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Big cobalt sky. Jagged granite peaks thrown up by ancient volcanic eruptions, piled high with snow. It just needs a Jimmy Stewart or a Charlton Heston on horseback plodding through the deep snow to make it a Hollywood set piece. Nothing has really changed here since the West was won.

Kirkwood sits high in a natural, steep-sided amphitheatre with jagged peaks overlooking extensive bowl-skiing. If you turn your back on the burgeoning but still small ski village of Kirkwood, ignore the low decibel level of whirring ski lifts and minor human activity, and look up into the mountains and the steep snowbowls beneath them, you are looking at a pristine and breathtaking slice of the old west as it was in the days of Kit Carson and other frontiersmen. Why, the mountain pass you had to travel to get here is named after the trapper, hunter and guide who took part in the conquest of California, and as a brigadier general of volunteers, fought native American tribes that had sided with the Confederacy in the American Civil War. Even the Nevada state capital, Carson City – another world - lies just across the High Sierras. To be able to ski these stunning mountains is a privilege. Just being able to look at them is sufficient reason to be here.

Kirkwood is the big Tahoe resort with the relatively small following. The cognoscenti come here, happy that most ski tourists who arrive in Reno or San Francisco head straight for the fleshpots of Heavenly and the bragging rights of Squaw Valley. Kirkwood is only 35 minutes away from the Las Vegas-style gambling joints of Stateline, Nevada, just across the Californian border with South Lake Tahoe. The management, however, hope that skiers and snowboarders might get wind of this gorgeous little spot in the more remote hinterland of Lake Tahoe . The “best kept secret” label some ski areas bandy about is faintly ludicrous. If they want to keep their slopes a secret, why employ a marketing director? But if one tries to analyse the criteria of ski resorts which fall into this category, Kirkwood is a strong candidate.

The resort takes its name from Zachary Kirkwood, who arrived here along with emigrants and fortune seekers during the Californian Gold Rush Days, In 1864, four years before Kit Carson’s death, Kirkwood opened the Kirkwood Station, now known as the Kirkwood Inn, serving travellers and cattle ranchers. It was a good place to find bootleg whiskey during the days of Prohibition. .

It wasn’t until the 1960s that Kirkwood made its first appearance on the Californian ski map. A US Forest Service team hiking in the mountains climbed Thimble Peak (9,876ft) and skied down to Kirkwood Meadow. They thought this spectacular box canyon, with an unusually high snowfall record, had the makings of an excellent ski resort, and Kirkwood opened for business in 1972. Crucially it was the Wagon Wheel Chair (Lift 10) which in 1984 opened up the kind of challenging terrain that started attracting hard-core skiers and snowboarders: the steep ‘Wall’ along with 700 acres of advanced and expert terrain, such as Headwater and Dick’s Drop.

From the top of The Wall, skiers can access a clutch of double-black diamond gladed chutes. These include All The Way, Notch Chute, Sister Chute, Shaffer’s Chute, Saddle Chute and Cliff Chute, clustered below The Sisters (9,400ft). Way out beneath Glove Rock is another group of easier chutes, including Sentinel, Rabbit Runs and Fireball. There is even a run named Zachary. Although some runs are so steep that the resort has to use winch cats to groom them, most lifts have easy ways down.

The easiest slopes, at Timber Creek, are accessed by The TC Express and Bunny Lifts, just above the Mighty Mountain Children’s Center, and the Snowkirk lift, close to ‘Adventure Land’, a park for young riders. Timber Creek also has a Learn-to-Ride Center.

A new village – with the highest base area in the Tahoe region – began to take shape in 1995. As Tim Cohee, long-serving Resort President, puts it, ‘It’s a 30-second walk to some world-class skiing, but not to dinner at Spago’s or a night of gambling – people come here for the stunning location, the serenity and nature.’ Kirkwood is indeed wildly beautiful.

How to Get There


Kirkwood is located in north-eastern California, 35 minutes by car or shuttle from South Lake Tahoe via Highway 89 South and Highway 88 West. The resort is 90 minutes from Reno/Tahoe International Airport via US 395 South and Highway 88 West, 3 1/2 hours from San Francisco International Airport (via Jackson) and a two-hour drive from Sacramento International Airport via State Routes 16 East, 49 South and Highway 88.

Arnie Wilson flew to San Francisco with Virgin Holidays which has a selection of offers to Lake Tahoe resorts. For more information contact Virgin Holidays reservations on 0871 222 0308 or see www.virgin.com/holidays

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