Know Before You Go: A Visitor’s Guide for the Stifel Palisades Tahoe Cup

The finish line at the Palisades Tahoe cup.
The Free Mountaineer for easy inter-resort travel

The Stifel Palisades Tahoe Cup, a stop on the Audi FIS Ski World Cup Tour, will be at Palisades Tahoe from February 24th to February 26th. This is also Presidents Weekend and the tail end of local Ski Skate Week, so expect this to be a busy but exciting time. To help you prepare for a weekend like this and have a seamless visit, we’ve compiled this guide for how to visit Palisades Tahoe on the Stifel Palisades Tahoe Cup weekend. By following the tips in this blog, you’ll have an easier time, and you’ll also make it easier on others who want to watch the Stifel Palisades Tahoe Cup and go skiing, too.

Where Skiers are Made

This is the home mountain of Olympians, world champions, and the stars of some of your favorite ski movies. That doesn’t just happen by coincidence. There’s a measurable impact that these mountains have in the ski and snowboard community. It’s widely recognized as a badge of honor to call yourself a Palisades Tahoe skier or rider. It’s a proud, but humble claim. Because if you can make it here, you can make it anywhere. This is where skiers are made. 

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

The crew of people working on the Red Dog cable splice

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

The bottom terminal of the new Red Dog chairlift.

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.

Sierra Sightseeing Pass: Itinerary for Riding the Gondola, the Aerial Tram, and the Funitel

The Palisades Tahoe Aerial Tram in the wintertime.

One of the best ways to see the Lake Tahoe region and the surrounding mountains is from one of our three enclosed lifts. Palisades Tahoe has the unique position of having a Gondola, an Aerial Tram, and a Funitel, and you can ride all three of them when you visit us. Our Sightseeing Package gives you all-day unlimited access to ride these three lifts as much as you want. If you’re not in the mood to ski or snowboard, or you’re looking for a different perspective on how to enjoy Palisades Tahoe, we’ve got the perfect itinerary crafted for you:

Operations Update: Silverado Opens Tomorrow

Sunrise on Silverado on Wednesday morning.

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.

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

Ski Patrollers on Siberia on Friday, January 6th, 2023.

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!

What to Expect for MLK Weekend at Palisades Tahoe

Since the New Year, we have received over 8.5 feet of snow, gifting us unforgettable powder runs and some high winds. These storms are expected to continue through this weekend, impacting both travel and our mountain operations. Heavy snow is expected to start Friday morning and continue through Sunday, estimated to give Alpine and Palisades between 21 and 40 inches of snow. Strong winds are expected, which can cause lift closures and poor visibility. Be prepared to bundle up, be patient, and expect to start the day on the lower mountain.

Operations Update: 5+ Feet Of Snow, Red Dog, & Far East

A winch cat in a storm at Palisades

In the past 7 days, we’ve received over 5 feet of snow, and as of right now, there is no end in sight to the storm cycles. We’re already at 160% average snowpack for this time of year! Snowy weather is in the forecast for the next ten days with almost 100 inches possible at 8,000 feet. Winds have been roaring, and they’re going to continue to be a challenge throughout the next week. Snow has been nearly non-stop since mid-December now, so we are in a constant cycle of digging out and dealing with frozen chairlifts. This bodes well for a long spring season, though! Plus, some more good news: we’ve made some serious progress on Red Dog, which means both it and Far East will be opening soon.