Lake Tahoe's Shuttered Ski Resort Responds to Rumors

Before we dive into the FAQs, let's get up to speed on the situation at Homewood.

Homewood is embroiled in a decade-long controversy that involves public access, aging facilities, and the desire to construct a new gondola. The controversy came to a head in 2022 when Homewood announced that it would transition to a mostly-private ski resort. The resort's owners, JMA Ventures, told Moonshine Ink that this decision was necessary as Homewood's daily skier base had dramatically declined due to the popularity of mega-pass resorts like Palisades Tahoe and Northstar.

JMA has since reversed this stance thanks to a strong response by the community-led 'Keep Homewood Public' organization, and is ensuring that public access will remain at Homewood for the foreseeable future.

With that said, Keep Homewood Public has their doubts. Confidence in this commitment hasn't improved since the resort's financial partner backed out for the Winter '24/'25 season.

This happened after a Tahoe Regional Planning Agency meeting in September of 2024. Homewood was attempting to update their approved 2011 Master Plan with "minor" changes to the gondola placement and other facilities at this meeting. When the changes weren't approved, the financial partner backed out.

Homewood addresses public access in the second FAQ. See below:

Has HMR put its proposed public access commitment in writing?

"Yes, below is the HMR public access commitment provided to TRPA and which HMR shared in the September 25th TRPA Regional Planning Commission (RPC) public hearing presentation.

"Homewood Mountain Resort’s (HMR) snow skiing products and packages (e.g., season passes and day tickets) will be available for purchase by anyone on a first-come, first- served basis."

Anyone with a valid ski pass or ticket for any given day can access the mountain to ski during operating hours. During the ski season, all skiing recreational areas on the mountain, including lifts, will be accessible by anyone with a valid ski pass or ticket during operating hours. 

Access to the restrooms, lockers, recreation, retail ski rental shops and select food and beverage outlets, hiking trails, and parking facilities for the general public will be available to anyone on a first-come, first-served basis during operating hours, some of which (not including hiking trail access) may require a fee. Parking reservations may be required in peak periods."

This statement, if honored, should ensure that public access will remain at Homewood once the resort reopens. Public skiers should note, however, that the statement mentions paid parking reservations during peak periods.

Despite this reassurance, Keep Homewood Public is continuing to express concerns for HMR's commitment to public access. They believe that the current written statement leaves "loopholes" for Homewood to privatize in the future. Check out the image below of the potential loopholes KHP has identified.

Homewood then answers the question on everybody's mind for their next FAQ– Why aren't they opening this season? They place the blame almost entirely on Keep Homewood Public:

Why did Homewood close the mountain this year?

"At the September 25th RPC Meeting, KHP (Keep Homewood Public) leadership repeatedly made requests that TRPA (Tahoe Regional Planning Agency) require a “hard reset” of the approved Master Plan. This new request to disregard over a decade of work from the community, developers and other local stakeholders is not in good faith and has resulted in significant and unnecessary delays in the timeline for the review of the minor Master Plan amendments and gondola/site plan application process.

With no clear path forward for the project approval, HMR’s financial partner withdrew support for the 24-25 season. We did not want to have to close the mountain as evidenced by our operating the mountain for our community at a loss for most of the last two decades. We share the community’s desire to deliver the 2011 approved Master Plan so we can move forward in revitalizing the resort for everyone to enjoy."

This FAQ is perhaps the juiciest of the bunch. Homewood Mountain Resort claims that Keep Homewood Public's "hard reset" requests at the recent TRPA meeting was the deciding factor for this season's closure. HMR says KHP's work is "not in good faith," and ultimately led to their financial partner withdrawing support for the Winter '24/'25 season.

KHP was "shocked and saddened" by Homewood's closure this season, but has not softened its stance in battling JMA Ventures/Discovery.

The remainder of Homewood's recently released FAQs can be read here.

It's a bit challenging to sift through what's actually happening at Homewood with both sides slinging mud at each other. POWDER will continue to cover this story, and is planning a longer feature to cut through the noise.

We're saddened that Homewood won't open this season, and hope that both sides can work together for future seasons.

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