Operations Update: Sunny Skies, Firm Conditions, Thinning Snow

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.