Operations

Operations Update: Red Dog Opening; 9+ Feet of Snow in January

Jan 12, 2023
3:41 pm

We have now received over 9 FEET of snow since January 1st! We think this means it’s okay for us to start using #JanuBuried again. We’ve had very few pockets of clear weather this week, but this endless snow is amazing: We surpassed 300 inches of season-to-date snowfall yesterday, and we have over 100 inches of snow in January alone. This amount of precipitation also comes with its own set of challenges, such as low visibility and avalanche danger — and some shockingly cool footage!

Photo above was taken by Marcus Morgan, Lift Maintenance Manager, on Siberia.

Behind The Scenes

Video of Big Blue captured by Palisades groomer Nick Brackins at 4am on Sunday.

It has been snowy and windy with SUPER low visibility. Even during some of the brief periods of clear skies we saw over last weekend, winds whipped at High Camp, often topping over 100mph. If you’re curious about what factors are considered before we place a chairlift on wind hold, check out this Operations Blog from the 2021-22 season that has a deep dive on wind holds at Palisades Tahoe.

We could keep explaining, but the best way to understand what these storms are truly like out on the mountain is to SEE them. Here is some of the best footage our Operations Crews captured this week:

LIFT MAINTENANCE

This video was taken by Shane Oakley, Upper Lift Maintenance, near the Mountain Meadow chairlift at High Camp on Saturday, January 7th.

Ross Roberts and Jesse Draeger clearing ice off Emigrant tower 10 on Friday. Video captured by Marcus Morgan, Lift Maintenance Manager.

GROOMING

A snowcat near Emigrant on Sunday night. Video taken by Hunter Lamer, Palisades Grooming.

Video taken by Nick Brackins, Palisades Grooming, near the top of Emigrant on Saturday night.

PATROL + MOUNTAIN MANAGEMENT

The top of Roundhouse at Alpine on Sunday morning. Taken by Jeff Goldstone, Mountain Manager at Alpine.

Chris Gray heading up to Headwall with low visibility on January 10th.

Weather Outlook

This weekend is going to be SNOWY. Road conditions and travel are going to be impacted. We recommend you review our Road Conditions page for tips on what resources to check and how to prepare for a snowy holiday weekend in the Sierra. Monday — a popular travel day — will be especially affected by winter conditions.

By Sunday morning we could see additional snowfall amounts of:

13-19 inches at the base
19-25 inches at mid-mountain elevations
23-29 inches up top

By early Tuesday morning, we could see an additional 6-18 inches of new snow, and 2-day storm totals of:

14-21 inches at the base
18-24 inches at mid-mountain elevations
22-28 inches up top

Stay up-to-date by checking Bryan Allegretto’s weather blog.

Red Dog

Red Dog chairlift will be opening on Sunday, January 15th! The new Red Dog lift is a serious upgrade:

5-minute lift ride
50% more uphill capacity
250 feet from the parking lot (much closer than before!)

After nearly nine months of construction, testing, and training in some formidable conditions, we could not be more stoked to make this part of the mountain accessible again, and we are so grateful to our crews who have been out in snow, rain, ice, and wind to get this lift open.

Video by Blake Kessler

Lift + Terrain Updates

SURPRISE: Far East opened on Tuesday for the first time this season!
All upper mountain lifts are expected to have weather impacts throughout the weekend.
We have built the access road for Silverado and will keep it maintained throughout this cycle. We hope to have an update on this area after the next series of storms.

A Note on Headwall

We know everybody is wondering about Headwall. We love Headwall as much as you do and we want to get it running ASAP. Headwall takes a full day of setup after a storm cycle and we have not had a long enough break in weather to get this lift open; By the time we break it free, dig it out, and get it spinning, another band of weather has moved in. We are starting to see drier patterns further out in the forecast, and Headwall will be a top priority when weather allows.

Photo taken by Jimmy King, Mountain Manager at Palisades.

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HOW ELSE CAN I STAY UP-TO-DATE THIS SEASON?

We’ll arm you with all the information you need to plan the perfect ski day any day this winter. Bookmark these pages:

Not wanting to check the website constantly? Try these other methods:

Follow our Mountain Operations Twitter account
Sign up for the Palisades Tahoe Ski & Ride Report (Weather Blogs + Conditions Blogs are included here)
Download the Palisades Tahoe App

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. We have received a lot of messages lately, and we are getting back to you one by one. Thanks for being patient!

Operations

Liz Worgan

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Operations Update: Red Dog Re-Opens; Gold Coast Park Opens Tomorrow

After doing a haul rope splice on Red Dog, that chairlift has re-opened to the public as of this morning. We also popped Gold Coast park earlier this week with a three-pack of sizeable jumps. With 100% of our terrain open and more snow in the forecast, we are stoked at how this season is going. Today we'll be sharing some behind-the-scenes information on this week's haul rope splice, but looking ahead, expect to see some updates related to how we are preparing for the Stifel Palisades Tahoe Cup, a stop on the Audi FIS Ski World Cup tour.

Operations ·

January 27, 2023·

The bottom terminal of the new Red Dog chairlift.

Operations Update: 100% Terrain Open; Red Dog Closure Midweek for Cable Re-Splice

Thanks to the more than 14 feet of snow we've received so far in January, we officially have 100% of our terrain open. That's terrain, not lifts -- Alpine Bowl Chair is our one chairlift that has had a long-term mechanical issue with no estimated opening date at this time, unfortunately. Looking ahead, we have a small snowstorm in the forecast for the weekend, with some wind impacts expected. Starting on Monday, we will be closing Red Dog for at least 2 days while we re-splice the haul rope.

Operations ·

January 20, 2023·

Sunrise on Silverado on Wednesday morning.

Operations Update: Silverado Opens Tomorrow

At long last, Silverado will be opening tomorrow, Saturday, January 21st, thanks to a humungous effort from our operations teams and the blessing of clear skies. After an additional 9 inches of snow on Wednesday night, which brings our January snow total to over 14 feet, the weather looks clear for more than a week. This is our first big break in storms since mid-December. We have been taking advantage of the sunshine to dig out and try to get ahead once again. We don't know about you, but we're pretty excited to have some Lake Tahoe sunshine back this week.