The 1960 Winter Olympics were held just a few miles northwest of Lake Tahoe at Squaw Valley by the town of Olympic Valley, and many come to see the flame still burning at the entrance to the town. Heavenly Valley has 2 venues near South Lake Tahoe, the lake's largest city at the southern tip of the lake next to the Nevada border. If you want skiing or snowboarding this is the place, because Heavenly has 4,800 acres of ski terrain (more than any other in southern California), Tahoe's highest mountain, and the west coast's longest vertical drop at 3,500 feet.

Other surrounding ski sites include Homewood, Alpine Meadows, with a terrain park and half pipe, Sugar Bowl, one of the best kept secrets of the Sierra, Mt. Rose, Northstar, Diamond Peak at Incline Village, Kirkwood, and Sierra. With an endless amount of winter vacation options, Lake Tahoe is a superb winter wonderland. And to the north near Interstate 80 are even more ski areas: Soda Springs, Sugar Bowl, Boreal, and Donner. You may also want to try your luck at the casinos on the Nevada side.

Ski and snowboard areas include:
Alpine Meadows
Boreal Ski Area
Diamond Peak
Donner Ski Ranch
Granlibakken Ski Resort
Heavenly Ski Resort
Homewood Mountain Resort
Kirkwood
Mt. Rose Ski Area
Northstar-at-Tahoe
Sierra-at-Tahoe
Soda Springs
Squaw Valley USA
Sugar Bowl Ski Resort
Tahoe Donner Downhill