Tahoe Ski World

skiing in Lake Tahoe

Tahoe ski resorts still awaiting spring skiing

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Disregard the calendar because it’s clearly still winter in Lake Tahoe.

The Granlibakken run gets some morning grooming following 13 inches of new snow that was reported Saturday morning.

For the second time in three days, snowfall came down fairly heavy throughout Friday at Tahoe ski resorts, where conditions heading into April will be excellent for skiing and snowboarding thanks to the accumulation of snow.

However, the wait remains for the traditional “spring” ski days in Tahoe where the sun is shining, the sky is a bright blue, and temperatures are high enough for light outerwear. Despite Spring officially arriving 11 days ago, there’s been a notable lack of spring skiing this season.

“It hasn’t really felt like spring yet, but those days are well on their way as we are approaching April,” said Palisades Tahoe spokesperson Patrick Lacey. “At the start of the season, we didn’t receive much snow but the month of March has really made up for it.”

As noted, the snow came down hard enough Friday for eight Tahoe ski resorts to report 10 or more inches dropped as of Saturday morning (March 30). That comes one day after a sizable storm Thursday (March 28) provided a significant amount of snow and yet another POW day in March.

CHECK OUT TAHOE SNOW REPORT, SEASON TOTALS BELOW

Season snow totals keep rising in Tahoe. And when it’s all accounted for by season’s end, this will likely be historically known as an average or slightly better year for snowfall. Nine Tahoe ski resorts have recorded 300 or more inches for the season.

Northstar reported 14 inches of new snow Saturday morning, the most among Tahoe ski resorts.

The first three months of 2024 have made up for the extremely low snow totals that occurred the last two months of 2023 when it looked like a dismal ski season could be happening in the Tahoe region. Heading into the New Year, Northstar had the highest snow total with a meager 30 inches.

Despite the pessimistic outlook at the start of the 2023-24 season, Tahoe ski resorts were hopeful the snow would eventually arrive. Late December at Sierra-at-Tahoe, director of sales and marketing Katie Hunter said the crowds weren’t what is normally expected during the Christmas holidays, typically the busiest all season in the Tahoe region.

“We are seeing softer numbers (during Christmas season),” Hunter said. “I always say, ‘It’s going to snow. It always does.’ And when it does, we’ll be excited to bring it.”

Thankfully, Mother Nature did oblige. A much-need storm arrived Jan. 3 and the snowfall has been regular ever since.

SEASON SNOW TOTALS: Nine Tahoe ski resorts are reporting 300 or more inches of snow this year at their summit.

It’s been a huge month of March for Palisades Tahoe. Located in Olympic Valley, the resort has received 13 feet this month heading into the weekend. That brings the resort’s season total to just over 31 feet (378 inches) for the season to date, which is at 95% of its average annual snowfall – typically 400 inches.

After reporting 11 more inches Saturday, Sugar Bowl continues to be the far and away leader in snow totals for the season. Situated atop the Donner Summit off Interstate 80, Sugar Bowl has received 455 inches of snow at its summit.

Boreal has gotten consistent snowfall the past three months as its snow total has grown to 386 inches. Nearby Soda Spring is reporting 362 inches. Mt. Rose got a foot of new snow Saturday and also has 362 inches for the season, followed by Kirkwood (347), Homewood (338), Northstar (326) and Sierra-at-Tahoe (325).

WEATHER FORECAST: Anticipate snow showers to continue Saturday into Sunday.

Nine Tahoe ski resorts have received 300 or more inches of snow in the 2023-24 season.

If the hope was a bluebird weekend and a sun-drenched Easter Sunday, forget that notion – it’s not happening. Bryan Allegretto of OpenSnow.com predicts the high temperatures in the 30s throughout the weekend.

The good news is the storm shouldn’t be accompanied by consistent strong winds, even though at times it could be gusting at ridgetops up to 30-40 mph. Allegretto says expect around 50-60% of the weekend snow to fall by Saturday morning.

TAHOE SNOW REPORT, SEASON TOTALS (March 30)

  • Sugar Bowl: 11 inches (455 inches)
  • Palisades Tahoe: 9 inches (378 inches)
  • Mt. Rose: 12 inches (362 inches)
  • Kirkwood: 12 inches (347 inches)
  • Homewood: 11 inches (338 inches)
  • Northstar: 14 inches (326 inches)
  • Sierra-at-Tahoe: 10 inches (325 inches)
  • Heavenly: 7 inches (217 inches)
  • Diamond Peak: 9 inches (202 inches)
  • Granlibakken: 13 inches (NA)
  • Tahoe Donner: 14 inches (NA)
  • Boreal: NA (386 inches)
  • Soda Springs: NA (362 inches)