With an increase in crowds and subpar public transportation systems across the country, ski resorts in the United States have been scrambling to solve traffic issues that they’ve created in many communities.
This winter, a few ski resorts in Lake Tahoe are enacting changes to their parking lots. The first batch, Heavenly, Kirkwood, and Northstar, which are operated by Vail Resorts, will require parking reservations. It should be noted that this system will not be for all of their lots. Then there’s Palisades Tahoe.
After a historic 2022-23 season, the California ski resort will be requiring parking reservations on weekends and holidays. If you are trying to get to the Palisades or Alpine in the morning, a reservation is needed. This reservation system, which went on sale a couple of days ago, costs $30 to reserve a parking spot for a single day this winter. Oof.
During the ski season though, they’ll also be offering the opportunity to reserve one week out from these dates. This one-week beforehand reservation process won’t cost any money for guests. Free parking without reservations will still be available on weekdays, along with weekends and holidays after 1 p.m.
The funds raised from the reservations will be “reinvested for both internal and 3rd party transportation initiatives here in the North Lake Tahoe region.”
People in the comments weren’t amused. Here are some of the angry comments:
- “You guys really have lost your roots its sad.”
- “RIP spontaneity.”
- “Hey hooligans you have an app for a reason make all of our lives easier and add this to your app so I don’t have [to] whip out some bs website every time I wanna make a reservation.”
- “This is utter garbage and an obvious money grab that won’t do anything beyond leaving empty spots in the lot. What happens when you reserve to park at Alpine, but B2B and upper mountain is on a wind hold? Can’t pull the plug and head to the Olympic side…your day is shot.”
On that note, if you’re looking to make a reservation, you can do so here.
Image/Video Credits: Palisades Tahoe
