Tahoe ski resorts update: Heavenly Mountain shooting for 10 a.m. limited opening
UPDATE 8:50 a.m.
Heavenly Mountain Resort is shooting for a 10 a.m. opening of a limited number of lifts on the California side.
Anna Jacobson, senior communications coordinator for Heavenly and Kirkwood Mountain Resort, confirmed shortly before 9 a.m. that mountain teams are shooting for a 10 a.m. opening.
Heavenly tweeted earlier in the morning that it was tentatively attempting to open Gunbarrael, Tram, Patsy’s and Powderbowl lifts. Gondola and Stagecoach are closed for the day.
ORIGINAL STORY: Tahoe ski resorts: Sierra-at-Tahoe closed, Heavenly tentatively opening, Kirkwood looking doubtful
If you’re looking to hit the South Shore slopes Wednesday, you have less options than normal thanks to the winter storm that is dumping snow.
Sierra-at-Tahoe announced Tuesday evening that it would be closed Wednesday, citing 3 feet of snow in 24 hours and the fact that “the bulk of this system” had not yet arrived at the time Tuesday. Current conditions, including low visibility, high winds and avalanche danger, make it difficult to operate the mountain safely, Sierra-at-Tahoe tweeted.
Heavenly Mountain Resort, which reported 48 inches of new snow in the past 24 hours, tweeted shortly before 8 a.m. that Gunbarrael, Tram, Patsy’s and Powderbowl would be tentatively opening. Stagecoach and Gondola are closed Wednesday.
On Kirkwood Mountain’s Facebook page Wednesday morning, Kevin Cooper, senior communications manager for Kirkwood and Heavenly, stated that he did not expect Kirkwood to get lifts open Wednesday, and if one did open it would likely be a lower lift. Safety, he wrote, is the primary concern.
“If you are outside of Kirkwood and want to get in please wait patiently and let Cal Trans and our teams work through this tough period. The teams at Kirkwood are working as hard as they can and with both your safety and their safety in mind.”
1/2: We will be closed tomorrow Jan 11, 2017. In the past 24 hrs we have seen 3 ft of snow, the bulk of this system has yet to arrive…
— Sierra-at-Tahoe (@Sierra_at_Tahoe) January 10, 2017
2/2: The conditions make it difficult to operate the mtn safely. Snow, low visibility, high winds, and avy danger exist all over the mtn.
— Sierra-at-Tahoe (@Sierra_at_Tahoe) January 10, 2017
12″ overnight, 48″ in the last 24 hrs. All lifts starting on hold this morning due to snow safety. Hwy 50 chains required from Sand Flat.
— HeavenlyConditions (@HVconditions) January 11, 2017
Tentative opening of Gunbarrel, Tram, Patsy’s and Powderbowl, all accessible via Cal Lodge. Stagecoach & Gondola are closed for the day.
— HeavenlyConditions (@HVconditions) January 11, 2017
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