Winter arrived with a vengeance the past three days and the extreme snowstorm has led to three more Tahoe ski resorts opening this week.
Sugar Bowl and Homewood Mountain will begin running their lifts Wednesday (Dec. 15) and one day later Diamond Peak will open for skiing and snowboarding.
Thanks to 3-6 feet of snow that’s already dropped this week, there will now be 10 Tahoe ski resorts open for the 2021-22 season. It’s a stark contrast to early last week when Tahoe ski resorts had a combined one non-beginner lift open at Boreal Mountain.
SEE TAHOE SNOW REPORT STORM TOTALS BELOW
SUGAR BOWL: Eager to get going and frustrated by high temperatures that prevented snowmaking, the popular ski resort off Interstate 80 in Norden will finally usher in the season.
Sugar Bowl is expected to operate three lifts – Jerome Hill, Christmas Tree, and Nob Hill. The resort, which received 52 inches of new snow during the last three days, will quickly try to get the Lincoln and Disney chairlifts going later this week.
“High winds and deep snow may slow us, but can’t stop us,” said Jon Slaughter, Sugar Bowl spokesperson. “Our entire operations team has been hustling to get the mountain ready to open throughout this raging storm. We can’t wait to kick off the 2021-22 season.”
Note that both Wednesday and Thursday, Sugar Bowl will be reserved for season passholders, their friends and family on a voucher, and the few who have pre-purchased lift tickets for the day. No additional lift tickets will be sold those two days.
As of Tuesday afternoon, the resort said it had only a small number of lift tickets on sale for Friday through Sunday.
DIAMOND PEAK: A strong winter storm system dropped a little more than 3 feet of fresh snow, leading the resort to announce it will be opening for the season Thursday.
Located in Incline Village, Diamond Peak will open with top-to-bottom terrain and full services, including ski and snowboard lessons, and rental equipment.
Specific runs for opening day are still being determined. Details will be posted to Diamond Peak’s “conditions” page on its website.
The resort, which had planned a Dec. 9 opening, will also be offering food and beverage options at both the Base Lodge Provisions food court and the mid-mountain Snowflake Lodge.
HOMEWOOD MOUNTAIN: The family-friendly ski resort will kick off its 60th season Wednesday.
Homewood has received 45 inches of snow from the storm.
“Our team has been working hard to get the mountain ready to invite guests back for Homewood’s 60th season,” said Kevin Mitchell, Homewood Mountain Resort general manager. “We’re looking forward to celebrating the history of our resort and the memories our guests have made here over the years.”
Homewood will be running the Madden Chair and North Carpet, starting at 9 am. The resort hopes to open more terrain throughout the day and week.
A message on the Homewood website Tuesday afternoon says online ticket purchases are not currently available, due to outages in the area. All lift tickets, lessons, vouchers and rentals can be purchased at the resort.
WEATHER FORECAST: Snow showers should begin again Wednesday afternoon with heavy snow that evening and likely lasting into Thursday afternoon, according to OpenSnow Forecaster Bryan Allegretto.
Allegretto predicts Tahoe ski resorts will receive an additional 1-2 feet of new snow by Thursday afternoon.
More storms are in the forecast next week, possibly as early as Monday and lasting for three to four days.
TAHOE SNOW REPORT (storm total, Dec. 14)
- Mt. Rose: 76 inches
- Boreal: 55 inches
- Palisades: 52 inches
- Soda Springs: 52 inches
- Sugar Bowl: 52 inches
- Heavenly: 48 inches
- Homewood: 45 inches
- Tahoe Donner: 44 inches
- Northstar: 44 inches
- Kirkwood: 43 inches
- Diamond Peak: 36 inches
- Sierra-at-Tahoe: NA
