Elevation Changes and how it Will Affect Your South Lake Tahoe Vacation. Did you know that here in Tahoe, the surface of the lake is 6,225 feet above sea level? In South Lake Tahoe, the Heavenly Mountain gondola takes skiers and sightseers up to 9,136 feet. Daredevil skiers and boarders can rise even higher up the Sky Express chairlift to 10,040 feet above sea level. With these drastic elevation changes it is not uncommon to experience a little bit of altitude sickness during a trip to Tahoe.