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Kirkwood: The Resort of Choice Among Northern California’s Adventure Crowd.

Photo Since 1997, when the first building in the new era of Kirkwood opened, over 400 Northern California families have made us their second home resort. Virtually all of them are avid winter enthusiasts whose decision was based on extensive research not only at Kirkwood, but Tahoe's other developing resorts, including Northstar, Sugar Bowl, Squaw Valley and Heavenly.

Having spent hundreds of hours discussing the process most went through to finally arrive at Kirkwood, here is our summary of the key elements that drove the vast majority our way. In essence, it centers around their ability to understand:
1) How Kirkwood will maintain its sense of openness and lack of crowding in spite of a doubling of the existing bed base and a 50% increase in the daily skier capacity?
  Answer: While the bed base doubles, the day skier capacity remains the same, increasing the total capacity on the busiest day by 40%. At the same time, overall lift capacity increases by 70%, and lift served terrain grows by nearly 100%.

2) How Kirkwood’s incredibly low on-mountain density will not only continue, but actually decrease?
  Answer: Total skiers on the mountain grows by 40%, while new lift served terrain grows by nearly 100%.
3) How Kirkwood’s short to non-existent lift lines will not only remain the same, but actually decrease?
  Answer: Total skiers at any one time grows by 40%, overall lift capacity grows by 70%.
4) How traffic on the two major routes into Lake Tahoe Highways 50 & 80 will continue to get worse, already unbearable for most?
  Answer: With continued development in the greater Tahoe Basin, adding overnight capacity, all the new visitors will be traveling the same roads that are already overcrowded during peak periods. Traffic can only get worse, it that's possible.
5) How Highway 88 will always be relatively traffic free in spite of Kirkwood’s anticipated growth?
  Answer: The only attraction on Highway 88 is Kirkwood, and there will never be another. Kirkwood is surrounded by public land in all directions, making additional development outside the Kirkwood valley impossible. Highway 88 operates at a fraction of its capacity, and will never see substantial increases over time.
6) How the substantial growth at Tahoe’s other major resorts is overcrowding the mountain by simply adding more people to existing terrain, creating an experience that will only get worse over time, as has been the case at many popular destinations throughout North America?
  Answer: It's nice to add high speed lifts to decrease liftlines, however if the resort doesn't add new mountain capacity at the same time, the end result is the skiers were just moved from the liftline to the slopes, causing overcrowding. Some resorts have adequate capacity to upgrade older flexed lifts to high speed quads, so that the runs remain relatively free of traffic, such as the upgrade of the Cornice #6 to a high speed a few years ago. Many resorts do not have this luxury, generally those where customers spend most of their day skiing on designated trails, as opposed to off piste (most of Kirkwood's vast terrain is off piste). Kirkwood has tremendous benefit of upgrading older lifts with plenty of mountain capacity in those locations, and also adding lots of new lift capacity to areas where no lift exists today.
7) How the variety of terrain at Kirkwood is so important in the long run, as skiers and riders of all ages and ability will never outgrow its popularity?
  Answer: As children grow, so do their skills. It's important when selecting a second home destination to consider how much your family will enjoy the mountain as they get better and better. Kirkwood, like a handful of resorts in the West, is a resort that appeals to every ability level, from one of the best learning environments in ski country at Timber Creek to some of the most extreme terrain in North America.
8) How Kirkwood will at the end of the day be one of but a handful of destinations that in every sense improve over time?
  Answer: We've all seen our favorite destinations grow over time. Some have done it gracefully; others have turned once great spots into an overcrowded mess. The huge advantage we have at Kirkwood is in the numbers we've quoted above: at the end of the day, we accommodate more people by always making sure our capacity to serve exceeds the number of people in the valley. We will attract more people to allow for new and desirable services such as restaurants and shops, yet always maintain a true sense of open space.
9) How Kirkwood attracts a clientele that places high adventure, privacy, snow and intimacy over all else?
  Answer: People set priorities in most everything they do. In the cast of busy resorts, property owners value the four lanes of Highway 80, shopping, a variety of dining, a large village and proximity to Lake Tahoe over such things as deeper and softer snow, no liftlines, no trail crowding, natural scenery and a road less traveled. There will always be less people who seek out the adventurous spirit that lives in Kirkwood, which is another reason we will never see the crowds no prevalent at other regional resorts.
With all of this said, why do the majority of Northern California second home buyers continue to invest in other resorts that so clearly have unsolvable deficiencies? The answer is simple: priorities. Our conversations with many prospects who end up not purchasing property in Kirkwood is revealing:

1) They’re immune to traffic, so driving in it to the resort, around nearby towns and home from the resort is acceptable.
2) They are not particularly passionate about their skiing, so crowded runs, average snow and terrain are not priorities.
3) The blatant reality that things are going to get more crowded doesn’t bother them.
4) They value a wide variety of restaurants, shopping and entertainment much higher than they do snow and terrain quality, privacy and intimacy.
5) They have a need to be where everyone else is, and are not pioneers or adventurist in any sense.

As you can see, Kirkwood isn’t for everyone. In fact, it’s attractive to far less people than are the other major resorts in the Sierra region. But that’s not unique. In fact, it’s typical of most resorts that offer a more exclusive experience than most.

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UPDATED: 1/23/08
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