mountian is weak on pure beginner areas. In fact, the upper mountain beginner runs - which you need to use in the spring to keep out of the heavy slush - are in conflict with intermediate/expert access to other terrain. The poor beginners try to do their thing, which involves much side to side work and an occasional fall, while the better skiers just blast through hoping to keep up their speed so they can get to wherever they need to go without poleing or walking. This leads to occasional discomfort on both sides.

The grand finale - Heavenly is 'Highly recommended' for a one time visit. Go and take a good look around. You really do have to get up there and check out the scenery. Heck, you may even like it more than Squaw or Kirkwood! It's high on a lot of people's lists, just not ours.