This past weekend, the Lake Tahoe region was pummeled by the biggest storm of the 2023-24 season. The storm brought more than eight feet of snow to the upper mountains at Palisades Tahoe, resulting in three consecutive closure days as resort staff worked to recover from the extreme weather event. It has been a harrowing, exciting five-day period, full of pre-storm anticipation, awe at Mother Nature’s power, and many sore muscles from shoveling.
THURSDAY
Forecasts called for the storm to start on Thursday, but we didn’t see much snow. What we did see was wind – and a heck of a lot of it! The winds were the defining factor of this storm cycle (and they still haven’t really let up). As we announced the incoming biggest storm of the season, some people doubted that the storm would deliver. The forecast of 5-8 feet of snow just seemed like way too much for three days!
Video: Winds on the upper mountain captured by Shane Oakley, Upper Lift Maintenance.
While it looked mellow in The Village and at elevations around the lake late on Thursday and in the early hours of Friday morning, conditions were completely different on the top of the mountain. Winds created intense whiteout conditions even in areas that often are more protected, like by Shirley Lake Express.
Video: Nick McMahon, Palisades Grooming
Visibility was essentially non-existent starting on Thursday night. Video: Bandit Ferrante, Palisades Grooming Supervisor
FRIDAY
On Friday morning, with less than a foot of overnight snowfall in the base areas, some were surprised that we called for a total closure of the resort, but it was certainly the right call. Friday was a day of intense winds and heavy snowfall. The amount of snow we get is not the only factor in our decision-making. Snowpack, visibility, snow density, and wind are all considered. On Friday, winds were once again the determining factors in our decision to close. Overnight, the intensity of the storm was noticeable. Snowfall rates were extremely high, and snow stacked up very quickly all around the lake. Essential personnel slept at the mountain overnight rather than brave the slick roads in the area.
FRIDAY PHOTO GALLERY
FRIDAY VIDEO GALLERY
The High Camp carpet disappearing into a wind drift. Video: Marcus Morgan, Palisades Upper Lift Maintenance Manager
Check out these videos from Chelsea Swain, the Assistant Manager of the Base to Base Gondola. THIS is why the lifts were closed!
SATURDAY
On Saturday morning, winds had been so intense (up to 195mph on Siberia at one point) that our snow reporting plots were scoured. Patrollers and groomers are the ones who report snow numbers each morning, and they measured between 10-14 inches of snow on our plots that morning. We all knew that in reality, much more snow had fallen — We estimated that it was really several feet of snow based on snowfall rate and air temperature.
The howling winds created huge, deep wind drifts. We made the call to close the resort again, as the winds and the snowfall showed no signs of letting up. Around 1pm, our operations teams met up to try to make a plan for the following day. With all the fresh snow, we knew that everyone was eager to get out on the hill, so we decided to give it our best shot at a Sunday opening. Knowing that we would be facing the daunting task of getting ourselves unburied, we decided to aim for a 10:30am start time — an hour and a half later than our normal 9am.
SATURDAY PHOTO GALLERY
ALPINE
PALISADES
Upper Lift Maintenance Shop
Near the base of Gold Coast
Photos: Shane Oakley, Upper Lift Maintenance
Digging out the door to Upper Lift Maintenance
Photo: Ross Roberts, Upper Lift Maintenance
Door to the Upper Vehicle Maintenance shop
Photos: Nick McMahon, Palisades Grooming
The object marked with bamboo is a buried snowmaking gun.
Photos: Hunter Lamer, Palisades Grooming
SATURDAY VIDEO GALLERY
ALPINE
Videos: Jeff Goldstone, Alpine Mountain Manager from Lakeview and Scott
PALISADES
Video: Chelsea Swain, Asst. Manager of the Base to Base Gondola
Video taken by Shane Oakley, Upper Lift Maintenance
SUNDAY
We tried our hardest — We really did. One of our first big challenges was Alpine Meadows Road. At 5am, it was just one lane wide and barely passable. We also expected winds to die down in the morning; they did not. Our team members who had a 6am call time were buried in their own homes and had a difficult time getting out to get here. Plus, on the mountains, wind drifts necessitated a hefty amount of snow safety work. Though we stayed optimistic and tried to open late, eventually we had to make the safest call and stay closed for one more day.
Palisades groomer Nick Brackins brings patrollers up the mountain in a troop carrier. Photo: Blake Kessler
Patrol at KT-22. Photo: Blake Kessler.
Photo: Blake Kessler
Photo: Blake Kessler
Photo: Blake Kessler
Photo: Blake Kessler
Photo: Blake Kessler
Photo: Blake Kessle
Photo: Blake Kessler
Photo: Blake Kessler
Photo: Blake Kessler
Photo: Blake Kessler
SUNDAY GALLERY
Video: Marcus Morgan, Palisades Upper Lift Maintenance Manager
Video: Patrollers on Home Run. Captured by Jaime Tibbo, Palisades Ski Patrol
Photo: Evan Nielsen, Palisades Snowmaking Manager
A patroller making their way to our snow report plot. Photo: Evan Nielsen, Palisades Snowmaking Manager.
The Patrol Shack at the top of Gold Coast. Photo: Craig Patterson, Palisades Grooming Manager.
Photo: Hunter Lamer, Palisades Grooming
The Terrain Parks office door at Palisades, buried by a wind drift. Photo: Alex Schaffrick.
Snowcat operator Dave Martini in front of his machine this morning.
Cornices on base area buildings. Photo: Jacob Collins, Lift Operations Supervisor.
MONDAY
At long last – open again! But not without a fair share of challenges. Did the wind continue? Of course it did. And with it, it brought a particularly difficult situation to the top terminal of Summit at Alpine. 180+mph winds blew out several windows, causing the top terminal to fill with snow.
Video: Jeff Goldstone, Alpine Mountain Manager
Winds and low visibility really were the name of the game – even through yesterday, we were still feeling the effects of these impacts. Photos below: Waqas Shafi, Upper Lift Maintenance.
We appreciate everybody’s patience and resilience in getting through this storm together. The biggest thank you, of course, goes to our employees. We’d like to give a special shoutout to the snow removal team who worked an inordinate amount of round-the-clock hours trying to get our parking lots clear. Your efforts do not go unnoticed!
