Mt. Rose making upgrades in time for Oct. opening

Mount Rose has the highest base of any Tahoe-area resort. Photo/Provided

By Kathryn Reed

Mount Rose is installing North America’s first dual enclosed conveyor belt lift to better serve beginners. It will be only the second one in the world.

“Our learning terrain is very popular. The goal is to increase uphill capacity,” Mike Pierce, the resort’s spokesman, told Lake Tahoe News.

The hope is that this lift will give newbies more time on the hill. The thinking it that will speed up their learning curve so they will be able to graduate to terrain serviced by actual chairlifts.

It will be located in the Show-Off beginner area near the main lodge. The single, exposed conveyor known as Flying Jenny has been removed.

The first time packages and beginner lessons keep growing, Pierce said.

In all, Mount Rose is infusing more than $2 million into the resort for the 2017-18 season.

The dual conveyor coming to Mount Rose will be the second in the world. Photo/Provided

The Reno-area ski resort had been on market, but is staying family owned. Fritz Buser, 96, was ready to sell in January 2016. He has been a majority owner since 1968. Two of his sons and a grandson have taken over the resort. One son, Curt Buser, lives in the area, is president of the company and has been involved with the resort for more than a dozen years.

“The organic, local feel won’t change,” Price said.

Owners have been investing millions of dollars in the resort in the last several years – from lifts to lodges. Plans are still on the books to expand the resort across the highway.

Lately Mt. Rose has been battling with Boreal to be the first Tahoe-area resort to open each season. This year Rose is hoping to have terrain open by Halloween. With a base of 8,260 feet, mixed with cold nights (which are in the forecast) to make snow, this makes it possible to create just enough skiable terrain in the early season. Oct. 27 is the tentative opening day.

“The goal is to open early and have a six-month season. We’ve proven that is possible the last couple of seasons,” Pierce said.

Mother Nature will need to come through to open the remaining nearly 1,200 acres of skiable terrain. Much of this is on private property, though the resort also is on U.S. Forest Service land. Rose has increased its snowmaking capacity for this winter, realizing that record snowfall can’t be counted on every winter. A mix of stationary and mobile devices have been added.

With the record 762 inches that fell at Rose last season, it made building the new lift challenging because construction crews had to wait until the snow melted. It’s possible not all of last year’s snow will melt before winter truly arrives this season. A stash is tucked in the Slide bowl area, plus the September storm added to what was left over.