By Kathryn Reed

TWIN BRIDGES — My iPhone greeted me with the message Sierra had 8 inches of fresh snow in the last 24 hours. A good omen since the New Year’s Day activity was skiing.

But being the lazy threesome we can be, we didn’t take our first run until 11:30am – and it had nothing to do with the hour we went to bed the night before. It was just nice to sleep in.

Winter weather at Sierra-at-Tahoe on Jan. 1. Photo/Kathryn Reed

We missed the freshies, but more of it was coming down as we skied much of West Bowl, and a few runs off Grandview. All the bare spots Sue and I had seen four days earlier were covered up Friday.

The snow was great up top, a little sticky closer to the lift lines.

This being my sister Pam’s first day on the slopes we didn’t take her into the trees, but the whooping we heard from others made it sound like even the afternoon it was good. Tracks proved plenty of people had been enjoying the powder earlier in the day.

The crowds were thin by the time we arrived. Last year it was a waiting game on New Year’s Day. Maybe the rain in South Lake Tahoe was keeping people away. All the better for us.

Mitch Ibsen and Jim Holm of Livermore beat us to the slopes. They had arrived about 9:30am.

“Any day is a good day to ski,” Holm said as the two took a break for a bite to eat at Grandview Lodge.

The friends said the other 15 in their party back at the cabin are fair weather skiers — and that the previous night’s fun had nothing to do with why they weren’t on the slopes.

Today is apt to be a much better day to ride — at least weather-wise.

Rob, the bartender, told Pam that the wet stuff coming down while we were there was perfect to fill in the spots needing filling in, and as the nighttime temperatures dropped the light, fluffy stuff would start to fall.

The National Weather Service is calling for partly sunny skies in the Tahoe area through Tuesday.

A cold $6 beer is probably going to be bit more refreshing today since temps could hit the 40s.