While many Lake Tahoe ski resorts have faced challenges over the past week with the excessive amount of snow and related troubles from the storms, no one has suffered more than Homewood Mountain ski resort, which remained without power Sunday.
According to a Homewood Mountain employee Sunday, the resort off Highway 89 had no power. However, there were still some skiers and snowboarders enjoying the great conditions because Homewood has the Madden chair and Old Homewood Express running on generators.
There was no time frame for power to return at Homewood, which is located in North Lake Tahoe in an area known as the West Shore.
Many residents and businesses have been without power in all regions of Lake Tahoe. The North Tahoe outages are due to the downing of power lines and has left some residents trapped in their homes with no heat.
Once there was a break in the weather Friday, Liberty Utilities began extensive repair work. With the use of helicopters and additional crews coming in from outside areas, Liberty has been able to repair lines. Still, some residents in Homewood have been reportedly without power for a week.
As of Sunday morning, Liberty’s main focus was expected to be the Tahoe Pines and River Road areas along Highway 89 on the West Shore. These areas have been the most damaged and most difficult to reach.
Following a week where all ski resorts were closed at least for a few days due to rain storms, snow storms, blizzard conditions, power outages, closed roads, and high winds, Lake Tahoe ski resorts were reveling in the great conditions that awaited a throng of anxious skiers and riders, who showed up Saturday for the beginning of the Martin Luther King three-day weekend.
More than 17 feet of new snow dropped on the Lake Tahoe region over the past two weeks. The amount is the largest two-week snow total in the past 35 years in Lake Tahoe.
According to the Central Sierra Snow Laboratory near Donner Summit, this is the largest measured amount since 1982 when 15.5 feet of snow hit the Lake Tahoe region from March 27 to April 8.
Squaw Valley has received 15 feet of snow, its largest January snowfall in 45 years.
The Sierra snowpack was 6.5 feet on Jan. 1 and on Jan. 12 it was measured at 20.1 feet.
Lake Tahoe is enjoying mostly sunny weather the past two days. However, a second significant storm system may arrive late Tuesday and could dump another 2 feet of snow while also creating new issues for residents, motorists and ski resorts.
