Heavenly Mountain Resort opened on 15 December 1955, though its name turns out to be an understatement. Straddling the California-Nevada border, it spans 97 runs and 30 lifts, receives 360 inches of snow annually, and operates one of America's largest snowmaking systems. Its founder was Hugh Killebrew, a former submarine commander turned San Francisco lawyer.

The resort's gondola lifts you to an observation deck at 9,123 feet. The Sierra Nevada unfolds in every direction: Mt. Tallac, the deep blue of Lake Tahoe below, the Carson Valley where pioneers crossed into California. On a clear day, you can spot the scar of the 2007 Angora Fire, which destroyed 254 homes in one day.

VoiceMap's self-guided audio tour rides the gondola to the observation deck, tracing Tahoe's layered history: Washoe settlements, Emigrant Trail crossings, casino bombings and wildfire evacuations, all framed by one of the most panoramic viewpoints in the American West.