After Two Thin Winters, Homewood Becomes the West Shore's Winter Anchor

"It's not a real draw anymore for wintertime with Homewood being shut down," the owner of Cult Burger in Tahoma told Moonshine Ink in February 2025, four months after Homewood Mountain Resort said it would not open for the 2024-25 season. Of the nine business owners and rental companies that outlet interviewed, most said business was down or that they had changed how they operated. The publication called the resort the biggest source of winter visitors to the deep West Shore.

This winter, the shore leans on that mountain more than it has in years. Sunnyside closed in October for a renovation that runs into spring. West Shore Café has been reworked mainly for a private club. On the lake side, the West Shore's best-known rooms are now closed or mostly private. Homewood, meanwhile, is aiming to open a new gondola and a new beginner area halfway up the mountain this season.

Two Winters That Set Up This One

Homewood's recent history explains why this season is different.

Last winter began small. On opening day, Homewood ran the Madden Chair, the North Carpet and the Happy Platter. Its own notice said Madden reached only the most difficult terrain, and beginners stayed at North Base. By Jan. 9 the resort said the Ellis Chair had opened and all of its aerial lifts were running. The season still ended on March 17.

The pattern of those three winters shows up off the mountain too. The Moonshine Ink piece described Dockside Trading Co., in the former Obexer's General Store, as a market that usually depends on Homewood employees stopping in for snacks and lunch. It also reported that the owner of Swiss Lakewood kept the restaurant closed until Dec. 20 in fall 2024, after its usual three-week November break, because of the closure. When the mountain is quiet, the businesses around it are quieter too.

What Went Up the Mountain Over the Summer

Homewood's gondola update page says the top and bottom terminals are in place and that every tower and the haul rope have been installed. The cabins are listed as "Coming Soon," and the opening goal is "Winter 2026-2027." The resort says the line will carry guests just above the existing Madden Chair to the site of a future Mid Mountain Lodge.

The bigger change is for families and first-timers. Last season's beginner terrain was at North Base. Homewood says the gondola lets it move beginners about 1,000 feet higher, where snow is more reliable and there are lake views. The Sierra Sun reported that the first phase of that mid-mountain beginner area includes new surface lifts and a warming yurt for the snowsport school. The resort also added a new snowmaking pipe and more than 30 new snow machines. Homewood depended on natural snow in each of the last three winters, so the snowmaking may matter as much as the gondola.

Homewood is aiming for a December opening, and the Reno Gazette Journal has a roundup of target dates across the region. The Homewood website will have the actual first chair.

The Pass Detail Full-Time Residents Already Missed

The West Shore Resident pass, which Homewood also calls the True Local pass, is for full-time residents living between Tahoe City and Rubicon. It gives the same access as the Value Pass at a discount and works seven days a week, except on peak holiday dates. It was sold for 30 days, from March 16 to April 14, 2026. Homewood's pass page now says it is no longer available for 2026-27 and that sales resume in spring 2027 for the following season.

The prices residents can still buy show what the discount was worth. Homewood lists an adult Unlimited pass at $1,399, a Value pass at $999 and a midweek two-day pass at $899 for 2026-27. The 2026-27 blackout dates on the resident pass are Dec. 26 through Jan. 1, Jan. 16 and 17, and Feb. 13 to 15. Anyone who wants the resident pass next year has a 30-day window in spring to watch for.

The Lakefront Rooms Are Out of the Rotation

The mountain matters more this winter partly because the lake side lost two of its main public gathering places at the same time.

Sunnyside. The Reno Gazette Journal reported that Sunnyside closed on Oct. 4 and that its $5 million renovation was already underway. T S Restaurants is passing operations to Reno-based Local Food Group, led by chef and restaurateur Mark Estee. The Sierra Sun reported that the existing ownership group will partner with the new operator. The six-month plan covers the lodge, kitchen and dining room. It also moves the bar, expands private dining and improves the marina and waterfront. The Sunnyside website lists the next chapter as "Coming Spring 2027."

West Shore Café. The café's own site says renovations are underway and that the property is being reimagined primarily as an amenity for Homewood Mountain and Lake Club homeowners and their guests. The public will be welcome at select events. The same page says the shoreline in front of the café remains open to the public under California's public land easement. The pier is not a public mooring, and the nearby buoys are managed by Homewood High & Dry Marina, which operates separately from both the resort and the café.

Chambers Landing. The Chambers Landing site carries a "Closed until May 2027" notice, so check there before planning a visit.

West Shore Café and Homewood are connected. The café's notice points to new public dining, retail and gathering spaces at the resort under the Homewood master plan. Homewood's future page names JMA Ventures, Discovery Land Company and Mohari as partners. It lists a public grocery store, café, ice cream parlor, hardware store, a community gathering place with an ice rink, and a mid-mountain lodge with outdoor dining and firepits. Those plans are where public gathering at Homewood is meant to go. The gondola and the beginner area, both set to open this winter, are the first pieces.

Where the Winter Day Lands Instead

Until Sunnyside reopens and the summer docks come back, the public places that stay open on the West Shore are mostly casual daytime spots. Here are the published hours from each business's own site.

Swiss Lakewood's two booking pages list different dinner days, and the restaurant has usually taken a few weeks off in November. Check the reservations page before you drive down for dinner. West Shore Market also serves flatbread pizza on certain evenings, and its schedule is on the same contact page.

For a sit-down evening in Tahoe City, there's Savoie. It opened July 1 in the rebuilt Pfeifer House, run by chefs Allison and Mark Sullivan with a menu drawn from the Savoy region of the Alps, according to Moonshine Ink. The Savoie site lists a Beaujolais Nouveau evening on Nov. 19 and service on Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 26.

Further south, near the resort, are the places the 2025 Moonshine Ink story described as most tied to Homewood's season. Those include Dockside Trading Co. in the old Obexer's building, Cult Burger and Dog & Bear Tavern in Tahoma, and West Shore Sports. Their winters have tracked the resort's for three seasons. Once Homewood opens, they will be the first places to show whether the gondola brings people back.

Sunnyside is listed to reopen in spring 2027, the same spring the West Shore Resident pass goes back on sale. If you own on the West Shore, or are thinking about it, and want to understand how changes at Homewood could affect your corner of the shore, Lindsay Buchanan follows these changes closely and is glad to walk through what they could mean for you.