UPDATE: 9:30AM ON SUNDAY, MARCH 3
Due to high winds and worsening conditions, all chairlifts at Palisades Tahoe will be closed for the day today, Sunday, March 3rd. We expect to be able to open tomorrow, but with delays. Keep an eye out for another operations blog post coming out later today for all the information you’ll need to take on a dynamic powder day at Palisades Tahoe!
ORIGINAL POST:
We are still in the biggest storm of the season, so we ask for your patience while we do our very best to get the resort open tomorrow. We will be aiming for a delayed opening time of 12pm. Our teams have been playing catchup the past two days, but there is still a lot of work to do. We will be digging out for the foreseeable future. If you read our snow report today, you probably noticed that the snow numbers seemed low. We only reported 14 inches at 5am. In reality, we have received a lot more snow than this, but intense winds have scoured our plots (Winds on Siberia got over 190mph last night). This also means that there are very, very deep wind drifts across both mountains.
WHAT TO EXPECT TOMORROW
While we will target a 12pm opening, further delays are possible. There are a lot of steps that go into reopening, especially when we are starting from scratch. Only after Ski Patrol performs snow safety work can we complete grooming tasks, start spinning chairlifts (which have their own daily checklist), and continue dig-out work.
ALPINE
- We will aim to have Roundhouse, Treeline Cirque, Meadow, and Subway tomorrow.
- Our grooming team has been keeping access roads maintained and plowing out the bottom of lifts, but there is still a lot of digging out to do.
- We may be able to add more chairs, such as Summit and Scott, but we will be very slow to do so.
Video: The top of Lakeview around noon, captured by Jeff Goldstone, Alpine Mountain Manager.
PALISADES
- We will be targeting the lower mountain lifts of Resort Chair, First Ventures, Far East, Red Dog, and KT-22 to start. Please note that KT-22 is usually a bit more delayed than the other 4 chairlifts listed here. We have had snowcat operators working on the Saddle throughout this entire storm cycle.
- Near Tower 4 of the Funitel, there is limited clearance for cabins to pass through. After snow safety has been performed, we will be sending a winch cat in to clear the snow out. Because of the work that this operation entails, there is a chance that the Funitel will not open tomorrow.
- We have extensive control work to perform on the upper mountain and conditions are still very intense. As we write this blog, winds on Siberia hit 107mph. That said, if we can get the Funitel running, we will attempt to open upper mountain lifts.
PARKING & ROAD CONDITIONS
Our Snow Removal team has been working around the clock to clear parking lots. This is a huge, daunting job and there has been no break in the storm to help us get ahead. We are clearing as many spots as possible as quickly and as safely as we can, and we appreciate your understanding.
Photo: Riley Bathurst
Road conditions have been hazardous throughout this storm cycle. If you’ve been reading this blog all week, there’s no excuse for you to not have the CalTrans Quick Map app ready to go on your phone so that you can check road status. Make smart travel decisions.
This should come as no surprise, but our Park & Ride service will not be running tomorrow. The local TART bus will be running, but you should expect delays.
WEATHER OUTLOOK
This storm is NOT over yet. Though our snowplots were scoured by wind, we estimate we’ve already received up to 5 feet of snow on the upper mountain, and we could see another 2-3 feet by Monday. It should be less windy tomorrow, which we are hoping will help us get chairlifts open. Poor visibility has been a scourge these past few days. We are looking at up to 22 inches tonight and an additional foot of snow tomorrow. Beyond that, there is nothing but snowfall in the forecast. March is delivering!
With these huge storm totals, please keep deep snow safety in mind. We know this is a ton of fresh snow and we are stoked to ski it, too. Remember, we will be open through at least Memorial Day. That’s THREE MONTHS to keep skiing and riding, so you have plenty of time to get out on the hill.
- Ski with a friend or a group and maintain visual contact.
- Avoid tree wells, especially after a storm like this one.
- Have a rendezvous point in case you get separated from your friends or family.
BEHIND THE SCENES
What you will see in all of this footage is one common denominator: wind. In addition to a large amount of snowfall, these types of wind impacts make operating extremely difficult.
LIFT MAINTENANCE
Opening the door to the Upper Lift Maintenance shop. Video: Shane Oakley.
Conditions outside the Upper Lift Maintenance shop. Video: Ross Roberts.
The High Camp carpet is almost entirely buried. Video: Marcus Morgan, Upper Lift Maintenance Manager.
PATROL
Videos: Will Paden, Palisades Ski Patrol Director.
GROOMING
We saw a TON of questions on social media about why we groom the mountain during storms. Our operators are NOT laying out corduroy. They are preparing and doing projects. They will dig out chairlifts, track pack (which means driving around and compressing snow with the tiller/finisher off) so that certain areas will catch more snowfall, and make continuous passes on main arteries so that we don’t lose access to them. To help navigate, they use a program called SNOWsat. Learn more about that here.
Videos: Nick Brackins, Palisades Grooming.
HOW TO GET UPDATES
- THE PALISADES TAHOE APP: Download the Palisades Tahoe App and enable push notifications. On storm days or days when we’re slower to open, we send a push notification every time we have a terrain update. Plus, the app allows you to check lift & trail status in real-time.
- MOUNTAIN OPS TWITTER: Follow our Mountain Operations X (formerly Twitter) account, @palisadesops. We post updates that come directly from our mountain dispatch every day.
- OPERATIONS BLOG: We publish this blog anytime we have an important update, complete with behind-the-scenes photos and insider information Sign up to get our Operations Updates sent directly to your inbox with intel from Grooming, Lift Maintenance, Patrol, Snowmaking, and more. Sign up here. You can also bookmark our Operations Blog webpage, and easily check if a new one has been published at any time.
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Do you have any requests for this season’s Operations Blogs? Topics you’d like to see covered or information you think is missing? Send us an email at chatter@palisadestahoe.com with your feedback.
