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.