North Lake Tahoe is enjoying its snowiest January in decades

Snow totals at Homewood Mountain Resort range from about 3 feet at the base to more than 7 feet at the 8,740-foot summit. (Photo courtesy Homewood Mountain Ski Resort)

Snow totals at Homewood Mountain Resort range from about 3 feet at the base to more than 7 feet at the 8,740-foot summit. (Photo courtesy Homewood Mountain Ski Resort)

North Lake Tahoe ski resorts have experienced an incredible start to 2017 after a week-long snow storm that coated the Sierras with not just inches, but multiple feet of fresh snow. With more than 7 feet of powder reported at Donner Summit, 136 ski lifts and 347 runs open across the North Shore, this is the snowiest January North Lake Tahoe has seen in more than 45 years.

Just in time for National Learn to Ski & Snowboard month, conditions in North Lake Tahoe will remain ideal throughout January. Beginners will enjoy discounted learn-to-ski packages as low as $39 at multiple resorts, complete with lift tickets, lessons and rentals.

Here’s a quick look at the summit snow levels at North Lake Tahoe resorts.

  • Boreal Mountain Resort: 85 inches
  • Diamond Peak: 72 inches
  • Donner Ski Ranch: 72 inches
  • Homewood Mountain Resort: 92 inches
  • Granlibakken: 20 inches
  • Northstar California: 50 inches
  • Mt. Rose Ski Tahoe: 93 inches
  • Squaw Valley | Alpine Meadows: 117 inches
  • Sugar Bowl Resort: 81 inches
  • Royal Gorge: 81 inches
  • Tahoe Donner Downhill Ski Area: 64 inches
  • Tahoe XC: 20 inches

Tahoe Donner Downhill
The First Timer Learn to Ski or Snowboard Month packages are offered Jan. 9-13 and 17-20 for $39. These packages are only for first timers, which include an all-day lift ticket, rental equipment, and a one hour, 45-minute group lesson for anyone ages 7 and older.

Tahoe Donner Cross Country
Discounted private lessons and private lesson packages are offered any midweek, non-holiday day from Jan. 9-31. Two-for-one private lessons and private lesson packages are available any midweek, non-holiday day from Jan. 9-31. For $59, get a friend in on the fun for an hour of private instruction. $89 includes a lesson, day ticket and equipment for two people.

Alpine Meadows
Learn how to ski or snowboard for just $99 at Alpine Meadows any midweek day for ages 13 and older. Package Includes beginner lift tickets, equipment rental (skis, boots, poles or snowboard, boots) and a two hour, 30-minute beginner lesson.

Diamond Peak
For $39 from Jan. 9-13, for ages 7 and older, the Ski and Snowboard School will have Learn to Ski and Burton Learn to Ride packages for $39. The package includes a beginner lift ticket, rental equipment and one-hour 45-minute lesson beginning at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.

Mt. Rose Ski Tahoe
All beginner packages include a lift ticket to the dedicated beginner lifts, Flying Jenny, Wizard and Galena, beginner rental equipment (ski or snowboard) good for the entire day and a two-hour group lesson. Package starts at $135. In addition, Mt. Rose offers the Flight Plan Package: a two-consecutive-day lesson with lift tickets, rentals and instruction.

Homewood Mountain Resort
Homewood Mountain Resort’s $59 Learn to Ski & Ride Package offers first-timers a half-day lesson along with all-day equipment rental (helmet not included in package but available at an additional cost) and beginner lift ticket.

Sierra ski resorts mix snow with turkey for Thanksgiving weekend

Sugar Bowl Resort, which has already received more than 6 feet of snow, opened Friday with top-to-bottom skiing and riding. (Photo courtesy Sugar Bowl Resort)

Sugar Bowl Resort, which already has received more than 5 feet of snow, opened Friday with top-to-bottom skiing and riding. (Photo courtesy Sugar Bowl Resort)

By Bob Goligoski

It took a last-minute flurry of minor snow bursts but many of the Sierra ski resorts got their big wish – a Thanksgiving weekend opening. And with long-range forecasts promising off-and-on snow for December, along with temperatures dropping enough to make snow, it looks like the resorts will enjoy a white Christmas.

Mt. Rose and Boreal actually opened a little earlier in mid-November. But turkey weekend was the season debut at Heavenly, Squaw Valley, Sugar Bowl, Northstar, Alpine Meadows and Kirkwood. As usual, Mammoth opened in early November.

Initially, skiers and riders will not find all of their favorite lifts and runs open on their first visit. But more terrain and lifts will be opening all the time so be sure to check with your target resort as to how much of the mountain is open.

