A pair of central valley ski resorts will get their season underway this week, hoping to cash in on skiers and snowboarders who have been anxiously waiting for the 2015-16 season to get underway.
After two abysmal winters, Dodge Ridge remains optimistic that this ski season will return to a more normal mode. The ski resort, located 30 miles east of Sonora just off of Highway 108, opened Wednesday (Nov. 26) with a fresh batch of snow from Tuesday’s storm.
Bear Valley starts its season Saturday and should be able to provide access to a good portion of its mountain, thanks to a 25-inch base that grew larger with this week’s snow.
Located off Highway 4, Bear Valley has been making snow and has coverage of more than 100 acres of terrain. At full operation, Bear Valley offers 1,680 acres of varied terrain, more than 70 trails, two terrain parks featuring more than 18 features, and 1,900 vertical feet.
“We’ve been out packing snow throughout the mountain to ensure great coverage and a solid base. Meanwhile, temperatures have become great for snowmaking,” said Mattly Trent, Director of guest safety for Bear Valley. “Winter has been shaping up nicely and we’re excited about opening over Thanksgiving weekend.”
Dodge Ridge is offering limited operations on chairs 1, 6, 5, & 7, providing access to mostly intermediate to advanced terrain. Beginner learning terrain is expected to be available Thanksgiving Day, weather permitting.
It’s been a couple of difficult back-to-back winters for Dodge Ridge, which has no snowmaking capability. Two years ago the resort had what is believed to be its latest opening – Feb. 12 – in its 65-year history. The season was brief with a closing on March 16.
Last year, Dodge Ridge had a much earlier opening on Dec. 17. However, due to a lack of snow the resort was temporary closed by Jan. 10 and was never regularly open for the remainder of the season.
This ski season looks promising in Lake Tahoe as well. There are nine ski resorts that will be running their lifts over the Thanksgiving holidays. Sierra-at-Tahoe happily began running its lifts last Friday, its earliest beginning to the season since 2004.
“The last time we opened this early was 11 years ago,” said John Rice, Sierra-at-Tahoe general manager. “A November opening is giving us a great outlook for the rest of the season. In a similar year, we logged as much as 499 inches of snowfall.”
Two November storms and low temperatures that was suitable for snowmaking has resulted in many Tahoe ski resorts opening before their projected start dates. Mt. Rose in Nevada was the first Lake Tahoe-area resort to open on Nov. 4 and was quickly followed by Boreal Mountain.
Heading into this week, Heavenly Mountain was operating its Gondola, Tamarack Express and Dipper Express, accessing upper California Trail and Orion’s, which at over a mile long, is the longest run available in the Tahoe basin.
Opening dates Lake Tahoe ski resorts:
- Alpine Meadows Resort – Open
- Boreal Mountain Resort – Open
- Diamond Peak – December 3
- Donner Ski Ranch – TBA
- Granlibakken – Dec. 11
- Heavenly Mountain – Open
- Homewood – December 11
- Kirkwood Mountain – Open
- Mt. Rose Ski Tahoe – Open
- Northstar California – Open
- Squaw Valley – Open
- Sierra-at-Tahoe – Open
- Soda Springs – TBA
- Sugar Bowl – Open
- Tahoe Donner – December 11
Jeffrey Weidel can be reached at skiweidel@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter at @jeffweidel and visit his website at www.tahoeskiworld.com.
