by David Wang

This winter, the weather seemed to be incredibly cold, yet with the dry winter, the Lake Tahoe and Reno region has not seen a lot of snow. 

This region has been hit by a barrage of terrible weather resulting in a lot of ski resorts struggling to meet their Thanksgiving opening day.  Due to the light amount of snow, most resorts had only a few lifts open throughout December.  In addition, high winds had carried snow off the top of the mountains into the neighboring valleys.  This meant that resorts had to sacrifice business to keep skiers and snowboarders safe.  This, however, should NOT turn you away from skiing and snowboarding this season.

Every ski resort is able to produce large amounts of snow due to their snowmaking machines.  This means that skiers will be able to hit the slopes even though the weather seems to not permit.  For the weekend warrior, Boreal should be a popular choice.  Boreal has one of the cheapest lift tickets in addition to a close distance for a quick day trip.  Snowboarders might want to check out Northstar-At-Tahoe due to their enormous terrain park.  Northstar has been voted as one of the top ten resorts by Transworld Snowboarding Magazine, which is a very recognizable source for snowboarders.  For skiers, Heavenly will be a good choice.  In addition to having the most amount of skiing terrain in California, Heavenly provides a constant challenge to the advanced skier without sacrificing the ease for the new skier.  For the beginner snowboarder and skier, Sierra-at-Tahoe has slightly flatter terrain compared to Northstar or Heavenly, yet still has challenging slopes for the type three riders.  If you want to try a resort that has high amounts of powder, try Mammoth Mountain, Alpine Meadows, and Mt. Rose.  Mammoth had the highest amount of snowfall this year due to its placement in the Yosemite area.  Alpine Meadows has a very gratuitous amount of snowfall that every rider can feel professional in, and Mt. Rose boasts the highest base elevation in the Lake Tahoe / Reno area.  To really challenge yourself, try Squaw Valley.  With an Olympic history, Squaw Valley has a run called the KT-22 which is one of the most intimidating runs in the Tahoe region.

Whatever your choice is, just remember to stay warm and have fun.  Anyone should enjoy the wonders of winter sports. If it’s your first time, think about bringing an ice pack or some Ziplock bags for the snow.

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