Heading into the all-important Christmas holidays, the snow situation in the Lake Tahoe area could be summed up in one word – dismal.
Large resorts like Palisades Tahoe had only three out of 288 trails available. In South Lake Tahoe, Heavenly was doing a little better. But 11 trails as of Dec. 23 – most of them beginner runs – was a depressing number.
SEE TAHOE SEASON SNOW TOTALS BELOW
There were only six Tahoe ski resorts running lifts. And just like the trail total, the lift total for the region was miniscule – 20. And many of those were surface (tow) lifts or ones that only accessed beginner terrain.
Despite the disheartening conditions, optimism remained. Afterall, this is Tahoe, where the conditions can change overnight.
“All it often takes is one storm in the Sierra,” said Jess Weaver, who has worked winters in Tahoe for more than two decades.
And that’s exactly what happened. Virtually no snow two days prior to Christmas, the slopes were covered with up to 60 inches of fresh snow by Dec. 26.
“After days of anticipation, the snow dances paid off and a Christmas miracle took shape,” said Palisades Tahoe spokesperson Patrick Lacey. “As of Friday morning (Dec. 26), we’ve received 21 inches at 8,000 feet, bringing our storm total to 64 inches … that is over 5 feet of snow. Palisades Tahoe has gone from zero to hero over the past few days as a powerful storm delivered deep December snow.”
The snow came in bunches and multiple days, starting over the Christmas holidays and continuing during the first week of the New Year.
The large amount of snow resulted in smaller ski resorts having all their lifts running and access to their entire mountain. Larger resorts like Palisades Tahoe, Heavenly and Northstar had most of their terrain open as well.
This weekend resembles the weather locals often brag about. The sun is shining brightly, the snow has piled up, and it’s a gorgeous day to be making turns on the hill. And the good news is the weather gets even better next week when daytime temperatures rise a bit and the bluebird days continue.
Considering the slow start, season snow totals are amazing. Sugar Bowl is reporting 163 inches this season and Kirkwood isn’t far behind with 160. There are five Tahoe ski resorts with 150 inches are more. Worried about snow totals? Not anymore.
TAHOE SEASON SNOW TOTALS (January 10)
- Sugar Bowl: 163 inches
- Kirkwood: 160 inches
- Northstar: 154 inches
- Palisades Tahoe: 152 inches
- Mt. Rose: 151 inches
- Homewood: 134 inches
- Sierra-at-Tahoe: 130 inches
- Heavenly: 113 inches
- Diamond Peak: 95 inches
- Boreal: 87 inches
- Soda Springs: 66 inches
- Granlibakken: NA
- Tahoe Donner: NA
