Weather gods smiling on Tahoe — resorts opening this week
Mother Nature and a bit of snowmaking means ski resorts in the Lake Tahoe area are bumping up their opening dates.
Heavenly Mountain Resort and Northstar are opening Wednesday with a combined seven lifts and eight trails, totaling 51 acres.
“No need to bring your ‘rock skis’ to our resorts,” Pete Sonntag, Heavenly’s general manager, said in a statement.
Heavenly’s gondola will run Nov. 14 — opening day of the 2012-13 season. Photo/LTN file
The other Vail Resorts-owned property in the Tahoe area, Kirkwood Mountain Resort, is set to open Friday.
Squaw Valley is also opening Nov. 16. It could be a powder day for Kirkwood and Squaw’s opening days.
Just announced Nov. 12 is Gold and Silver Tahoe Super Passes will include Squaw, Alpine Meadows and Sierra-at-Tahoe.
For Sierra season passholders, they can ride Squaw and Alpine Meadows from opening day until Dec. 21, as well as from April 15, 2013, until closing day for free. In between early and late season, Sierra passholders may ski or ride Squaw or Alpine at the friends and family rate of $75 weekends and $50 midweek.
“We will commence operations on Friday with Searchlight, Red Dog, Squaw Creek and FirstVentures lifts, and you will be seeing even more terrain opening before Thanksgiving,” Andy Wirth of Squaw said in a statement. “I’ve asked our mountain operations teams to prepare the upper sections of the mountain including Gold Coast, Mountain Run, and with every effort possible, potentially down into the Shirley Lake area. Our snowmakers and snow guns have been absolutely going gangbusters and conditions continue to look great. We will also open Alpine Meadows earlier than our original planned date of Dec. 7.”
— Lake Tahoe News staff report
What does that mean, “combined seven lifts and eight trails”? Between the two resorts? 5 at Northstar, 3 at Heavenly? 2 at northstar, 6 at Heavenly? What?
They don’t want to tell the truth. They won’t open the Ca. side base lodge lifts or the tram so you have to go to the gondola or Nv.
Good local economic news, and yet 2 armchair quarterbacks finding something to question.
I’m thinking the correct response to the above article is,
RIGHT ON!
Well, heck, ya, I’m happy about it! I just want to know where I need to show up and if I can park at California lodge and shuttle to the Gondola. I can’t even get the info from Heavenly’s web site!
I bet you will at some point tomorrow. I think the decision was just made today.
Tahoe has long been known for hocus pocus ski reports coming from the mountain. Dare to ask them exactly where the “measuring stakes” are located. Truth be told, they don’t exist.
Also want to throw a huge ‘Thank You’ to the BEST snow-making crew AND system ON THE PLANET!
How many years have they gotten us an earlier start OR saved our butts throughout the year (last year, for one) when Mother Nature had other plans?
Big, Do you mean the free water they get from the dam they built in sky meadows in 1977 with no state or local building permits. Not an armchair just a real name.
I’m not usually one to get petty, but Lou, who cares if someone uses their name, this is the Internet, not a courtroom. Part of the beauty of the Internet is being able to remain anonymous (not completely though, your ISP can trace things back to you)
Lou, I’ve read a post or two from you, JT Davis, Cheif Slowroller, and a few others that I would have felt better about if I HADN’T known who you or they really were! And to your point a week ago or so as to my anonymity precluding any chance of what I have to say being repeated (which is never my intention anyway), aren’t there a myriad of sayings and writings throughout history attributed to anonymous authors?
yes