By far my favorite mountain in the Tahoe area! A l...

By far my favorite mountain in the Tahoe area! A lot less crowded than Heavenly but a little harder to get to than most of the other mountains, if the weather gets bad the roads get closed sometimes so I'd always check the Cal trans website to see that the 88 or 89 are open if the weather has been bad.
It has lots of good expert terrain as well as some easier stuff too for beginners. The first day lodge you'll pass is Timber Creek and this is where you'll want to go if your a beginner and where the beginner lessons take place as well. If you keep driving you'll get to the main village area where there are plenty of blue and black runs with one lift servicing a green run if you need to warm up before hitting some blues. Plus you can get to the backside for some more great runs. There is plenty of free parking that's either a short walk or shuttle ride away so don't think you need to pay for the close parking unless you want to.