Photo Courtesy Tahoe Tourism Sand Harbor

Winter weather makes this neighboring alpine retreat a skier’s paradise. But revamped resorts, adventurous activities and experimental chefs make Lake Tahoe an ideal summer escape.


Tahoe had a record-breaking winter this year, with snow piling up at 165 percent of normal levels and falling well into spring. Some area resorts even speculated that guests might be hitting the slopes as late as Fourth of July weekend. As it turned out, the last ski promotion was held on Memorial Day, so Tahoe did what it does so well: traded those snow skis for jet skis. That’s good news for Phoenicians looking for summer sports and foodie fun in cool, alpine altitudes.

This mountain retreat may be best known for its extreme winter sports and world-class skiing. Blizzards? Bring ’em on – as long as we’re cocooned in cozy retreats like PlumpJack Squaw Valley Inn, sipping a steamy Kahlua chocolate by the roaring fireplace.
 

Photo Courtesy The Ritz-Carlton Manzanita restaurant at The Ritz-Carlton

Yet, in summer, the same summit beckons with the Squaw Valley USA Cable Car, soaring to 8,200 feet for panoramic views of the Tahoe basin, capped by an island-waterfall-meets-swimming-pool oasis at the mountaintop.

For all of the wintertime hoopla the region generates, it also offers unparalleled summertime hiking, biking, fishing, golfing, boating or sunning on the beaches of North America’s largest alpine lake. The centerpiece lake is split neatly down the middle, marking its western shore in California and its eastern shore in Nevada, with two distinct communities known as North Lake and South Lake.

One of the draws is the rugged, small-town style still vaguely haunted by the pioneer tragedy that inspired the Donner Memorial State Park on Tahoe’s western entry. North Lake, however, is slightly bohemian, nestled next to the bustling, artsy town of Truckee. South Lake, meanwhile, brims with gambling crowds and a more boisterous, nightlife-driven energy.