Some resorts were luckier than others. Sugar Bowl, perched at the top of Donner Pass, opened with top-to-bottom skiing and riding. Mt. Rose, with the Tahoe region’s highest base elevation at 8,260 feet, had numerous runs open early.

Some later season openings include Homewood on Dec. 9, June Mountain on Dec. 10 and Diamond Peak on Dec. 15.

Thanks to the long drought the Sierra experienced in recent years, many resorts expanded snow-making networks. Squaw Valley and Alpine Meadows, now under the same ownership, spent $8 million on snow-making equipment over the last six years and then paid out another million to beef up snow-making even more for this season.

Sam Kieckhefer, a spokesman for the two resorts, explained that “snowmaking can occur once air temperatures drop below 39 degrees. However, as relative humidity increases, the ambient temperatures required to make snow decrease.”

The California Ski Industry Association noted that “history suggests a snowy winter ahead. For example, when the Lake Tahoe region receives more than 8 inches of rain in October, the region has above-average snowfall more than 75 percent of the time. More than 19 inches of rain fell on Tahoe in October.”

Season finale nears for Sugar Bowl, as the Lake Tahoe area resort plans ahead

Winter skiing and spring kite flying combine for a day of fun on the snow at Sugar Bowl Resort and Royal Gorge.

Winter skiing and spring kite flying combine for a day of fun on the snow at Sugar Bowl Resort and Royal Gorge.

With Sugar Bowl’s snow season coming to an end this Sunday, skiers and snowboarders can get their final runs in for free with the purchase of a 2014-15 season pass, the resort has announced.

Sugar Bowl Resort has lowered prices for most season passes and expanded pass privileges, including limited free skiing at Squaw Valley and Alpine Meadows, plus Sun Valley and Grand Targhee when booking lodging. In addition, pass options also include special pricing for Sugar Bowl-Royal Gorge combo passes, accessing 200-kilometers of groomed XC trails across 6,000 acres at North America’s largest cross country resort.

Royal Gorge XC standalone season passes also are available.

New this season, Sugar Bowl Unrestricted season passholders will get four free lift tickets to Squaw Valley and Alpine Meadows; Slightly Restricted season passholders will get three; Midweek passholders will get two. Lift tickets are valid Sunday-Friday, non-holiday, during the 2014-15 ski season.

Season passholders also are automatically entered into the CORE rewards program, where skiing and food and beverage purchases add up to rewards.

Information: www.sugarbowl.com/seasonpass

Winter returns, and so does cross-country skiing at Royal Gorge

Natural snowfall returned – at last – to ski resorts in much of California the last couple days. At Sugar Bowl, this was the scene at the resort this morning. (Sugar Bowl Resort photo)

Natural snowfall returned – at last – to ski resorts in much of California during the last couple days. At Sugar Bowl, this was the scene at the resort this morning. (Sugar Bowl Resort photo)

After receiving up to 11 inches of new snow during the last two days, Royal Gorge will open once again on Saturday with 30 kilometers of groomed trails. The cross country ski area first opened for the season on Dec. 9, but closed earlier this month due to a lack of snow.

Royal Gorge’s Summit Station lodge will have ticket sales, food and beverage services, lessons and rentals. Lift tickets will be selling at the half-day rate.

Sugar Bowl, Royal Gorge’s sister resort in the Lake Tahoe area, is offering top-to-bottom skiing and riding with nearly a foot of new snow. Skiers and riders will have access to six chairlifts and 26 runs.

Forecasters are calling for sunny skies Saturday and Sunday, and cold overnight temperatures that will keep snow conditions ripe for skiing throughout the weekend.

Information: www.royalgorge.com, www.sugarbowl.com

Starting gate opens for the cross country ski season at Royal Gorge

Royal Gorge Cross Country, North America’s largest cross country resort, will open for the season today.

The resort will offer about 40 kilometers of groomed cross country trails for skiers after more than 20 inches of new snow fell on the resort over the weekend.

When fully open, Royal Gorge has more than 200 kilometers of trails on 6,000 acres of terrain that stretches from the open expanse of Van Norden Meadow to the foot of majestic Devil’s Peak. It is connected to Sugar Bowl Resort by an “interconnect trail” that leads skiers through Van Norden Meadows.

Tickets, rentals and other guest services will be offered at the Summit Station Lodge. All-day, adult lift tickets are $28. Skiers can receive a $5 discount on a Royal Gorge trail passes every day throughout the season by purchasing a $21 CORE pass.

