Jake's Peak / West Shore
West Shore (above Emerald Bay, Hwy 89) · near Tahoma / Tahoe City · Sierra Nevada / Yosemite
Backcountry Skiing
At a glance
- Vertical
- 2350
- Best season
- December–April · Powder after storms (NE aspect holds it) · Spring corn on south faces
Permits and booking
- Permit
- No permit. Tahoe National Forest / edge of Desolation Wilderness. Park at the small plowed pullout just past the D.L. Bliss entrance on Hwy 89 (very limited — arrive early). No SNO-PARK required at this particular pullout, but space is scarce.
Worth knowing
- Gear you must bring
- Beacon (avalanche transceiver) · Probe · Shovel · Skins · Helmet · Navigation (topo + GPS)
- Gear worth bringing
- Airbag pack · Ski crampons for firm approaches
Guides, rentals and operators
- Guides
- Alpenglow Expeditions · Alpine Skills International (ASI)
Backcountry Skiing detail
- Nickname
- Tahoe's Classic Tree-Skiing Dawn Patrol
- Ates
- challenging
- Tour types
- day-tour
- Summit
- 9187
- Approach
- 2–3 miles round trip · ~2,350ft gain · Pullout south of Lester Beach Rd on Hwy 89
- First timer with guide
- Yes
- Guide recommended
- Yes
- Avi zone
- Sierra Avalanche Center · sierraavalanchecenter.org
- Signature lines
- The Northeast Glades · The east and south chutes
- Intl tip
- Jake's is on the West Shore near D.L. Bliss and Emerald Bay (a summer swimming and kayaking paradise — see those guides). Tahoe City, 20 minutes north, has Alpenglow Sports (gear rentals and beta) and good food. Rubicon and Bliss Peaks just north offer more West Shore ridgeline touring.
The guide
Jake's Peak is the beating heart of Tahoe's West Shore backcountry — a 9,187-foot summit rising dramatically above Emerald Bay …
In the Guidebook
Everything above is yours for free. The written guide to Jake's Peak / West Shore — what it is actually like, and what we would tell a friend before they went — comes with the Guidebook.
Getting there
- Coordinates
- 39.009, -120.113