Ski Incline opened on November 19, 1966, with something no other resort in the West had yet tried: a man-made snowmaking system to add to whatever the Sierra delivered. Sixty years later to the day, the hill now called Diamond Peak will be sitting quiet. Its projected opening is Thursday, December 3, 2026, conditions permitting, which puts the birthday two weeks ahead of the first chair.
The anniversary brings $60 lift tickets and retro posters. In the months leading up to it, the Incline Village General Improvement District made two decisions that matter more. The district has started replacing the snowmaking system that made Ski Incline famous, and it has paid for the first real design work on a Snowflake Lodge replacement that has been on the wish list since 1987.
A celebration that runs across two winters
Diamond Peak billed last winter, 2025-26, as its 60th season of operations. Since the calendar anniversary falls this November, the resort is carrying the celebration into a second winter. Last season, KOLO reported six $60 promotion days. Moonshine Ink noted that the February 9 date also included $60 rental packages and $60 first-timer learn-to-ski and learn-to-ride packages.
This winter's list is shorter and starts on opening day.
| $60 Deal Days | 2025-26 season | 2026-27 season |
|---|---|---|
| Dates | Jan. 14, Jan. 29, Feb. 9, March 17, March 27, April 19 | Opening Day Dec. 3, Jan. 12, Feb. 8, March 17, Closing Day TBD |
| Count | Six | Five |
The 2026-27 tickets go on sale in mid-November and must be bought online. The $60 price applies to every paid single-day ticket category, from Adult to Beginner. It can't be combined with other discounts or used for multi-day products. March 17 shows up on both lists, so St. Patrick's Day has become the one fixed date in the anniversary run.
The hill residents bought for $1.5 million
Art Wood and his associate Harold B. Tiller planned Ski Incline as an amenity for the new Incline Village, and Wood hired Austrian ski pioneer Luggi Foeger to design and build it. Tiller had served on IVGID's first board when the district took effect on June 1, 1961.
Ownership changed hands after that. Boise Cascade held the recreation properties until Japan Golf acquired them in 1973. In 1976, IVGID bought Ski Incline for $1.5 million and raised its recreation fee to $100 a year to cover the debt. The upper-mountain expansion that doubled the ski area and added advanced terrain came in the late 1980s, along with the Diamond Peak name. The Sierra Sun's history puts the rename in 1987, while IVGID's own chronology gives 1988.
That 1976 purchase still shapes how the hill is run and priced. The same Sierra Sun history describes Diamond Peak as financially backed by Incline Village property owners and publicly owned by IVGID. In its anniversary story, the Tahoe Daily Tribune called it a community ski mountain rather than a corporate resort. For 2026-27, active IVGID Picture Pass holders get discounted season passes after verification, with an adult preseason rate of $412, and preseason pricing was set to end October 31. Recreation Punch Cards qualify only for discounted day tickets. Diamond Peak's public season pass pricing lists the adult preseason pass at $588. Anyone who missed the season-pass window still has the Preseason Flex Pass sale, which runs through November 30.
The feature it was founded on is next for replacement
Snowmaking has been part of the hill since opening day, and it is the first big system lined up for renewal. IVGID says much of Diamond Peak's underground snowmaking infrastructure dates to the late 1980s and early 1990s, and the newest major pipeline went in in 2002. The district says the main water and compressed-air lines now need a full, phased replacement.
The preliminary scope IVGID published includes:
- About 29,500 to 30,000 linear feet of new high-pressure water pipeline
- About 83 snowmaking locations, each with water, power and communications
- Automated tower-mounted fan guns plus a limited number of portable fan guns
- New electrical distribution, communications and controls tied into the existing pump station
As of August 2026, the district was procuring a design-build contractor. Construction would happen over several summers, possibly starting as early as 2027, and each season's work would be tested before the mountain opens for winter. Scope, cost and schedule still depend on final design, permits, funding and approval by the IVGID Board of Trustees.
A small part of that future is already on the hill this winter. Diamond Peak added a TechnoAlpin TT10 tower-mounted fan gun and a TR10 movable fan gun in the base area, where several trails meet and the lift loading zones need extra snowpack. TechnoAlpin also did the preliminary planning for the full replacement.
Snowflake Lodge has waited since the 1987 plan
Ski Incline's 1987 master plan named the need to replace Snowflake Lodge. IVGID says the reasons were a serious shortfall in food and beverage capacity and the poor condition of the building. A 2015 planning document updated the need. That 1987 plan is still the resort's TRPA-approved planning baseline. The 2014-15 effort was never approved by TRPA, and IVGID is not pursuing it.
This year the project moved past studies. At a March 25 meeting, the Tahoe Daily Tribune reported, trustees looked at four replacement scenarios estimated at roughly $29 million to $62 million. They leaned toward something between the second and third options and took no vote. The same discussion raised replacing the Snowflake chairlift to improve access to the lodge.
On September 23, the board voted 3-0, with one trustee abstaining, to approve an $811,332 contract with CCY Architects for a 30% design phase expected to take 26 to 28 weeks. The program guiding that design calls for:
"an 11,600-square-foot lodge, 3,500 square feet of outdoor deck area, 160 indoor seats, 175 outdoor seats, and space for an event of approximately 120 people."
Final design and construction have not been approved. IVGID's Snowflake Lodge project page links to a public comment form. The page also notes separate work in the five-year capital plan on Lakeview Lift operations and beginner-skier circulation.
From the snow party to the season kickoff
The anniversary sits inside a run of village events from November 13 to December 5, with opening day near the end.
- Friday, November 13. A Pray for Snow Party. Visit Incline Village lists the Pray 4 Snow Party at Alibi Ale Works' Incline Public House at 6 p.m., and Diamond Peak's calendar lists a Pray for Snow Party with Village Ski Loft on the same date.
- Mid-November. Tickets for the $60 Deal Days go on sale online.
- Thursday, November 19. Sixty years since Ski Incline opened.
- Monday, November 30. The Preseason Flex Pass sale ends.
- Thursday, December 3. Projected opening day and the first $60 Deal Day, conditions permitting. The Tahoe Film Fest starts its 12th edition the same day and runs through December 6.
- Saturday, December 5. A Diamond Peak Season Kickoff Party at Alibi, according to the IVCBA's Northern Lights listings, which says its holiday dates are still being finalized.
Once the lifts are running, the anniversary goes indoors. Diamond Peak plans a Fireside Chat series with current and former employees in the Fireside Room next to the Loft Bar, with dates still to come. Local artist Bryn Merrell turned one of the resort's panoramic lake views into a commemorative 60th anniversary poster. Free copies are available at Diamond Peak special events and at the Diamond Peak Sports Shop inside the Base Lodge.
The base area has a few new things too. The Get Lifted Coffee + Waffles trailer will be in the Base Area Plaza on busy weekends and holidays. Local DJ Dom Morelli will host Friday Fundays après-ski parties at the Loft Bar on select Fridays, moving out to the Loft Bar Sun Deck when the weather allows. Season pass holders get an Early Ups morning on a February 2027 date still to be set. The Lakeview chairlift opens at 8 a.m. for pass holders only, with pastries and coffee at the mid-mountain Snowflake Lodge, a building whose replacement is now in design.
If you're curious how the hill's future fits into owning a home on the north shore, from Picture Pass access to the yearly rhythm around Diamond Peak, Live Tahoe Real Estate is glad to talk it through. Contact Chris and Brooke for a conversation grounded in six decades of Incline Village ski seasons.
