Mother Nature delivered a powder day Sunday for Tahoe skiers and snowboarders.
Snow continued dumping in the Lake Tahoe region Saturday (Dec. 7) with many Tahoe ski resorts reporting more than a foot of snow overnight. Light snow continued Sunday morning and into the afternoon.
The constant accumulation of snow over the past week or more has set up potentially a great week of early-season skiing and riding at Tahoe ski resorts.
According to OpenSnow, the Tahoe forecast is for partly to mostly sunny skies through Thursday, with the possibility of the next winter storm arriving Friday (De. 13).
Mt. Rose was reporting 1½ feet of new snow over a 24-hour period, ending Sunday morning. The Nevada ski resort near Incline Village received 18 inches of new snow by Sunday morning, 28 inches over two days, and is 1-inch shy of 10 feet (119 inches) for the 2019-20 season.
Squaw Valley Alpine Meadows also got hit hard with snow throughout Saturday. Alpine matched Mt. Rose with 18 inches, the most among Tahoe ski resorts. Squaw Valley had 16 inches, allowing it to open 12 lifts and 59 trails Sunday. That pushed Squaw Valley Alpine Meadows past the 100-inch snow total for the season.
“We did not hit the 100-inch benchmark until Jan. 6 last season,” said Squaw Alpine spokesperson Alex Spychalsky. “A total of 9 feet has fallen on Squaw Valley’s upper mountain, and 8½ feet on Alpine Meadows’ peaks in less than two weeks.”
All three Vail Resorts in the Tahoe region reported sizable totals Sunday morning. Northstar California received 16 inches, Heavenly Mountain got 15 inches and Kirkwood Mountain had 12. The foot of snow pushes Kirkwood’s season total to 125 inches, the most among Tahoe ski resorts.
The snow continues to pile up at Sugar Bowl, where 17 inches accumulated in the 24-hour period, giving the resort 99 inches for the season. Sugar Bowl was offering 9 lifts and 81 runs Sunday.
Two resorts who opened this week – Homewood Mountain and Diamond Peak – both got 14 inches of new snow. Sierra-at-Tahoe also received 14 inches and now has 117 for the season. Boreal Mountain was reporting a foot of new snow.
OPENING DATES TAHOE SKI RESORTS (all dates are weather dependent)
- Mt. Rose: Opened October 25
- Squaw Valley: Opened November 15
- Alpine Meadows: Opened November 15
- Boreal Mountain: Opened November 23
- Heavenly Mountain: Opened November 27
- Soda Springs: Opened November 28
- Sugar Bowl: Opened November 29
- Northstar California: Opened November 29
- Kirkwood Mountain: Opened November 29
- Sierra-at-Tahoe: Opened November 30
- Homewood Mountain: Opened December 6
- Diamond Peak: Opened December 7
- Granlibakken: December 13
- Tahoe Donner: December 13
