Skip to content
Palisades Tahoe Logo Palisades Tahoe Logo Palisades Tahoe Logo
Explore
Main Menu
  • Explore Palisades Tahoe
  • Base to Base Gondola
  • Our New Name
  • Explore Legendary Lifts
  • Palisades Tahoe Blog
  • About Lake Tahoe
  • About Us
Plan Your Visit
Main Menu
  • Tickets & Passes
  • Lodging
  • Lessons & Guides
  • Deals & Packages
  • Rentals & Demos
  • Travel Here
  • Getting Around
Mountain Information
Main Menu
  • Snow and Weather
  • Lift and Grooming Status
  • Webcams
  • Hours of Operation
  • Trail Maps
  • Parking & Road Conditions
  • Snowfall Tracker
Events & Activities
Main Menu
  • Events Calendar
  • Activities
  • Dining & Apres
  • Shopping
  • Things To Do In Lake Tahoe
  • Groups, Meetings & Weddings
  • Ski & Snowboard Teams
Explore
Main Menu
  • Explore Palisades Tahoe
  • Base to Base Gondola
  • Our New Name
  • Explore Legendary Lifts
  • Palisades Tahoe Blog
  • About Lake Tahoe
  • About Us
Plan Your Visit
Main Menu
  • Tickets & Passes
  • Lodging
  • Lessons & Guides
  • Deals & Packages
  • Rentals & Demos
  • Travel Here
  • Getting Around
Mountain Information
Main Menu
  • Snow and Weather
  • Lift and Grooming Status
  • Webcams
  • Hours of Operation
  • Trail Maps
  • Parking & Road Conditions
  • Snowfall Tracker
Events & Activities
Main Menu
  • Events Calendar
  • Activities
  • Dining & Apres
  • Shopping
  • Things To Do In Lake Tahoe
  • Groups, Meetings & Weddings
  • Ski & Snowboard Teams
IKON PASS HOLDER LODGING DISCOUNT

Ikon Pass holders save up to 20% on slopeside lodging at The Village at Palisades Tahoe.

SLOPESIDE LODGING
Icon / FlashCreated with Sketch.
View All Offers
  • Operations

Operations Update: Sunny Skies, Firm Conditions, Thinning Snow

  • Feb 4, 2022
  • 4:18 pm

Current Conditions

With bright blue skies and warm, sunny weather, there is some very fun skiing and snowboarding on the mountains right now! As we discussed in last week’s safety blog, conditions are firm, so groomers are the place to be. Following the sun and avoiding off-piste terrain throughout the day will be your best bet. Be mindful of your speed, and be sure to choose lifts and trails that you are comfortable with.

The weather forecast for Olympic Valley through Tuesday, February 8th.

Weather Forecast

It’s a bummer, but snow is not in the forecast. Despite a cold front last week that we hoped might bring a change in weather, it looks like these “spring skiing” conditions will continue. The good news is that the bluebird, sunny days are beautiful and great for spending time outside. The bad news: these warm daytime temperatures are leading to rapid snowmelt, which we’ll talk about further in a moment.

Terrain Parks

Our terrain park builds are running about a month behind schedule, and for this, we apologize. We put out a short update last week that discussed some of the reasons for us being behind, including the fact that a large portion of our Parks staff was out with covid in January. We understand the expectation for more park options, including a half-pipe, so we wanted to give a more in-depth, transparent update.

Palisades Parks

  • Belmont: Open. This is easily one of the best offerings we’ve ever had on Belmont, so we hope you get the chance to check it out if parks are your thing.
  • Riviera Boardercross Course: Open. This course was rebuilt earlier this week. It is CLOSED on Saturday 2/5 and Sunday 2/6 for an event, but it will reopen to the public on Monday.
  • Gold Coast: 50% Open. Upper Gold Coast is nearly completed, with two additional jumps set to open any day now. See photos below.
  • High Camp Start Park: Closed
  • Mainline Park: Closed
  • Mainline Superpipe: We plan to open the half-pipe at Palisades in early March.
Jumps under construction in Gold Coast Terrain Park. Photos taken on February 3rd.

