Boreal Mountain Resort

Rude! Rude!Rude! So unorganized, no one seems to know if they can handle a lesson or not. Save your money and go to any one of the other local mountains to learn to ski. Tried calling and voicemail was full, called back and they said come over. Got there and class was full and no teachers available for a private. Tahoe Donner is welcoming and a better mountain

They started using reloadable cards instead of paper lift tickets. It’s a permanent card so you must keep your card for your next trip to this resort.
If you lose your card, they charge $ 5 to activate a new one. That means you must keep this card if you plan on returning next week, next month, and even next season. I find this pretty annoying because you have to keep the reloadable card in a place you’d remember to avoid the $ 5 fee.
Pros:
Affordable
Good for riding the park
Good for beginners
Closes at 9pm
Easy parking lot that’s next to the entrance
Cons:
Small resort/​short runs
Annoying reloadable card ticket system
Not ideal for freeriders

This place has definitely gotten better over the past few years. Still a no-​frills place, but has everything you need for a quick day on the snow — especially if you’re driving in from the Bay Area. The only bad thing I can say about this place is that the food is super lacking — definitely not worth the money either. Otherwise this is a great place for families with kids or for beginners (almost everyone is friendly or chill — no attitude).

The 5 stars is for my private lesson instructor, Smoove. I’m learning to snowboard and took my first lesson at a different ski resort. Today, I took my second lesson at Boreal and I had so much fun. Smoove was awesome! He pointed out that I needed to push my knees out more and that was the thing that really improved my ability. On my last run, I was able to go down much of the bunny slope without falling. I fell at the very end but I made it down! Boreal’s bunny slope is perfect for learning. If you take a lesson, ask for Smoove.
The only thing I wish Boreal had is a changing room. They don’t have anywhere to change into/​out of your ski clothes. They don’t even have a place by the lockers to sit down to get your boots on/​off. Other than that, I loved it there. Everyone was nice, plenty of free parking and my husband said the lines for the lifts were short.

Do the math, start with five stars.
Subtract zero stars if you are a teenager and like snowboarding or sitting in the snow, getting in people’s way. If not.
Subtract one star if you are over twenty, subtract another star if you are over thirty.
Subtract one star if you like skiing more than snowboarding.
Add one star because Boreal is less expensive than other ski parks. Subtract one star because the ski runs are not as long as other ski parks.
Subtract one star because of Europeans smoking and throwing cigarette butts in the snow. Add one star because the Borael employees tell the Europeans not to smoke.
Subtract one star because the food in the cafeteria is lousy and overpriced. Add one star if you came to ski or ride, not to eat.
Add one star because Boreal has night skiing. Subtract one star if one of the two lighted ski runs is reserved for a private ski club.
How many stars do you have?

Very disappointed with Boreal. I was there on Valentines Day and an EMPLOYEE was arguing and attacking a KID! Like you kidding me?! Only because the poor kid cut in line. Poor kid couldn’t even defend himself. My boyfriend and I tried to stop him. Next thing you know he started arguing with me and my boyfriend. We called management and they didnt seem to care! We ended up leaving the resort. Ruined our day. I would never come to Boreal again.

Great resort, friendly people. Only complaint is that it gets crowded at times and the lines are sort of slow sometimes because it gets crowded. I’ve been coming here since I was a kid a decade or two ago, and I’ve actually just recently come back. I remember taking classes here, though I don’t really remember in detail how they were. Now though, I think the people here are really friendly! Also, you can buy tickets online now, it’s great. AND! Fridays are $ 15 for students and those on active military duty. Where else can you find $ 15 ski lift tickets??? Oh, hours here are a lot longer now too, so you can spend 9AM-​9PM here. It’s great.
The slopes here are a bit easier, but it’s still lots of fun. It’s a great place for beginners to learn! It might be boring for people who are really good though.

