For a treat, see Lake Tahoe in the snow

Published 9:00 pm Saturday, February 17, 2007

I vividly remember the first time I drove the mountain passes leading to Lake Tahoe 15 years ago and have been eagerly anticipating seeing them again.

Now I’m here, but I’d remembered the vistas as being not just among the best, but of a singular, even a different order of beauty. What’s missing?

Fresh snow, it turns out. On my third day, it falls, transforming spectacular into magical.

My recent experience is a reminder of why you must come here in winter, even if you don’t ski. Granted, the lake with 72 miles of shoreline is fantastic all year long: the biggest, clearest, most pristine alpine lake in the United States, surrounded by peaks that reach more than 10,000 feet above sea level. Straddling the Nevada-California border, the lake gets the most visitors in summer.

But if you’ve never seen the mountains around Lake Tahoe after a fresh, brilliantly white snow has fallen and the sun comes out to set it aglow, you haven’t properly seen Lake Tahoe at all.

“Even people who have lived here all their lives rush outside like little kids at the first snowfall,” says McAvoy Layne, who lives on the northern Nevada side of the lake in Incline Village. “It’s so quiet, so pristine. Just blue sky, white snow, emerald lake, a little bit of dark green showing on the trees.

“And the air,” adds Layne, who is a Mark Twain impersonator. “Twain, who loved it here, described it as the air the angels breathe.”

The Lake Tahoe area was also a favorite subject for photographer Ansel Adams. A combination of public ownership of much of the land and strict environmental laws means it hasn’t changed much since he captured “Thundercloud, Lake Tahoe” in 1936.

John Steinbeck wrote his first novel here while working as a winter caretaker of a lodge, and it has been a favorite backdrop for Hollywood since silent-picture days.

The lake, which reaches depths of 1,645 feet, never freezes, so you can boat and fish even in the coldest months. Ride gondolas up the mountains just for the views or to dine in a mountaintop restaurant. Ice skate, snowshoe across meadows and into silent, empty woods, or see the area by horse-drawn sleigh or snowmobile.

On the Nevada side, casinos and nightclubs are a major draw. On the California side, you can visit or even stay in historic buildings, see a museum, stop at the memorial to the wagon train emigrants who were caught in the Sierra Nevada over the winter at the infamous Donner Pass.

Granted, many visitors who come in winter are drawn mainly by the skiing, and both North and South Tahoe offer great alpine and downhill skiing and snowboarding, often well into April, given the magnitude of the snowfall here – more than 30 feet a year on average.

But there is plenty for non-skiers to do. In fact, it’s worth the trip just to look, to gaze on what winter adds to an already awesome landscape.

Lake cruise

I drive first to the Nevada side of the lake, just over three hours by car from San Francisco. I arrive just in time for my 1 p.m. cruise aboard the Tahoe Queen, a Mississippi River-style paddleboat. The captain provides running commentary as the boat glides away from the casinos and hotels and along the shoreline that is predominantly undeveloped public land – a combination of California and Nevada state parks and federal property in the hands of the Bureau of Land Management.

Two-thirds of the lake, which is 22 miles long and 12 miles wide, is in California; the remaining third is in Nevada. In the shallows close to shore in summer, the water in the lake, fed by snow melt, warms up to about 70 degrees. But even then, dive 10 feet and it’s a frosty 39 degrees.

Near shore, the clarity of the water is amazing: You can see the bottom of the lake through as much as 70 feet of water.

The ski scene

Say the word “casinos” and people naturally think of a Vegas-style strip. But actually the South Tahoe area, which includes a big piece of Nevada and a smaller piece of California, is pretty low-key.

Most of the development is concentrated in a strip less than two miles long near Stateline, Nev., near the California border. The town of Heavenly, in the middle of the developed area, has a series of attractive low-rise buildings surrounding the gondola that ascends and descends Heavenly Mountain. The mountain has 91 ski runs, one of which is 51/2 miles long.

The gondola climbs 1.2 miles up the side of the mountain to a massive, 4,800-acre ski area – among the largest in North America. The gondola, open year-round, carries both skiers and those simply seeking a view.

North Tahoe

California’s North Tahoe has a historic town, a variety of resorts scattered throughout the mountains with both indoor and outdoor activities, and a village in the valley that was the center for the 1960 Winter Olympics.

I move to North Tahoe on the third day of my visit and head to the alpine hut of the Resort at Squaw Creek to get outfitted with snowshoes and take off from the edge of the property. Later, when I talk with Layne, the Twain impersonator, I learn how much more adventurous I could have been on snowshoes.

The best place to snowshoe, Layne tells me, is up Mount Rose to Chickadee Point. “Little chickadees come out of the trees and eat out of your hand, four or five at a time, or as many as your hand will fit,” he says. But then again, there’s a spot on Rifle Peak where you can see inside Emerald Bay and almost the entire lake. But then again, almost anywhere is good.

“I’ve lived here 23 years come next month,” Layne says, “and every winter I come across a place that looks like no other place I’ve ever seen before. There are so many vistas and outlooks you can never go wrong.”

If you go…

Getting there: The closest commercial airport is Reno International, about 60 miles away and a drive of about an hour and 20 minutes to South Lake Tahoe. Some resorts offer ground service from Reno. The town of Lake Tahoe has a small airport but offers only charter service.

Getting around: Shuttle and bus services connect some areas and resorts; ask your hotel for details or check with one of the tourism bureaus. If you rent a car, be aware that when the weather demands it, chains are required to travel Highway 89, which runs along the western end of the lake. In bad weather, call ahead when you’re in the area for road conditions and closings: 800-427-7623 for California, 877-687-6237 for Nevada.

Information: North Lake Tahoe Visitors Bureau, www.gotahoenorth.com, 877-949-3296. For South Shore: Lake Tahoe Visitors Authority, www.BlueLakeTahoe.com, 530-544-5050.