Due to lack of snow and seasonably high temperatures, two Vail resorts in Tahoe have pushed back their opening dates.
“Mother Nature arrived fashionably late to the party, so Heavenly and Northstar will not hit our originally targeted openings this Friday,” Vail Resorts spokesperson Cole Zimmerman told Tahoe Ski World on Wednesday.
SEE PROJECTED TAHOE SKI RESORT OPENINGS BELOW
Currently, there are no Tahoe ski resorts open. With another day of snow projected Thursday (Nov. 20), that could change. However, Zimmerman says that neither Heavenly or Northstar will be able meet their projected Nov. 21 opening. Kirkwood has planned a Dec. 5 opening that is still likely to happen.
“The good news is that snow and colder temps have arrived (this week) and the forecast ahead looks promising,” Zimmerman said. “We are making progress and our teams are ready to make snow at any and every opportunity as we work hard to get folks skiing and riding soon.”
HEAVENLY, NORTHSTAR ACTIVITIES: Skiing and snowboarding won’t be taking place this weekend at either Tahoe resort. But both are still providing fun activities that will engage individuals and families.
At Heavenly, the Gondola will still be operating for sightseeing and on the mountain the popular Ridge Rider Mountain Coaster will be running for folks who are looking for some excitement.
In the Village at Northstar, the ice rink will open at 3 pm (weather permitting) and there will be music on the Village Stage from 4-7 pm all weekend. A variety of shops and restaurants are already open for the season.
WEATHER UPDATE: According to OpenSnow forecaster Bryan Allegretto, a fast-moving system will sweep through the northern Sierra early Thursday morning (Nov. 20) and continue into Thursday night.
Allegretto says low pressure near the coast drops south into Thursday night with some wrap-around snow on the north side from the east. The snow levels will be right around lake level – 6,000 to 6,500 feet – throughout the storm.
“We could see some rain mixed in for the lower elevations near the lake and down in Truckee,” Allegretto said. “With the light precipitation amounts in total, I’m not expecting much more than a dusting to an inch of snow at best for the lower elevations, with 1-3 inches of snow possible on the mountains by Friday morning.”
Allegretto’s long-range predictions continue to show the high-pressure ridge amplifying near the West Coast for the last week of November, but the recent trends have been for it to be a bit further east.
PROJECTED TAHOE SKI RESORT OPENINGS
- Mt. Rose: TBA
- Heavenly: TBA
- Northstar California: TBA
- Boreal: Nov. 21
- Palisades Tahoe: Nov. 26
- Granlibakken: Nov. 27
- Sugar Bowl: Nov. 28
- Sierra-at-Tahoe: Nov. 28
- Soda Springs: Nov. 28
- Diamond Peak: Dec. 4
- Kirkwood: Dec. 5
- Homewood: Dec. 12
- Tahoe Donner: Dec. 19
