Tahoe Donner’s small, family-style resort atmosphere lies far enough off the beaten path to keep the mega crowds at bay. Plus, for folks in the family with a little more time under their boots there’s often completely untracked powder fields off the backside and even just beyond the groomer’s tracks.

On the hill:

• The skiing:
For such a small mountain, there’s a surprising variety in the terrain. While Tahoe Donner’s black diamonds aren’t the steepest or most complex in the area, when the goal is to accommodate a group of folks with varying ability without emptying the pocket book Tahoe Donner’s a nice destination. If you tend to bore easily, plan on skiing a half day. It is primarily a beginner’s hill and it does a good job of being just that.

• The Lift Time:
Lift lines, while they do happen every once in a President’s Day weekend, are pretty much nonexistent up here. In fact, don’t be surprised if people actually step out of line to let you on. On the lift is a different story, we’re not talking super quad here. Be prepared for a long conversation with your lift buddies.

• Gotta try runs:
Beginner: Mile Run is the granddaddy green circle run hands down and thanks to Tahoe Donner’s excellent grooming habits you can plan on keeping your speed even after the run loses its slope.

Intermediate: Make laps on the Bowl – you can’t miss it and you’ll be surprised how addictive that one run can be, it has a perfectly consistent textbook blue grade.

Advanced/Expert: I love the skier’s right edge of Race Course and Skip’s Plunge. This area stays surprisingly untracked during a powder storm; it’s not unusual to find fresh tracks days after a dump.

• Runs to steer clear of:
It’s a toss up. If you’re going to go into Tahoe Donner’s terrain park, make sure you have a strong stomach. I’ve seen crumpled bodies more than once in the landing zone off a couple of the park’s beginner kickers. However, stay on the lookout and enjoy some hang time.

Off the hill:

• The food and drinks:
At the mountain you have one option and you better get there early too, because food and beverage options shut down at 3 p.m. Step out on a limb and try the resort’s salmon burger, new this year, or stick with the old chicken strips stand by (the foolproof kid pleaser). Off the hill, the Tahoe Donner Clubhouse (at the stop sign near the bottom of Northwoods Parkway) makes a delicious and filling calzone. In good spirits, try one of the mountain bar’s signature Mile Run or Skip’s Plunge cocktails.

• The staff:
Nice folks up here all around and sometimes even an interesting group of South American “summer” help, giving the place a nice international feel.

• Retail shops:
Not much in the way of shopping frills up here, but they’ve got what you need in a bind and if you’ve come for an early day, you can kill time in the shop for an hour before the lifts open.

• Rentals:
Again, for such a small mountain Tahoe Donner Downhill packs a wide variety of services. Telemark rental gear certainly isn’t standard at resorts twice Tahoe Donner’s size, but they’ve got it here. In addition, there’s snowboard and alpine equipment for reasonable prices - $20 a day for multiple day rentals.

On skis, you’ll find K2, Dynastar and Elan on the rental menu. Dynastar and Volkl brands are available to demo as well. The rental shop offers Burton and Dynastar snowboards and you won’t find gear older than four years old.

See it in our guide.

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