Tahoe skiing recharged after 4 feet of snow
After a relatively dry start to skiing season, the storms that drenched California’s lowlands the past week have brought a welcome dollop of fresh snow to the Sierra, ushering in what might be the year’s best skiing and riding conditions.
“The big storm is what everyone needed to get in the mode,” said Jon Slaughter, Sugar Bowl Resort’s director of marketing and sales. “You can finally put the rock skis away and get out there and just enjoy it.”
January delivered a steady rhythm of light snowfall to the mountains, but the first week of February has been deep, filling in thinly covered terrain and helping ski areas open trails and chairlifts that had previously been closed.
Sugar Bowl, near Donner Pass, received 57 inches of snowfall in the six days before Wednesday, bringing the resort’s total to 213 inches on the year — the highest of any resort in the state, and about 88% of the resort’s average snowfall to date — and allowing it to open its Summit chair last weekend.
In North Lake Tahoe, the 4 feet of fresh snow that graced the slopes of Palisades Tahoe this past week allowed the resort to open its classic Headwall Face for the first time this season, said resort spokesman Patrick Lacey. It has also draped a smooth white coating of snow over most of the remaining exposed rocks and treetops on Palisades’ runs.
Palisades saw an uptick in skiers and riders last weekend, Lacey said. “That being said, the best time to come out and ride is definitely midweek after a storm because you’ll get more turns in, you won’t necessarily be waiting in as many crowds and you don’t have to have a parking reservation either,” he said.
The storms were a huge boon to Heavenly Mountain Resort in South Lake Tahoe, spiking the ski area’s 60-inch seasonal snowfall total to 96 in just a week. Heavenly, too, was able to open key terrain — namely, its frontfacing double-black diamond Gunbarrel and East Bowl runs.
“It’s been awesome this last week,” said Heavenly director of mountain operations Barrett Burghard. “Before this, most of the runs we’d made snow on were pretty thin. Now a lot have good coverage.”
Subfreezing temperatures and light snow showers across the Tahoe region are expected in the days ahead, which should keep the slopes fresh with snow through the weekend.
Though Tahoe’s resorts aren’t hosting any 49ers Super Bowl parties, they’ll be playing the game in their lodges and cafeterias wherever there’s a TV screen.