Kirkwood Mountain Resort, in the Sierra Nevada south of Lake Tahoe, opened in 1972 after year-round snow plowing on Highway 88 made reliable access possible and helped establish it as a major newer Tahoe-area resort. Known for heavy snowfall, advanced terrain, and extensive vertical drop, it offers skiing and snowboarding in winter and hiking and mountain biking in summer. For much of its history, Kirkwood operated off-grid on diesel generators until a 2010 fire hastened connection to the electrical grid; a transmission line was energized in 2014, reducing emissions. In 2012, Vail Resorts acquired Kirkwood and added it to the Epic Pass network.