Trails are fairly good. But the staff are TERRIBLE. I met rude service staff at this place — not only once.
— One staff kept laughing at my English accent and slip of my tongue.
— Two staff collected all missing snow glasses around the trails and were trying to sell it
— They were out of snowboards\ski and we have to change the date of our tickets — surprisingly they CHARGED US for $ 20 for their own mistakes.
I will never go to this place.

They treated my war veteran Marine with disrepect. My husband hurt his ankle first time down the slope it took them an hour to respond. The staff was rude, overly expensive and didn’t know their prices. We will never go there again. Would put no star if I could.

It made me give one star which is more than it deserves.
The WORST!!! Ski resort I have ever been to. They have no idea what Customer Service is. Two examples; we overpaid for a pair of gloves in the retail shop and they ripped on the seam in the first hour. The cashiers response??“Too bad, you shouldn’t have bought such cheap gloves”. Then we advance purchased 4 $ 104 tickets for ski lessons and they ran out of equipment. They refused to give a refund and rudely handled the situation. They offered no viable options «just wait and see if someone returns equipment and let’s hope it’s your size». It gets worse but you get the idea. SUCKS!!! No one that I know will EVER go there, Squaw valley is just up the road, trust me, worth the extra 5 min drive. Xx

Awesome resort. It’s a little smaller than most in the Tahoe area, but the trails are AWESOME. The Lost Dutchman and the 49er trails towards the back end are legit runs, and not as crowded. Definitely not for beginners though.
I see a lot of reviews on here about lessons and rentals, but I can’t speak to those, as I’m an experienced snowboarder and have my own gear, so I can’t rent. I came once during a really busy day, and I heard the line to get lift tickets was a few hours long! That’s crazy. Luckily for us, we had already gone earlier in the year. Once you have your lift pass, you can renew it online every time you come, so you don’t have to line up for another pass. You just keep the same card all season and refill it online. Great feature– I wish more resorts had that.

I love it here. I’ve been coming here since 2011 and I always have a blast here. Buy your tix online, come down and have fun. Be aware that on weekends the indoor cafeteria can get packed including the bar upstairs. Just come out and enjoy the snow

Tips, tricks.
1. Buy tickets online. This keeps you from paying for parking. 20 $ Show your confirmation bar code to parking guy. This doesn’t help at all when it comes to getting on the mountain. You will still need to stand in line with the guy who didn’t buy his tickets online but you will have paid less for them.
This line is ridiculous. An has to have something to do with metering the skiers to the mountain.
2. Unfortunately the lines to get on the lift are ridiculous also. They have merging access from all directions. This is a killer on the holiday spirt. Other wise nice people who would not normal cut in line, do. Stay to the edges that way you can only be offended on one side. Keeps kids in front of you because they will pushed back.
3. Bring your own food. The line was once again ridiculous. Im sounding repetitive buts thats what it was. Tables are taken by families. But the holiday spirit was alive and if you asked they would let you sit with them. We met lots of nice people yesterday.
4. Over all. Crazy busy, staff tried there best and I did not encounter one rude staff member. They were obviously overwhelmed.
Please excuse grammar. Im just a regular dad attempting to have fun with my teenagers. And you know how that can be.

I’m giving this place four stars because my kids enjoyed it. We had a blast tubing and seeing their faces going down the hill is priceless. Boreal is a good location because it’s right off highway 80. The down side is they charge $ 20 for parking and there’s no atm. C’mon guys iPads and iPhones now have the capability to have card readers.

I have been taking my kids here for years and unfortunately they’re starting to charge $ 20 to park in their parking lot that is completely ridiculousness!

Here I am again for another season of snowboarding and I should of bought my own equipment (shame on me). A full day pass is around $ 60 and the half day pass (3 – 9) is about $ 30 – 40. The only qualm that I’ve got about the full day pass if that earlier in the day there are a lot of kids on the slopes. Night time… It’s hella cold. When I mean hella cold… I mean hellllla cold but there ain’t as many people during the night hours.
The food there is extremely expensive. Water is something like a dollar with free refills but you’re better off bringing in your own water bottles to fill up with no cost.

