Homewood's Beginner Slopes Are Moving Up the Mountain This Winter
October 29, 2026
October 29, 2026
The Homewood Gondola will get skiers to mid-mountain faster than the Madden Chair ever did, and its larger purpose is to move learning terrain off the lakeshore. If the resort meets its target and opens this winter, a first-timer at Homewood will start the day about 1,000 feet higher than first-timers have for generations.
Homewood lays out the plan on its gondola update page. It wants to "move new skiers and riders up the mountain from the start" and put the beginner area where the snow at higher elevation is more dependable and the lake views are better. The rest of this winter's work, including the new snowmaking, the new learning area and the eventual lodge, fits around that goal.
Homewood sits closer to Lake Tahoe than almost any ski area in the basin, and its lowest slopes are the hardest to keep covered. In a Tahoe Daily Tribune gondola roundup, Homewood VP and general manager Andy Buckley put it this way: "It's important because we're so close to the lake, it's quite difficult to make snow which can make the lower area hard to access."
That creates a problem. The terrain gentle enough for beginners has been at the bottom, where snow is least reliable. The best snow and the big lake views have been up top, reachable only for skiers who could already handle the trip. The gondola links the two. In the Tribune's account, Buckley said the lift would get guests to mid-mountain "more comfortably and faster" and give beginners and first-timers access to better terrain.
The Madden Triple has been the main route to the middle of the mountain. Homewood says the chair was built in 1966 and modernized in 1982. The Tribune put the ride at close to 10 minutes.
| Madden Triple | Homewood Gondola | |
|---|---|---|
| Built | 1966, modernized 1982 | Debut targeted for winter 2026-27 |
| Carrier | Three-person chair | Eight-person cabin |
| Upload capacity | Less than a third of the gondola's | 1,500 to 2,400 people per hour, depending on run speed |
| Top station | Top of Madden | Just above Madden's top, at the future Mid-Mountain Lodge site |
The Tribune reports that the new system will more than triple the old lift's upload capacity. That matters more for beginners than for experts. A lesson group that needs a whole morning lift ride to reach good snow will rarely get there. A group that can load into an enclosed cabin and ride up together can make the trip routinely.
Buckley also told the Tribune that each cabin costs about as much as a Porsche. The resort is paying for comfort and reliability, the two things a nervous first-timer or a cold seven-year-old needs most.
Higher-elevation terrain only helps beginners if there is something built for them up there. According to the Sierra Sun's season preview, the first phase of Homewood's new mid-mountain beginner area adds surface lifts and a warming yurt for the snowsports school. The same report says Homewood upgraded its snowmaking with a new pipe and more than 30 new snow machines.
This year's version is still a first phase. The gondola's upper terminal sits where Homewood plans to build its Mid-Mountain Lodge. In the Tribune piece, Buckley said construction on that lodge is expected to start in 2029. Until then, the yurt is the shelter at the top station, and the lodge deck Buckley described is still a plan: "Imagine sitting on the deck of the lodge looking out to the lake and watching your kids learn how to ski. It's a piece of Homewood that's often lost because the real experience is up above. The gondola gives us that connection."
He also told the Tribune that non-skiers will use the gondola once there is a lodge to ride to. On its own page, Homewood describes the lift as a link between mountain and lake for skiers, riders and sightseers. For now, the beginners are the main reason it exists.
The Sierra Sun lists Homewood's opening day as Dec. 11. That is about six weeks after this post goes up. Homewood's gondola page lists winter 2026-27 as its opening goal, and the page's own timeline shows the project close to finished but not done.
The status note at the top of the same page has moved ahead of the table. It says the top and bottom terminals are in place and that all towers and the haul rope have been installed. The page lists the towers and cabins as delivered and stored in Sparks, Nevada.
The schedule has held fairly steady all year. KOLO reported in March that installation would begin May 1, that ground and dirt work was targeted for Oct. 15, and that the lift was expected in December. The Sacramento Business Journal reported in August that the towers were up and December was still the target. Dec. 11 is a target. Cabins still have to go on the line before anyone rides.
Homewood also asks the community to remember that all trails, access roads and on-mountain areas stay closed until the resort reopens for winter. That applies to anyone hoping to hike up for a closer look at the new towers.
The old lift has already been dispersed around the community. In April, Homewood auctioned 100 original Madden chairs through a timed online sale. Homewood said a portion of the proceeds would support Sierra Community House, which provides hunger relief, family resources and legal assistance in the area. The auction has closed, and Homewood's Resort Services Team is contacting winners about pickup. Some of the chairs that carried generations up the mountain will spend this winter on West Shore decks.
West Shore residents who bought Homewood's discounted pass have a deadline before the gondola opens. The West Shore Resident pass, which Homewood also calls the True Local pass, is for full-time residents living between Tahoe City and Rubicon. It offers the same access as the Value Pass, seven days a week, with peak holiday dates excluded. Residency must be verified every season, and Homewood's season pass page sets this season's verification deadline at Oct. 31, 2026. That is the Saturday after this post publishes. The page lists a driver's license or other government-issued ID as the required proof and says the shipping address must match the address on the ID.
Anyone who missed the sale has a longer wait. The resident pass was sold for 30 days, from March 16 to April 14, 2026. It is no longer available for 2026-27, and sales resume in spring 2027 for the 2027-28 season. The other passes are still on sale.
Parking is included with every Homewood pass product. Adult and Senior passholders can buy up to six non-peak buddy tickets a year, and Adult and Senior Unlimited passholders get six unrestricted buddy tickets. Those buddy tickets work well for visiting family who want to try the new beginner terrain without buying a pass.
Buckley called the gondola "the start of the revitalization of the West Shore." If the cabins are running by mid-December, the first people to feel the change will be West Shore kids starting their first lessons at mid-mountain, on reliable snow with a view of the lake.
If you own on the West Shore and want to know how Homewood's next few seasons may affect your property, from this winter's gondola to the Mid-Mountain Lodge that follows, Jeremy Jacobson is glad to talk it through with you. Let's Connect.
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