Kirkwood the mountain is amazing. It's my favorite...

Kirkwood the mountain is amazing. It's my favorite of the Tahoe Vail resorts. Kirkwood the resort is a mixed bag.

The good: The mountain! Lots of great runs. Well groomed and a variety of levels of expertise. I was really impressed that pretty much every lift and run was open this last weekend even with the dearth of snowfall this year. Great work on that, guys! Ski patrol - these guys are awesome. Frequently checking to see if people are ok and generally quick to respond to and take care of emergencies.

The mixed:

Staff - Usually lots of them and generally willing to help but, because of the seasonal nature, they are often confused or unable to help because of lack of institutional knowledge. Kirkwood specifically, and Vail in general, needs to do more to carry staff over to keep the knowledge, practices and procedures flowing smoothly.

Food - Some dishes are fantastic and some are worse than school cafeteria garbage. You expect to pay a little more for resort food, naturally, but 6 measly, tasteless potato skins for 15-16 bucks? No way! Then again, 14-15 dollars for a massive plate of nachos, easily shareable by six people? Heck yeah! Burgers, great! Hot dogs, garbage! The whole menu at all food locations at Kirkwood, and again, Vail in general, is like this. Also, why does Kirkwood Inn have the same food as the food court? Make something a little nicer there, guys!

The lodging: You can get some sweet deals early or pre-season but be careful! We got ripped off. I made three reservations for lodging at Kirkwood, two at The Mountain Club and one at Sun Meadows, and yet we were placed in Sun Meadows for all three. Make sure you screen shot your reservations because the confirmation e-mails don't have the building on them (Gee, I wonder why?) and demand to be put in the building you actually reserved.

The bad: No wifi in most places! This is just an absolutely idiotic business practice. Wifi is cheap. People want to share their experiences on social media which is FREE ADVERTISING! Plus, you have the Vail EpicMix app which no one can use because cell service is spotty and there's no wifi.