Not the nicest resort I’ve been to, but for being on a budget, it’s so worth it!
PROS:
1. COME FOR $ 15 FRIDAYS! — check their website for select blocked dates
2. Service was efficient and lines for gear moved quickly
3. OK-​food in the food court w/​many tables to sit at
CONS:
1. Not enough trails :(
2. Gets really packed after 12pm (even though all resorts are as equally busy)
$ 15 Fridays sealed the deal for me, but if you’re down to pay more, I’d recommend checking out Squaw or Heavenly first!

Why not… That’s what I decided when I discovered the snowshoeing classes through REI’s Outdoor Education department. It was so easy to sign up online, which I did about 4 weeks prior. Being that I’m a member of REI, got me the members reg rate ($ 70.00), otherwise it’s $ 90.00. The fees cover transportation, snowshoes, poles, gators, and instruction. The classes are super small and teacher to student ratio is 1:3 so your getting excellent direct instruction.
The Lesson objective is as follows:
Students will be able to use their snowshoeing gear and trekking skills to traverse an incline/​decline wearing snowshoes.
So there you have it… it’s an adventure worth trying since it’s just a hop skip and a jump to the mountains from the sacramento Valley.
The weather conditions were purrrrfect today y’all…it was crystal clear with about a 2.5 ft base. The Roads were clear and dry and from what I understand there is a huge effort in keeping the roads cleared for skiers borders and shoers like me. Actually this was a perfect day for a snow tan!!!

So, this was my very first time snowboarding! I went with my brother and he basically kind of taught me and looked out for me the whole time. We got to the resort at around 9:30AM on a Saturday and parking was very easy to find since the park opened at 9AM. So remember to go early because there are more parking and less lines!
We had ordered our lift tickets online so the line to retrieve at the resort wasn’t bad. I also rented some equipments like the snowboard and the boots. The line for the rentals was definitely long with everyone else there. Once you get through the line, getting the actual equipment was pretty easy. You first get your boots and then your board. The staff are definitely very helpful in getting the right size of boots and board for you. They will help you to adjust anything that you will to change. Returning was also very easy. You have a slip of paper and you could just return the items you rented at that very same spot at the end.
Onto the actual snowboarding, the resort was so beautiful! It was a little scary going up on the lift (because I am so scared of heights) and getting off the lift was definitely difficult for me. I basically fell my whole way that day. Be prepared to fall a lot if it’s your first time! If it’s not, then you know what to expect! It was super fun and the snow isn’t as hard as you think. But it depends on how you fall though. Definitely be prepared! I definitely think this resort is a good place for beginners like me! You fall and you learn.
I most likely will be coming back before moving onto bigger resorts and higher slopes and hills. I do recommend for beginners!

We decided to go snowboarding after Christmas; bought our tickets online– which you should bc they’ll charge an arm and leg if you purchase your tickets there. For example, online– $ 34 tubbing all day; at the resort $ 34 for two hours. They don’t honor the prices online either even if you showed them the advertisement. Okay, that’s fine. We’re willing to pay $ 69 for the lift, $ 10 for pedestrian bc my mom just wanted to take pictures. $ 20 for pants rental, $ 10 for helmet, etc.
Spent over $ 400 for a group of six… A complete waste of money. The lift lines were long and the staffs were rude. Mom was refused entry into the snow to take pictures; you can’t bring your own sled into the tubbing area; and when we went to grab lunch in the cafeteria, absolutely no tables left. Not only was the food awful, they didn’t have enough seating. People sat on the ground, stairs, trash bins, etc. to eat their lunch. We found a spot in the bar area and had a few drinks while we wait for our parents to get food. Unfortunately, the bartender/​staff their kicked us out bc we had kids with us. What do you expect us to do? Leave them on their own? They’re six and eight.
This is one of the most horrible resort I’ve been to. I will not be coming back.