Shopping at Heavenly Village is the perfect way to spend the day, with over 30 unique shops and eateries to explore. Browse through art and photo galleries, high-end clothing stores, jewelry stores and more!
Want to get those panoramic views of Lake Tahoe that are only found in magazines and art studios? Well, now it’s possible to capture an aerial view of the lake and mountains, adding your very own artistic flair, with a ride up The Gondola at Heavenly. The awe-inspiring journey begins at Heavenly Village, where the Gondola goes 2.4 miles up the mountain to 9,123 feet, nearly 3,000 feet above the lake. The ride itself is stunning and offers unparalleled views of the Desolation Wilderness, Carson Valley, and of course, the sparkling waters of Lake Tahoe.
Two-thirds of the way up the mountainside, The Deck offers the perfect sightseeing venue. Nestled among the massive granite boulders, the 14,000-square-foot deck provides high-powered viewing telescopes that allow visitors a close-up look at some of the destination’s best-known landmarks, including Emerald Bay, Mount Tallac and Cascade Falls.
The resort’s only year-round mountaintop bistro is located on The Deck. Café Blue is a casual alfresco eatery with alpine flair. The outdoor bistro offers gourmet flair with antipasto platters, shrimp cocktail, specialty sandwiches and an impressive selection of fine regional wines.
Three new trails, on-mountain lodge renovations, radio frequency ticket technology and a major trail re-grade are among improvements that Heavenly Mountain Resort has announced for the 2008-09 season. Under Heavenly’s 10-year master plan approved in April 2007, guests can look forward to new lifts, new on-mountain restaurants, new lodging and base villages that will greatly improve the overall experience at Lake Tahoe’s leading destination resort.
“The debut of Olympic Express and the Heavenly Flyer ZipRider last season set Heavenly apart as the next great destination resort,” said Blaise Carrig, Heavenly’s chief operating officer. “This winter guests will expect more improvements including new gladed trails in Ski Ways and the re-grading of Skyline Trail, which is the biggest little project at Heavenly in terms of its positive impact on the guest experience.”
The Skyline Trail re-grade is a great example of Heavenly addressing the concerns of its guests. Skyline Trail is the picturesque, 10,000-foot-high traverse connecting the California side of the mountain to the Nevada side. With its new, gentle 10-percent downhill grade, all levels of skiers and snowboarders will be able to enjoy unparalleled views of majestic Lake Tahoe as they slide their way into Nevada.
Three new trails will debut in California this season; two in Ski Ways glades and another in Powderbowl Woods. The runs continue the trend Heavenly began in the Olympic Express area last season; Heavenly is glading the trails, leaving tree islands far enough apart to groom the run with a snow cat, and giving upper-intermediate to advanced skiers and snowboarders a groomed, tree-skiing experience. The two trails in Ski Ways Glades will be designated as black diamonds (most difficult), and the trail in Powderbowl Woods will be designated as a blue square (intermediate/more difficult).
On the Nevada side, Heavenly is providing more on-mountain, indoor seating by adding 160 seats to East Peak Lodge. The new area gives guests more room to relax and recharge when they are not out enjoying the mountain. The Higher Grounds coffee bar, originally located on the East Peak deck, will move inside East Peak Lodge this winter, and an additional Higher Grounds location will debut this winter at Lakeview Lodge. All on-mountain coffee locations will offer an organic, free-trade coffee blend from Starbucks called Serena.
The combination of grooming expertise and snowmaking capacity ensure that Heavenly’s guests are always skiing or riding on the finest snow surface conditions Lake Tahoe has to offer.
The 2008-09 Heavenly season passes have received a high-tech upgrade this season with the addition of Radio Frequency (RF) technology. A small computer chip called an RF “tag” will be embedded into all resort passes, sending a radio signal to new handheld scanners. Guests will still interact with lift employees who will verify pass photos and information; however, the “easy scan” pass will not have to be presented to the scanner for it is detectable through many layers of clothing.
Heavenly will expand the Appetite for Life healthy food initiative this season by eliminating trans fats in the cooking oils at all its on-mountain dining establishments. Appetite for Life debuted last season offering hormone-free beef and poultry, as well as organic dairy products at all on-mountain eateries. |
