Despite the tremendous advances in snowmaking, skiing is still a sport that relies heavily on the fickle ways of Mother Nature. There’s no better advertising for Lake Tahoe ski resorts than a snowy portrait of the Sierra mountain range.
All the talk about this being an El Nino year got everyone excited about this ski season returning to normalcy after several very subpar winters with way below average snow totals.
“It’s pretty awesome up here at Sierra-at-Tahoe. The snow is in its prime. It’s been really busy, lots and lots of people are coming up and enjoying the snow,” said Thea Hardy, spokesperson for Tahoe-at-Sierra. “Having this much snow refreshes in people’s mind the spirit of winter and what they can expect the rest of the season.”
The resort off Highway 50 at Twin Bridges is reporting 175 inches of snow this season, already exceeding last year’s amount by nearly 50 inches. Sierra was operating 11 of its 14 lifts and three terrain parks over the Christmas weekend.
Sierra was reporting 90 inches of snow today (Dec. 26) at its summit and 54 inches at base level. Additional snow is expected, starting Sunday evening and possibly extending into Tuesday.
“The snow we’ve had is a great indicator of the year (2016) to come. From every forecast I’ve seen it’s going to continue,” Hardy said. “This season has proven itself already and we are still selling a lot of season passes, which pay for themselves after four visits.”
Jeffrey Weidel can be reached at skiweidel@gmail.com. Visit his winter website at www.tahoeskiworld.com and follow him on twitter @jeffweidel.
