Kirkwood is owned by Vail. Bought for $18M in February 2012. Bargain price and thought was to prevent Ikon from buying it.
I followed example set by
@jamesdeluxe and asked Google "is kirkwood a cult ski area".
Reply follows and note the reference to firsttracks.
AI Overview
Yes, Kirkwood is widely considered a "cult" ski area. Skiers and riders love its fiercely loyal community, rugged no-frills atmosphere, and legendary, steep freeride terrain. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
Why it has a cult following:
- Elite Terrain: Famous for features like "The Wall," it is packed with double-black chutes, cornices, and technical lines geared toward advanced and expert riders.
- No-Frills Vibe: It favors pure skiing over a luxurious resort village. The atmosphere is more about chasing deep Sierra powder than sipping high-end cocktails.
- "If You Know, You Know" Factor: Located a bit further from the main Tahoe crowds, it retains a tight-knit, local community feel that deters beginners and traditional tourists. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8]
Important details for visitors:
- Elevation & Weather: Its high, exposed location traps great snow, but it is also highly susceptible to wind holds.
- Infrastructure: The mountain utilizes a fair number of older, fixed-grip chairlifts compared to mega-resorts. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
Before I retired Kirkwood was often my most skied area. I don't have complete records (may still have more on paper), but have these:
2003-04 Kirkwood 5 days, Sugar Bowl 4 days, total of 18 days
2005-06 Heavenly 14 days (on $299 pass), Kirkwood 3 days, total of 23
2008-09 Kirkwood 13 days (on $229 pass), Heavenly 2, Squaw Valley 2, total 21
2009-10 Kirkwood 15 days (on $299 pass), total 21
2010-11 Squaw Valley 25 days (on $369 pass), Sugar Bowl and Northstar 3 each, Mammoth 2, total of 38 - retired Jan 2011
2011-12 Heavenly 13 days & Northstar 10 on $359 pass, Kirkwood was added and open until 5/4 & I had 8 days, total 44
So, Kirkwood was my most skied area at least three years before retirement (twice on under $300 season passes) even though Heavenly is much closer to family SLT cabin. Besides having better snow and less crowds, as long as the Carson Spur just W of Kirkwood is open, it is more than 50 miles closer to home (which made for a few long daytrips) and has less traffic and generally better drivers in the snow that US-50 to So. Tahoe (or I-80 to Northstar, Palisades, etc). Heavenly is much harder to get to close to when they open (desirable for parking) when leaving pre-dawn from home - both 50 and 80 mean some traffic crossing Sacramento.
More recently I have the most days every season at Kirkwood, even though Vail often opens Kirkwood later in Fall than Heavenly or Northstar and often closes Kirkwood on same day or only a week or two longer. Kirkwood often runs lifts in all but the most powerful storms when avalanche danger and wind can force closure of lifts. Backside chair (and chair 2 getting to it) and Cornice get closed most by wind while The Wall and The Reut get closed more by avalanche danger. Heavenly closes lifts (Sky chair, and gondola that connects Stateline area to upper NV) due to wind far more often. Some more recent seasons:
2020-21 Kirkwood (which closed 4/11) 13 days and Heavenly 10 on $369 Tahoe Pass, total of 32 inc. 7 on next year's Ikon (5 Squaw, 2 Mammoth)
2021-22 Kirkwood 15 days inc. 5/1 closing, Heavenly 10 on $359 Tahoe Value, Mammoth 6, Palisades and Altabird 5 on $929 Ikon, total of 43
2022-23 Kirkwood 13 days inc. 5/12 (closed 5/14), Heavenly 6, Bachelor 6, Palisades and Mammoth 4 each inc. two@MM in late July, total 46
2023-24 Kirkwood 22 days, Heavenly 5, Altabird and Palisades 6 each, total 47
2024-25 Kirkwood 11, Heavenly, Palisades 8, Mammoth and Altabird 5 each, Copper 4, total 46
2025-26 Kirkwood 11 (6 in April), Heavenly 6, Banff/LL 5, Snowbird 4, Revelstoke and Sierra 3 each, Mammoth 4 in Dec. with more likely
Kirkwood used to be more of a cult place. Note sure if it was before I skied there or not, but I attended a 4th of July race in Kirkwood's Eagle Bowl in 1973 or 1974 on way to camping and water-skiing at Topaz Lake. They let us ride us chair 1 to get close to where race was held, but even though we were all in tennis shoes, we walked the rest of the way to race and all the way down to base, some on snow.
Before Vail bought them, they allowed overnight stays in parking lots. Then when Vail banned that, independent bar/restaurant 7800 (in base of old somewhat dilapidated hi-rise) that sells $4 beers allowed overnight RV parking in their lot for a year before it was stopped (by Vail?). This year they had a
VanWood event in parking lots with $250 fee for three nights (benefited Boys & Girls Club of Lake Tahoe) and they got dumped on the last day.
Kirkwood used to be off-the-grid, making their own electricity with diesel generators that were located somewhat close to employee housing. I was there for both generator building fires which helped push them to connect to the grid although they still have very expensive electricity. Vail claimed credit for the connection even though it was residents that paid for it. See
https://www.tahoedailytribune.com/news/kirkwood-grid-project-near-completion/ for details.
Some Kirkwood photos. First is the one I took of my son in early Dec. 2018 when Eagle Bowl opened for the season after 45" of new snow.
Next is one he took of me Jan. 21 this season and my comment on post was "Almost looks like I'm skiing powder. Or at least it's Winter snow."
Above photo was taken on a day when no new snow was predicted for weeks. Photo of son from same day. It was not that warm especially there.
