Today (Tuesday, February 28th), both Palisades and Alpine were closed. Over the past 24 hours, we have received more than 3 feet of snow on our mountains. The snow continues to fall today, with several more feet of snow expected by Wednesday morning. Out on the hill, we have had very limited access due to low visibility and avalanche conditions. For these reasons, we chose to prioritize the safety of our employees and our guests today. Throughout the day, teams continued to work on snow safety and maintaining access to key areas, and that work will continue tonight.
Photo above: Nick Brackins, Palisades Grooming
STORM TOTALS SO FAR
As of 8:30am on Tuesday
- 38 inches of snow in the past 24 hours
- 108 inches of snow in the past 7 days
- We are now at over 500 inches of snow for this winter season.
- This is the snowiest October through February period since at least 1970
- We have officially received over 10 feet of new snow in February
- We are pacing with the top 2 snowfall seasons of the last 53 years: 1982/83 and 2010/11
- February is the 4th month in a row with above-average snowfall. This is the first time we’ve had a run like this since the 1982/83 season which had 7 months of above-average snowfall in a row.
Photo: Hunter Lamer, Palisades Grooming
Wa She Shu
Red Dog
Weather Outlook
The snow continues through tomorrow. This is another cold storm with high snow ratios and powdery snow expected. Here are the updated snowfall totals expected by midday Wednesday:
- 40-50 inches at the base.
- 47-56 inches at mid-mountain elevations.
- 52-62 inches up top.
We will have a brief break in the weather on Thursday and Friday before the winter storms return. Follow along on our Weather Blog, written by Bryan Allegretto of OpenSnow, for the full forecast.
What To Expect Tomorrow (Wednesday)
The snow total for today and tonight are some of the highest we’ve seen in a 12-hour period in quite a while. Safety will be our number one priority as we work to reopen the mountains. The biggest takeaway for tomorrow: Expect delays and please be patient. Lifts aren’t closed because we’re lazy. We are working as efficiently as we can in a safe manner following a huge snowstorm. We cannot know for sure what will happen tomorrow until we see how much snow falls. That said, this is typically what you can expect after these huge weather events:
- We will focus on the lower mountain lifts first at both mountains, as we usually do following a large storm.
- It is likely that we will NOT have anything open right at 9am.
- We have lost road access for some upper mountain or ridgeline lifts. Our grooming team will be working to restore these.
- Once road access is restored, we will be transporting patrollers to the top of the mountain to continue to perform snow safety. Full patrol work will be needed on many of our main chairlifts.
- Spoiler alert: Silverado is not going to open tomorrow.
- After 4pm today, you can check the Palisades Tahoe app or our Lift & Grooming Status page to see what chairs we have scheduled for tomorrow.
- The best way to stay updated is to download the Palisades Tahoe app and enable push notifications.
Behind The Scenes
Patrol
Lift Maintenance
Don’t Give Into Powder Panic
We know this is a ton of fresh snow and we are stoked to ski it, too. Please make safety your number one priority. Remember, we will be open through at least Memorial Day, so you have plenty of time to get out on the hill.
- Check road conditions before you leave your home and travel safely.
- Ski with a friend or a group and maintain visual contact.
- Avoid tree wells, especially after a storm like this one.
- Cell service has been spotty at Alpine. Have a rendezvous point in case you get separated from your friends or family.
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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!
