Lack Of Deficit Funding Cited For Homewood's Decision To Close
The withdrawal of a major investor who has been covering losses for a number of seasons appears to be the main reason why Homewood Mountain Resort will not open for the 2024-2025 season.
The 1,260-acre mountain hard by the west shore of Lake Tahoe will not operate this season nor will it move forward on a major upgrade including a new gondola.
The future remains uncertain for owners JMA Ventures, a commercial real estate developer based in San Francisco. Ownership said it has been operating at a deficit for more than a decade, ostensibly awaiting approval of a master plan for upgrades. An unnamed investor has been filling the financial gap until now.
The resort made headlines in 2023 by announcing plans to go semi-private last season, then scrapping them in the face of fierce local opposition. The now-defunct private plans called for cessation of day tickets and limiting season passes to property homeowners. A lifetime membership program was to begin in 2024-2025 season.
Homewood has long been difficult to get to for non-locals motorists who have to navigate traffic from I-80 past popular destinations Palisades Tahoe (formerly Squaw Valley) and Northstar before reaching Homewood. Without traffic, the shortest route from Sacramento takes two hours, and 3.5 hours from San Francisco.
The introduction of multi-mountain national passes -- Palisades Tahoe is on Ikon Pass, Northstar and Heavenly on Epic Pass -- further reduced skiers and riders on Homewood slopes.
Opened in 1962, Homewood offered a local alternative -- called a "sleeper storm day" destination by PeakRankings -- to the big mountains around Lake Tahoe. With decent vertical drop and the region's only on-mountain snowcat tour service, Homewood has one of the oldest high-speed quads in the nation (installed in 1982), three triple fixed-grips and a couple of platters.
Half of the trail map is rated blue, with dozens of hidden stashes to take advantage of 400-inch snowfalls in good years. Plus, the mountain is often sheltered from high-ridge winds because it crouches 1,000 feet below the 8,740-foot-high summit of Ellis Peak.
