Homewood's lesson check-in is still at the Little Red School House at North Base, a short walk from West Lake Boulevard. What changes this winter is where the lesson happens. The resort has moved its beginner ski school to a glade at mid-mountain, and the new 8-passenger gondola that replaced the Madden Chair is the way up.
Homewood lists opening day as December 11, 2026, "weather permitting," about three weeks away. If you live in Homewood or Tahoma, the season brings one big change in how kids learn here. A child's first turns now depend on the newest and most complex lift on the mountain, and that lift was still being built this fall.
A glade 1,000 feet above the old learning slope
The resort explains the move as a question of snow and scenery. On its gondola update page, Homewood says the gondola lets it "move new skiers and riders up the mountain from the start," raising beginner terrain "1,000 feet higher up the mountain" to reach higher-elevation snow and lake views. The San Francisco Chronicle's season preview, published November 8, describes the new spot as a mid-mountain glade "with spectacular, front-row views of Tahoe."
According to the Tahoe Daily Tribune's September 25 winter roundup, this is the first phase of the new beginner area, with new surface lifts and a warming yurt for the snowsport school. The Tribune also reported a new snowmaking pipe and more than 30 new snow machines this season. At a lake-level resort, early-season coverage at the base has always been the gamble. Putting first-timers higher up, with more snowmaking behind them, is a direct answer to that problem.
The gondola runs just above the old Madden Chair line to the site of the planned Mid Mountain Lodge. The lodge is still only a plan, so for now the yurt is the warm-up stop for a lesson day at mid-mountain.
The lift every beginner now depends on
The new beginner area sits at mid-mountain, which is where the gondola goes. That makes the gondola more important to families with first-timers than to anyone else on the hill.
Here is where the build stood on Homewood's own gondola page heading into the season:
- Top and bottom terminals in place, and all towers installed.
- Haul rope installed, according to the page's status summary.
- "Cable Installation" marked "In Progress" in the timeline table.
- "Gondola Cars On Line" marked "Coming Soon."
- Opening listed as a "GOAL" of Winter 2026-2027.
The approvals are done. The TRPA build permit was approved January 22, 2025, Placer County's substantial conformance came on April 18, 2025, and the California Tram Board permit and the county building permit are both marked approved. The cabins and towers were delivered earlier and stored in Sparks, Nevada, before installation. The Sacramento Business Journal reported in August that the resort was "targeting completion in December." The Tribune put it more firmly, saying the gondola "is set to open this winter."
Until the resort opens, Homewood says all trails, access roads and on-mountain areas are closed for the safety of residents and work crews.
What a lesson day looks like from North Base
The ride up is new, but the day still starts at the bottom. Homewood's adult lessons page sends lesson guests to North Base and the North Lodge. Tickets come from self-service kiosks and lesson check-in is at the Little Red School House. The private lessons page puts rentals behind the lodge.
What the resort lists for each type of learner:
- Kids ages 5 to 12: daily full-day group lessons from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., with instruction, lift ticket, rental equipment with a helmet, and lunch included.
- Adult first-timers: half-day lessons that include a beginner surface-lift ticket, a helmet and equipment.
- Adults past their first day: beginner and intermediate lessons that come with an all-mountain ticket.
- Kids ready for a program: Super Sliders for ages 6 to 12, at $799 for eight program days, and the Development Team for ages 9 to 17, at $1,999 for 26 days. Both require a valid pass or lift ticket on each training day.
The math on those programs is easy. Super Sliders works out to about $100 per program day before the lift access, and the Development Team to about $77 per day over a longer season. For a family deciding how far to commit, the team listing breaks it down in two steps.
Parking for all of it is at the North Base main lot at 5145 West Lake Blvd. Spaces are first-come, first-served, with no overnight parking and no trucks or trailers.
The holiday weeks the local pass doesn't cover
The pass that matters most to Homewood and Tahoma households is the West Shore Resident "True Local" pass, and it is no longer on sale for 2026-27. Sales resume in Spring 2027 for the 2027-28 season. This year's window ran from March 16 to April 14, 2026. Homewood's community access page describes the resident pass as 35% off regular-season pricing, sold in a spring presale of at least 30 days.
The True Local pass carries Value Pass access, which excludes peak days. For 2026-27, the season pass page lists those peak dates as December 26 through January 1, January 16 and 17, and February 13 through 15. Those dates line up with the winter holiday week and two long weekends, which is often when kids are out of school and lesson demand is highest.
The products still on sale for adults:
| 2026-27 adult pass | Price | Access |
|---|---|---|
| Unlimited | $1,399 | All days |
| Value | $999 | Excludes listed peak dates |
| Weekly 2-Day | $899 | Midweek use only |
The gap between Unlimited and Value is $400. It buys access on the 12 listed peak days, and it upgrades the buddy tickets. Adult and senior passholders can buy up to six non-peak buddy tickets, while Unlimited holders can buy six unrestricted ones that also work on the holiday dates the Value pass blacks out. Passes also include parking.
Two other offers apply to people who live and work around the lake. The lift ticket page lists a $75 non-peak ticket for eligible first responders, teachers and military, and four free non-peak days for Tahoe Basin honor-roll students in grades 6 through 12.
The base is still being built around it
The gondola and the mid-mountain glade are the first visible pieces of a larger plan. The Chronicle describes Homewood as "in the midst of a multiyear redevelopment project" to build a ski village at its base, add ski condos and upgrade on-mountain infrastructure. The development partnership includes JMA Ventures, Discovery Land Company and Mohari, and the resort says residential development and ski products are meant to pay for public amenities and infrastructure. The master plan is on file with the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency.
That funding model is why the community access commitments matter. Homewood says ski products are available to the public on a first-come, first-served basis when the resort operates, and that it will not become members-only without TRPA approval. The discounted resident pass described above is part of the same set of commitments.
Other parts of the plan are further out. The resort's future page describes a planned seven-day neighborhood shuttle between Tahoe City and Homewood, seasonal on-demand service between Granlibakken and Rubicon Bay, and a Mid Mountain Lodge with village amenities. All three are listed as planned features. This winter, getting to a lesson still means driving to North Base and parking in the lot at 5145 West Lake Blvd.
Snowmaking, surface lifts and a yurt went in at mid-mountain, while the lodge, village and shuttle wait for later phases. Homewood built the beginner experience first, and it put that experience at the top of the new gondola.
As Homewood's redevelopment moves from plans to lifts and buildings, The Moore Team is tracking how each phase changes daily life along the West Shore. If you own in Homewood or Tahoma and want to talk through what the resort's next phases could mean for your street, schedule a free consultation.