Alpine Parks

  • Tiegel Park: We want to get Tiegel open SO badly. Unfortunately, the dry January impacted our building ability. Beneath the firm top layer of snow is sugar snow that melts super easily, so with that in mind and a high level of caution, we are going to get started on Tiegel this week. It will be maintained nightly once complete.
  • Kangaroo Ridge Park: Closed
  • Red Ridge Park: Closed
  • Start Park: Closed

General Lift Updates: Snow Coverage is Thinning

It has now been over a month since we received any sort of snow. As a result, several areas with high levels of sun exposure are starting to get quite thin. Thankfully, that epic December snowstorm is still keeping us going, and our snow base is still close to six feet. Our teams are working hard to farm snow from areas that have excess and move it into thin spots wherever possible. Our goal is to keep as much open as we can for as long as we can, but we certainly encourage all of you to do your snow dances in the meantime.

Lift & Terrain Updates: Palisades

  • Emigrant is closed due to low snow coverage. The ridge is totally melted out. If you ride the Big Blue chairlift, you will see how thin it is. Some photos are below.
  • Silverado and Broken Arrow are closed due to generally poor conditions, mainly related to snow coverage.
  • The top of Headwall is getting thin. Last night, we used a winch cat to try to fill in some spaces up there. We also winched the top of KT-22 on Wednesday night for the same reason.
  • Granite Chief has been the subject of an intense east wind the past few days. The tops of High Voltage and Main Backside are a little bit stripped, but the snow is nice one you drop in.
  • The NASTAR Race Course on Shirley is closed to the public. It will be privately used by Chase Sapphire as part of their events this weekend.
Lifts with exposed ridgelines, like Emigrant, are experiencing thinning snow. Coverage is still holding up elsewhere. Photos taken this afternoon.

Lift & Terrain Updates: Alpine

  • Kangaroo will be closed to the public for the Tahoe Race Series this weekend.
  • Alpine Bowl Chair has been tempermental while experiencing a mechanical issue, and may get pulled from the schedule.
  • Sherwood and Lakeview both have thinning snow. They are very exposed to the sun all day, and could close as early as three weeks from now if we do not get more precipitation. We are pulling snow from the Sherwood area to cover up exposed patches.

Parking & Transportation Updates for This Weekend

  • The Palisades Tahoe Express shuttle, which goes between the Alpine Lodge and The Village at Palisades Tahoe base areas, will be running this weekend.
  • The FREE Park & Ride in both Truckee and Tahoe City will be running this weekend.

Please Stay Safe Out There!

  • Stay on-piste, sticking to groomers, to avoid icy or unsafe conditions.
  • Slow down, especially at trail merges and near lift lines.
  • Pay attention to all signage, including boundary markings.
Operations safety Terrain Parks
Liz Worgan
Liz Worgan

Share this article:

Recent Posts

  • Operations ·
  • March 14, 2023·
Two PistenBully snowcats in a storm at Palisades.

Operations Update: Wednesday Re-Opening Plans

Tomorrow, Wednesday, March 15th, we plan to reopen both Alpine and Palisades. We appreciate your patience with us being closed today: Our teams NEEDED this day to try to get ahead a bit, and snow conditions are not conducive to a good day of skiing -- It rained as far up as 9,000 feet at times. We spent the day continuing to dig out, performing snow safety, addressing flood zones, and preparing for the few days ahead that have a break in the weather. Tomorrow, we still expect that some of our lifts will be delayed. We will start with a lower mountain offering and expand throughout the day as we can.
Read more
  • Operations ·
  • March 13, 2023·
A snowcat completely buried in snow during a storm.

Operations Update: Palisades Tahoe Will Be Closed Tuesday, March 14th

Tonight, another wet storm moves into the Tahoe area. Winds are projected to be over 100 miles per hour on…
Read more
  • Operations ·
  • March 11, 2023·
Two patrollers trying to get into the KT Patrol Shack.

Operations Update: The Never-Ending Storm Cycle + Sunday Expectations

Following a very wet 36 hours, we achieved the opening goals we set yesterday and got every lift that we expected today, thanks to the hard work of our ops teams. Seriously, it is hard work out there: So many people are out there digging chairlifts out by hand after spending the early morning hours digging their vehicles and homes out first. Our snowpack is very saturated with water and heavy, which can also make things difficult for our grooming machines. We truly have no clear days in the forecast to recover from this wet weather event, so we appreciate your patience.
Read more

Social

Instagram Twitter Facebook Youtube

Contact

   Email Us
   1.800.403.0206

Our Partners

U.S. Forest Service Logo
1960 Olympic Valley Road
Olympic Valley, CA 96146

©2022 Palisades Tahoe

Alterra Mountain Company
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Service
  • Photo Upload Terms of Use
  • Accessibility
  • Do Not Sell My Personal Information
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Service
  • Photo Upload Terms of Use
  • Accessibility
  • Do Not Sell My Personal Information