It’s been a great start to the season for Mt. Rose ski resort in Nevada. And the season just got much better with the addition of more than a foot of new snow reported Saturday morning.
Located off the Mt. Rose Highway, approximately 10 miles from Incline Village in North Lake Tahoe and 25 miles from Reno, Mt. Rose received 14 inches of snow at its summit and now has 34 inches overall.
Benefitting from the early snow and its ability to ramp up its snowmaking ability, Mt. Rose was the first Tahoe-area ski resort to open for the 2026 season – running its lifts Friday, Nov. 6.
Typically, another Tahoe resort that opens early – Boreal Mountain – says it won’t start running its lifts this weekend. But next week could be a possibility.
“Our scheduled opening date is still Nov. 20. We will make an announcement Monday if there are any changes,” Boreal spokesperson Tucker Norred said.
Despite snow at multiple other area resorts, no other Tahoe locations have opened yet. Mammoth Mountain is currently the only California ski resort open, firing up its lifts for skiers and riders Nov. 5.
Located on California’s Eastern Sierra range, approximately 100 miles south of the Nevada state line and 50 minutes from the eastern gate of Yosemite, Mammoth received 9-13 inches of new snow over the 24-hour period.
Tahoe Snow Report
- Mt. Rose: 14 inches
- Sugar Bowl: 14 inches
- Boreal: 12 inches
- Sierra-at-Tahoe: 9 inches
- Heavenly: 8 inches
- Palisades Tahoe: 5 inches
- Granlibakken: 5 inches
- Kirkwood: 3 inches
- Northstar: 1 inch
- Diamond Peak: no reported snow
- Tahoe Donner: no reported snow
- Homewood: no reported snow
- Soda Springs: no reported snow
Sugar Bowl got 14 of inches from Friday’s storm and is projected to open Nov. 26.
Despite the sizable amount of new snow, Mt. Rose chose not to open any additional lifts Saturday. The Lakeview Express is the only available lift, offering access to long intermediate level trails on the Main Lodge side of the mountain. Open trails include Kit Carson Traverse, Kit Carson Bowl, and Ponderosa.
“We look better and ski better, but there was not enough snow to open additional terrain,” Mt. Rose spokesperson Mike Pierce said Saturday afternoon. “We’ll continue to make snow around the clock. The next two storms are projected to enable us to open the majority of runs on the main lodge side of the mountain.”
Granlibakken, a family-friendly sledding area with a modest ski hill, received 5 inches of snow by Saturday morning and expects to be open for the Thanksgiving holidays. “This heavy wet snow sets up a great base for our hills and should also provide something for snowmaking to build on,” Granlibakken spokesperson DJ Ewan said.
Weather Outlook: OpenSnow forecaster Bryan Allegretto says the next storm will bring more snow in the Tahoe region – as low as 5,000 feet in elevation – by Sunday night into Monday. The storm is expected to clear by Monday night.
Allegretto is predicting a larger and colder storm Wednesday into Thursday with snow levels as low as 3,000 feet by Thursday.
“We could see 1-3 feet of snow in the Sierra with this storm, along with gusty winds and low visibility,” Allegretto said. “Expect chain controls along with slow and difficult travel through the Sierra during this storm.”
The long-range forecast could bring more storms during the busy travel period of Thanksgiving week.
Tahoe Ski Resort Opening Dates
- Mt. Rose: Open Nov. 6
- Heavenly: Nov. 20
- Northstar: Nov. 20
- Boreal: Nov. 20
- Palisades Tahoe: Nov. 25
- Granlibakken: Nov. 26
- Sugar Bowl: Nov. 27
- Diamond Peak: Dec. 3
- Kirkwood: Dec. 4
- Tahoe Donner: Dec. 11
- Homewood: Dec. 11
- Soda Springs: Friday, Dec. 18
- Sierra-at-Tahoe: Dec. 26
