Lack of snow forces Sierra to close

What may be a record year for lack of snowfall in the Lake Tahoe area has claimed another ski resort. Sierra-at-Tahoe will not open Monday.

“There is absolutely a chance of reopening. We are fully committed to resuming operations if we receive the adequate amount of snowfall,” Thea Hardy, resort spokeswoman, told Lake Tahoe News.

March 15 is not the earliest final day for Sierra. Hardy said in the 1970s there was an earlier date.

Sierra has received one-third of its normal snowfall this winter. The resort near Echo Summit receives on average more than 400 inches of snow each winter.

“After exhausting all possible tools — even with snowmaking at every opportunity and strategic movement of snow, Mother Nature came up short,” General Manger John Rice said in a statement. “This isn’t goodbye; it’s see you soon.”

Sierra’s Equinox Spring Festival that was to start March 21 is still a-go. The subsequent concerts are on standby. For more info, go online.

Other closed resorts in California include: Homewood Mountain Resort, Donner Ski Ranch, Badger Pass, Dodge Ridge, Mountain High, China Peak, Soda Springs, Mt. Baldy, Mount Shasta and Tahoe Donner.

Normal closing date is mid-April for most resorts.

— Lake Tahoe News staff report