Hey all! I'm new to mountaineering, and I'm looking for good peaks in the Tahoe area to either climb, or simply to practice my skills on in the spring and early summer. I climbed Telescope Peak this past week, but the snow wasn't really something that necessitated ice axes or crampons, so I'm hoping for some good places to hone those skills. Ideally something I could solo, but if that's an inherently terrible idea, let me know haha.

Thanks!

The Tahoe OGUL list of peaks has been a hit with many peakbaggers over the years. Lots of good choices there. Not a terrible idea to solo these. For the most part, they are far more benign that the those in the High Sierra to the south. If you give any new snow a week or two to settle, they can be great fun.

They have all that stuff in Tahoe but the best thing in that place is just driving around until you see some thing that you want to climb.

Snowline is at 7-8k and melting fast up here in Tahoe.

In the winter, I often ski Relay Pk. and Mt. Houghton. In the summer, I often hike up Mt. Rose and nearby Church Pk. If I have a little extra time, I make a loop and climb all four. All are easy and over 10K. These peaks keep me more-or-less in shape without spending much time away from home.

Does anyone know snow conditions on the NW side of Angora Peak (Indian Rock chutes) or the West Face or North Maggies? I don't suppose there's any ice on Maggies?

You have to go out of your way to find any technical routes on Tahoe area peaks, although they can be found. I like Rubicon Peak, it's not a complete walkup, takes a little bit of routefinding and affords a great view. Even though it snowed last night, fedak is correct about the meltoff. At my cabin (6,000') it went from 24" of snow pack to 0" of snowpack in 10 days.