I’ve always marveled how ski lifts, trams and gondolas magically transport you from warm and cozy base villages high into mountainous terrain far from civilization and deep into nature, thin air and snow.

This is especially true in Europe, where I’ve ridden lifts into the jaw-dropping terrain of the Alps and skied vast, interconnected ski “circuses” in Switzerland, France and Austria. In the big Rocky Mountain resorts of Utah and Colorado, lifts have transported me to huge tracts of skiable terrain, inviting days of gravity-powered descents on the snow.

Now our very own Lake Tahoe ski region has a hint of big-time Alpine and Rocky Mountain skiing with the debut of the base-to-base gondola linking Palisades Tahoe and its sister resort, Alpine Meadows, and creating the largest ski area in California with 34 lifts, 270 trails and a whopping 6,000 skiable acres across two mountains.

The new gondola is a long-awaited dream come true for many Northern California skiers and snowboarders who make Tahoe their winter playground.

Gone are the days when skiers and riders had to choose between the steeps, glades and 3,600 skiable acres at Palisades Tahoe or the down-home vibe, expansive bowls and hidden hike-to boundaries of Alpine Meadows. It was possible to ski both resorts in a day — but a real hassle.

I recently spent a long weekend at Palisades Tahoe, based in a comfy condo in the heart of the Village, with the goal of splitting my days between these two mountains. The new base-to-base gondola, which rarely has a line, was located just across from my lodging, and I was eager to check it out.

But before heading to Alpine, I jumped on Palisades’ Funitel (also a gondola) for warm-up laps on the intermediate runs of the upper mountain. The snow was light and fresh, and the temperatures were cool and crisp: perfect ski conditions thanks to this winter’s storms and the deepest Sierra snowpack in 30 years.

After several warm-up runs and a quick mocha, enjoyed on the scenic deck of the Arc at the mid-mountain Gold Coast Lodge, I cruised back down to the village on the long Mountain Run. Back at the base, I headed straight to the new base-to-base gondola, where an empty eight-person cabin took off with the wings of an angel up the vertiginous slopes of 8,070-foot KT-22.

A mid-mountain station allows experienced skiers and boarders (no sightseers) to disembark for steep, mogul-studded runs back down to the base of Palisades before continuing over the ridge to an unspoiled, out-of-bounds backside. I continued on, soaring above this dreamy snowscape, enjoying sweeping views of the Granite Chief Wilderness, Lake Tahoe and Palisades Tahoe’s peaks.

The 16-minute, 2.4-mile-long ride from Palisades to Alpine Meadows gains 1,870 vertical feet from the base to the KT-22 mid-station. You descend 1,235 vertical feet to reach charming, laid-back Alpine Meadows. This is the beauty of the new base-to-base gondola: It provides access to the best of both worlds, ritzy and chic on one side and low-key and local on the other.

Skiing Alpine has always been a low-key affair, big on fun and sparse with crowds. I took a few speedy runs off the frontside Treeline Cirque chair and the backside bowls via the Sherwood Express chair before beelining it to my favorite mid-mountain lunch spot, The Chalet, for Bavarian-style mountain food (think big pretzels, Wiener schnitzel, bratwurst and draft beer). The hut has ample outdoor seating to enjoy the winter sun and is a great place to simply kick back and enjoy the Sierra’s winter splendor.

Just be sure to time your return trip on the gondola to Palisades before it stops for the day at 4 p.m.