The second of two winter storms has now rolled through Tahoe, both performing significantly under forecast. The first only brought a dusting of snow for Halloween. This morning, the remote sensors, and a few mountain reports are showing 4 to 5 inches of new snowfall out of the second storm. That brought on the usual mayhem over Donner Summit, with traffic delays reported up to two hours as the main squall line moved through last night. But it wasn’t enough to move the needle on any ski area opening dates. The sad fact is, daytime warming and sunny skies will likely erase that new snow pretty quickly this week. So patience will be required. Theoretically the mountain biking will be good again this week.
What’s In The Forecast?
The models are looking a bit dull at the moment. Currently there is no significant snowfall for Tahoe until you get about 10 days out. There is a weak ridge in the Pacific that will direct storms into the Pacific Northwest and then into the Rockies. We will likely see some north wind events that will still create some fire concerns in lower elevations. Below is a GIF showing storms moving to the north until about day 10 when we see a change. In the past I have labelled day 10 as “the realm of possibility”, which is better than the term “Fantasyland” used to describe the days farther out into the models.
Snowmaking will be the thing that will continue to get us closer to sliding on snow. Temperatures this week will not be ideal for that relative to last week. Overnight lows will be low enough for snow production, but lower elevation mountains will see some warmups during the daytime, to the point where you can lose as much as you make. That’s a losing proposition. Mammoth and Mount Rose should be slightly better positioned for snowmaking this week due to their higher base elevations. Here’s the outlook for temperatures:
The Rose Prognosis
Hot off the press: It’s not officially announced yet but ticket sales at Mount Rose are now available beginning Friday, November 8th. Generally speaking adult tickets are $109, but there is some kind of discount available most days. You know where I will be starting Friday.
If you have read my last two blog posts, you know that I have been keeping a close eye on Mount Rose. They stated a target date of November 8th for opening this season, and that seems reasonable as they have been an early season stalwart over the last decade. From the reports from the ground and looking at the webcams, they are making excellent progress on laying down a base on KC Bowl (as apparently saying Kit Carson is now non-PC) and the Ponderosa Run. But notable is that there is no work being done at the top of the Northwest lift or the KC Traverse. That indicates that they are planning on opening with the Lakeview Quad.
That’s not quite top to bottom, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. The Lakeview lift still serves more than 1000 vertical feet and it was converted to a high speed quad in 2022. The downside is that uphill capacity is less than the Northwest six pack, which could lead to longer early season lines. But the huge upside is that you then bypass the awful KC Traverse, which can be one of the most terrifying runs in Tahoe. It’s essentially just a road but when it’s the only way down the mountain, it’s a frightening mix of power wedges and wannabe downhill racers. In early season snowmaking form, there’s no way to ditch off to the side when things get hectic. In that sense, opening Lakeview first makes sense.
It looks like they are working pretty hard on the magic carpet terrain at the base are. In the world of magic carpets, Mount Rose does it right. They now have two side by side magic carpets feeding into a gently sloped but wide beginner area close to the lodge. Opening that terrain would do a lot to keep beginners from heading up Lakeview.
They have to be hurting just bit because they got beat to the punch for being the first ski area to open in Nevada. Lee Canyon, just outside of Las Vegas, opens with one lift today. It’s the Rabbit Peak lift, a whopping 215 long, offering 27 vertical feet. Uniquely, the bike park at Lee Canyon will also be open this weekend.
Boreal…Inquiring Minds Want To Know
The question of the week is what is happening at Boreal, once well known for early season operations. As of this morning, it’s still just a bit of natural snow in the Castle Peak zone know for it’s early season terrain parks. Typically they have something going by Halloween. Boreal’s owner is the POWDR Corp, which has been selling off some other their ski areas. Notably, Killington Mountain in Vermont was sold to a group of local investors, and Mount Bachelor in Oregon seems to be headed in a similar direction. There’s been no official word that either Boreal, or sister resort Soda Springs, are for sale – but that is the answer that makes sense. Actually what makes more sense is that some sort of sale is already in progress. I’ve put out some inquiries…
(Not So) Fun fact: The POWDR Corp owned Alpine Meadows from 1994 until 2007, when it was sold to JMA Ventures
Up until this season, Boreal sold a super senior unlimited season pass for $79 for skiers over 70. That was cheaper than most day passes! This season it is $229 for anyone over 60. It used to be a cheap way to get in some turns before any local Ikon areas opened but not any more. Maybe too many seniors were stinking up the place and then dying there of old age. This is their way of, “Just saying no” to seniors.
POWDR owning Alpine was not a “fun fact” as they cut operations to the bone, ended race ops, slashed staff, etc. Son got daddy to finance his hobby by promising ROI ruthlessly. A sad period, frankly, as many long-term employees got axed. I expect similar stories from all their other purchases.
I stand corrected.
Is that better or worse than current ownership? At least they fought for longest season with the nexdoor neighbors…but it is good to remember that the grass is not always greener, aka, Make Alpine Great Again excludes 13 recent years and you’ve got to go back to Windows 3.1 to discuss the good times.
Fingers are crossed that they can get a decent base down with slightly warmer temps this week! 🤞
Me too 🤞