An artist's rendering shows the look of a planned lodge at the top of the Heavenly gondola. Art: Vail Resorts
New lodge site located near gondola top
Lake Tahoe's Heavenly Mountain Resort plans to start construction in June of a new lodge that measures about 14,000 square feet. Located near the top of the Heavenly Gondola, the dining facility will have seating in the 2010-11 ski season for 450 people indoors and another 250 outdoors. With a working name of the Tamarack Lodge, the building site is also close to the loading station for the Tamarack Express chairlift and the recently installed tubing hill at Adventure Peak.
Lodge expected to be first of three in master plan
Straddling the border of California and Nevada, the ski area worked with local officials and environmental groups to create a 10-year master plan in April 2007. Three mid-mountain lodges are included in the plan. Each of the other two lodges, the Sand Dunes Lodge and the Powderbowl Lodge, were considered at times to be the first to be constructed.
The future site of a new mid-mountain lodge at Heavenly
Mountain Resort is located just east of the top of the
gondola near the Tamarack Express chairlift and the
tubing hill. Photo: Eric Wagnon
However, according to Russ Pecoraro, Heavenly's communications director, the Tamarack Lodge location was eventually given priority in light of the large traffic flow using the gondola. The Sand Dunes Lodge is planned for an area in Nevada near the top of the Tamarack Express and Comet Express lifts. The Powderbowl Lodge would be on the California side near the Powderbowl Express lift.
Owned by Vail Resorts, Heavenly intends the layout of the Tamarack Lodge to be reminiscent of Two Elk Lodge in Vail, Colo., with four menu themes in a food-court setting. Pecoraro said one of the four stations will likely be similar to the Smokehouse Grill at Adventure Peak, opened as an outdoor barbecue concept for this season near the future lodge site. The other three food areas have not yet been determined.
Fresh Tracks Video from Heavenly Mountain Resort
To receive an e-mail when there is new Skiing Examiner content, click the "Subscribe" button above this article. Unless you check the special offers box, you will not receive any other e-mails. In other words, don't worry about an avalanche of spam.
Comments