I first heard a teaser about a Tahoe ski area not opening for 24-25 season on local radio Friday late afternoon and thought it could be Donner Ski Ranch or Soda Springs before realizing that it must be Homewood which only makes sense for West Shore Tahoe locals who don't have an Ikon pass. Their access from Truckee (and Reno, Sacramento and SF Bay Area) often gets blocked by traffic going to the two Palisades bases and road from South Tahoe often closes due to snow/avalanche danger around Emerald Bay.
I lived for a year in Sunnyside, less than 4 miles from Homewood in 1976 and 1977. I had inexpensive passes ($300 at most) to what was then called Squaw for two winters; first one bought while working at Granlibakken and one bought early for following season. I never skied Homewood then although some houseguests without passes would, often taking advantage of less expensive 16 and under ticket even though they were a couple or more years older. I think Homewood was first at Tahoe with a low-speed quad chair that is now their only high-speed. They have some great trees and terrain, some of which requires a little hiking, but also suffer from low, Lake level, base elevation. They get dumped on in many storms, have great Lakeviews and had some snowcat access to Ellis Peak above their lifts.
I did get to Homewood for between 5 and 10 days starting in late 1990s although none in last 10-15 years when I had passes to other Tahoe areas. Most of my Homewood skiing was on ski show deals or other deals/freebies and all is before my computer records. I remember some good and a couple of great powder days when new snow lasted longer than it does now. I also remember having to drive the long way from Stateline area of South Lake Tahoe both ways (I'd thought Emerald Bay would open during day) in 1993 or 1994 as they were one of the closest ski areas with reasonable lift tickets and onsite day care for children in diapers. I also remember staying at a ski-in place there with group from work. Adding free days for Sierra Tahoe to my Ikon pass is a bigger gain for me than losing chance of paying too much to ski Homewood again.