Information: www.royalgorge.com

Royal Gorge gives its website a boost

Royal Gorge, North America’s largest cross country resort, has launched a new and improved website at www.royalgorge.com.

Features include improved navigation, video and image gallery, dedicated webcam page, and a more detailed grooming and weather report. Visitors also will enjoy an enhanced trail map, detailed information on trail and season passes, a calendar of special events and clinics, and other timely and relevant information from the resort.

With 200km of groomed trails spanning 6,000 acres of land atop Donner Summit, complete with six distinct track systems and eight warming huts, there’s lots of winter adventure for skiers, skaters, striders, snowshoers, snowkiters and even fat tire snowbikers.

Sugar Bowl Resort is in its second year as owner/operator of Royal Gorge.

Heigh-ho, heigh-ho, it’s off to work you’ll go – after getting the job

Resorts throughout California are ramping up for the 2013-14 snow season by hiring thousands of seasonal employees. Here’s a sampling…

Alpine Meadows, Squaw Valley: The Lake Tahoe resorts are looking to hire nearly 1,000 workers, and will host a hiring fair on Saturday, Nov. 2, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Olympic House at Squaw Valley. Interviews will be conducted for a wide range of positions including ski/snowboard school instructors, lift operations, grooming, terrain parks, culinary services, rental services, retail, security, product sales and services, and parking. Opportunities include full-time and part time positions. Skiing or snowboarding abilities are not required for all available positions. Apply online and schedule interviews prior to Nov. 2, however walk-ins will be permitted the day of the hiring fair. For information, call the resorts’ Human Resources Department at 530-452-7112 or visit www.squaw.com and www.skialpine.com.

Boreal: Meet with Boreal Mountain Resort managers in-person on Oct. 19 in the Boreal Cafe located on the second floor of the Boreal Base Lodge. Interview for one or several winter positions available for the 2013-14 ski season. The job fair will offer interviews on a first-come, first-serve basis. Apply at http://rideboreal.com/winter/jobs/benefits.

Northstar: During the 2013 winter job fair on Oct. 26, Northstar will be hiring full- and part-time and holiday/on-call positions. Information: 530-562-3510, www.northstarcalifornia.com

Sugar Bowl-Royal Gorge: The annual job fair will be Saturday, Oct. 19, in the Coldstream Room at Judah Lodge, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Positions are open in many departments, from terrain park, hotel, food and beverage, and more. Managers and supervisors conduct interviews, with many positions offered that day for exceptional candidates. Sugar Bowl employees enjoy free unrestricted season passes, discounted tickets for friends and family, 50 percent off food, discounted lessons and rentals, and more. Sugar Bowl also offers employee housing on property, as well as at Donner Summit Lodge. Information: www.sugarbowl.com

Shuttle between North Lake Tahoe ski/snowboard resorts — for free

A free ski shuttle is now ferrying visitors among nine North Lake Tahoe resorts.

The pilot program, which runs on weekends and holidays through March 31, aims to get skiers and snowboarders out of their cars and reduce travel hassles.

Participating resorts are Squaw Valley, Alpine Meadows, Northstar California, Homewood Mountain Resort, Sugar Bowl, Donner Ski Ranch, Boreal, Soda Springs and Royal Gorge.

For the schedule and details, go to www.laketahoetransit.com.

Royal Gorge opening Saturday in the Donner Summit

Royal Gorge will open 19 trails and over 20 kilometers of terrain for cross-country skiing on Saturday. The Donner Summit resort will now be open seven days a week for the season.

The opening of America’s largest cross-country resort will be the first time that the resort opens to the general public under Sugar Bowl Resort’s new management team. Sugar Bowl took over operation of Royal Gorge in the fall, and updated the resort’s Summit Station lodge, added grooming equipment and bought new ski rental gear for the resort.

All services will be available at Summit Station lodge, including ticketing, rentals, food and beverage and ski lessons. Trail passes will also be available for purchase at the Van Norden trailhead. All-day lift tickets will cost $27. Skiers can receive a $10 discount on a Royal Gorge trail pass on Saturday, and every day throughout the season, by purchasing a $19 CORE pass.

Royal Gorge has over 200 kilometers of trails and approximately 6,000 acres of terrain that stretches from the open expanse of Van Norden Meadows to the foot of majestic Devil’s Peak. It is connected to Sugar Bowl Resort by an “interconnect trail” that leads skiers through Van Norden Meadows.

A cold winter storm dropped nearly a foot of snow at the resort on Wednesday, making for superb snow conditions across the resort’s trail system. For more information visit royalgorge.com or sugarbowl.com.