Homewood, California — After a few years of tense negotiations with locals, Homewood Mountain Resort is open for the ski season and intends to remain public.
On Saturday, Homewood Mountain Resort opened for the 2025-26 season. While the ski resort does have snowmaking, it was too warm to make the snow needed to open earlier. Tahoe was blessed with major snowfall, as Homewood saw three feet of new snow on the upper mountain.
Homewood faced a challenging start to the season, with some downed trees and a needed repair to the Madden chair. Regardless, guests were stoked to be skiing at Homewood again. Currently, Homewood has 22 trails and 4 lifts open.
Why Was Homewood Closed Last Season?
Homewood decided not to operate for the 2024-25 season due to the inability to move forward with its master plan. The master plan faced skepticism from the local community because of prior plans to convert Homewood into a private ski resort. However, Homewood decided to alter those plans to ensure public access remained available. After months of public back-and-forth with the community, the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA) approved the plans.
This past offseason, a decent amount of upgrades were made. This included mowing down runs, adding Moment Skis to the demo lineup, adding DEMACLENKO snow guns, and purchasing two new Prinoth snow groomers. Tree harvesting was also carried out, which was one of the steps needed to move forward with a major project.
Future Homewood Projects
In terms of what’s on the docket, a new gondola has been planned for many years now. The Madden chairlift will be replaced with a new gondola. Reportedly, the gondola parts are nearby and ready for installation. Due to permitting delays, Homewood decided to delay the Madden replacement project for the 2026 offseason. If this proceeds without any further issues, it could open for the 2026-27 season.
Other potential future additions include a new mid-mountain lodge, a beginner area next to the top of the new gondola, the replacement of the Ellis chairlift, snowmaking upgrades, and new facilities at the North base area.
Image/Video Credits: Homewood Mountain Resort
