Resort Report: More Resorts, More Lifts, More Terrain for the Holidays
While resorts that have been open since Thanksgiving add lifts and terrain, other resorts are opening for the season this week as we head into the holidays.
New Openings
Both Diamond Peak and Homewood Mountain Resort open for the season this week, adding more choices for eager skiers and riders to get on the snow. All resorts are enjoying spectacular conditions after the robust series of storms in recent weeks.
Diamond Peak opens Thursday, Dec. 17, with a base of 24-36".
Homewood Mountain Resort, on Tahoe's West Shore, opens Friday the 18th with a base snowpack of 30-42".
More Lifts & Terrain
Many resorts are adding new lifts and terrain to their daily schedule.
Palisades Tahoe USA has added several lifts and many more acres of terrain to their slate to start the holidays, offering some of the best conditions in years for mid-December. Palisades Tahoe's advanced flagship lift, KT-22, opened to much a frenzy on Tuesday the 15th, followed on Wednesday by Siberia Express, a key upper mountain lift. Two other lifts, Headwall Express and Granite Chief, both expected to open before the weekend, will add significant terrain to the joy many skiers and boarders.
Sugar Bowl, up on Donner Summit, is slated to open their brand new lift, the Summit Express, which will provide new, high-speed access to a variety of sought-after terrain. This new lift is a key component in Sugar Bowl's new Backcountry Adventure program, which will make previously off-limits terrain in the resort's back and side bowls available.
Nordic Skiing
Tahoe's vast selection of nordic/cross-country ski areas is hitting full-stride.
Tahoe Cross Country, up above Tahoe City overlooking Lake Tahoe, is at near-full operation, with 62 of 65 kilometers and 17 of 19 trails open.
Tahoe Donner Cross Country Center, on the west side of Truckee, has 27 trails and 51km open.
Northstar-at-Tahoe's XC Ski Center is open with 20km of trails.
Other resorts around Lake Tahoe continue to expand operations on a regular basis and can be expected to be at or near full operation before Christmas.
For daily updates and summaries on conditions and operations, including live resort webcams, a daily audio report/podcast, and weekly video updates, look to the Lake Tahoe Snow Report.
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