Heavenly Mountain Resort
 | This article contains promotional content. (September 2009) |
| Heavenly Mountain Resort | |
|---|---|
 Heavenly Ski Resort's gondola lift base in downtown South Lake Tahoe, | |
| Location | El Dorado County, California / Douglas County, Nevada, USA |
| Nearest major city | South Lake Tahoe, California |
| Vertical | Template:Ft to m |
| Top elevation | Template:Ft to m |
| Base elevation | Template:Ft to m |
| Skiable area | 4,800 acres (19 km²) |
| Trails | 97 total 20% beginner 45% intermediate 35% expert/advanced |
| Longest run | Olympic - 5.5 miles (8.9 km) |
| Lift system | 30 total (1 High Speed Gondola ski lifts, 1 High Speed Aerial Tram ski lifts, 2 High Speed Six Passenger chairs, 8 High Speed Quad chairs,1 Quad chairs, 5 triple chairs, 3 double chairs, 6 Surface ski lifts, 4 Magic Carpets ski lifts) |
| Terrain parks | 5: Small "Groove", Medium "Powderbowl" and "Cascade", Large "High Roller", Night park "Nightlife" |
| Snowfall | 360 in/year (9.14 m/year) |
| Website | skiheavenly.com |
Heavenly Mountain Resort is a ski resort located on the California-Nevada border in South Lake Tahoe. It has 97 runs and 30 lifts that are spread between California and Nevada and four base facilities. The resort has 4,800 acres (19 km²) permit, with approximately 33% developed for skiing, making it the largest ski resort, by area, in California (Mammoth Mountain Ski Area is larger in trail-marked, skiable terrain). It is also Tahoe's highest ski resort, with a peak elevation of 10,067 ft (3,068 m), a peak lift-service elevation of 10,040 ft (3,060 m), and a vertical rise of 3,500 feet (1067 m).
The resort was purchased by Vail Resorts, Inc. in 2002.
With an average of 360 inches (9 m) of snow annually, and one of America's largest snowmaking systems[1], their ski season usually runs from mid November to late April or early May.[2]
Improvements
Under the recently approved 10-year Master Plan Amendment, Heavenly can continue to improve their resort with the replacement of fixed grip lifts with high speed detachables. The first of these, Olympic Express, debuted on December 23, 2007. Future lift upgrades include the upgrade of the Galaxy double chair to a high speed detachable quad, the upgrade of the North Bowl triple chair to a high speed detachable quad, the replacement of the Patsy's and Groove triple chairs with a single high speed detachable quad, a high speed detachable lift to replace the Aerial Tram that will terminate at the future Powderbowl Lodge, the extension and conversion of the Mott Canyon double chair to a fixed grip quad that will terminate at the top of Dipper Express, the construction of a fixed grip quad between the base of Sky Express and the top of the Gondola, the reinstallation of the Wells Fargo chair, accessing abandoned terrain on the Nevada side, and the upgrading of Sky Express from a high speed detachable quad to a high speed detachable six-pack.
The longest zip line in the contiguous United States at 3,100 feet (940 m) long and a 525-foot (160 m)/50 miles per hour (80 km/h) descent, The Heavenly Flyer, is located at the top of the Heavenly Gondola at Adventure Peak.
The Powderbowl Lodge, a 27,650-square-foot (2,569 m2) LEED certified building that will seat 950 people, the Sand Dunes Lodge on the ridge adjacent to the top of the Tamarack Express lift, a new lodge at the top of the Gondola, a skier bridge from the top of the Gondola to Tamarack Express, the complete fleet of low-emission buses, and multiple other projects are currently planned.
Two new trails were cut during the 2008-2009 ski season, called the "Pinnacles".
Public transportation
The resort operates a free shuttle system through the local transit authority BlueGO. Each ski shuttle line doubles as a supplementary public transit line and is available for the public to ride for free.
Incidents
On January 1, 1998, Congressman Sonny Bono was killed after hitting a tree.[3]
On August 31, 2009, 1 person was killed and another was injured after falling from a chairlift at the resort.[4]
See also
References
- ^ Snow Makers for skiiers and snowboarders at heavely
- ^ [1]
- ^ Sonny Bono killed in skiing accident
- ^ http://www.newstin.com/rel/us/en-010-017840919 1 dead in zip cord, chair lift incident at Heavenly Tahoe]