Finally we got a significant storm! Snow totals ranged from 5 to 19 inches, depending on where you are on the mountain. This snow made for some fun ski days on Thursday and today, but it is not enough to significantly expand our terrain. However, we are opening hike-to terrain at Palisades. You may see some runs start to get wider, but we are still going to be relying on our snowmaking teams for the next big expansion.
In the areas we received more significant amounts of snowfall — like Alpine Bowl or the Upper Mountain at Palisades — the snow is pretty lightweight and compacts easily. This makes it difficult to groom out, as all that snow compresses under the weight of a snowcat. In order to build access roads and ramps at the bottom or top terminals of chairlifts, we will need more snow.
Lift & Terrain Updates: Alpine
- Our snowmakers have been dealing with a broken compressor, which is a key piece of equipment for making snow. This was repaired yesterday and we are off to the races again!
- Roundhouse is our next “big” goal. Specifically, we’d like to connect Rock Garden to Weasel.
- We are also going to be putting some snowmaking power on Red Trail, and eventually, we’ll move to the Summit runouts.
Lift & Terrain Updates: Palisades
- We are going to allow hiking for Mainline Pocket and Siberia Bowl. This is expert terrain, so exercise caution when considering these areas.
- Mountain Run will be our next focus. We had the guns turned on last night, and a few pockets of cold temperatures should help us out. It takes about 10 days of snowmaking to get Mountain Run open. During this time, our grooming team will also be pushing out the manmade snow into areas with exposed hazards, building this main artery for the Palisades side.
- Once Mountain Run is complete (or near-complete) we will be focusing on getting Exhibition and Wa She Shu open.
- We should have a Terrain Parks update next week as well.
We know everyone is hopeful for more lifts and trails soon. We are right there with you, and we appreciate your patience. We are doing our very best!
Weather Outlook
Our next chance for snowfall seems to be during the second part of next weekend. Below-average precipitation is expected to continue through the start of the holiday season. The good news is that the majority of the 10-day forecast seems to have cold enough temperatures for us to continue snowmaking. Get more details in our Weather Blog, written by Bryan Allegretto of OpenSnow.
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