Skiers are raving as Calif. ski resorts dig out from record snowfall

Thanks to the run of winter storms this month, ski resorts in Lake Tahoe and the Sierra Nevada are digging out from a record November snowfall — just in time for skiers and snowboarders to arrive on a busy holiday weekend.

The recent atmospheric river delivered the snowiest November since 2010 to Mammoth Mountain, in the Eastern Sierra, with 62 inches of snow reported this month. In just the past week, Mammoth received 48 inches of snow, said Mike Korotkin, who forecasts snow at Mammoth and Southern California ski resorts for Open Snow, a weather service oriented toward skiers and snowboarders. 

The current snowpack at Mammoth Mountain is 189% of the average for the season so far, according to Open Snow’s records.

“This sets them up about as well as you could hope for going into a dry first couple of weeks of December,” Korotkin told SFGATE. 

On Donner Pass, Sugar Bowl Resort opened earlier than it has in two decades, said Jon Slaughter, a spokesperson for the resort. Sugar Bowl has a 65-inch snowpack, with 38 inches of fresh snow in the past week. The last time it had this much snow in November was in 2016.  

“The skiing is terrific,” Slaughter said. “We just opened up Mt. Lincoln Express, so now we are offering top-to-bottom skiing and riding.”

Nearby on Donner Pass, Boreal Mountain reported 55 inches of snowfall in the past week, bumping the snowpack to 159% of season-to-date averages. Boreal is already spinning three chairlifts to the top of the mountain, Tucker Norred, director of marketing, told SFGATE. Soda Springs Mountain Resort is slated to open Friday, he added.

Palisades Tahoe reported on its website that it received 59 inches of snow so far this season, about 120% of the average to date. The lower mountain is already open, and the ski resort expects to open more lifts in the coming days, said Patrick Lacey, spokesperson for Palisades Tahoe. 

“With more lifts set to open in the coming days, we’re thrilled to kick off the season with such a strong start,” Lacey said.

Northstar has 46 inches of snow so far this season, and in South Lake Tahoe, Heavenly Mountain Resort has 37 inches.

While a snowy November means a great start to the ski season, it doesn’t guarantee an above-average or even average winter will follow, Korotkin said. The Sierra Nevada has seen plenty of winters begin with promising Novembers that still finished below average for the season. 

Looking ahead to the first weeks of December, the forecast is all blue sky and sunny temperatures, with not a single snowstorm on the horizon. Korotkin calls any forecast more than 10 days out a “fantasy land” but says that, historically, dry spells in the Sierra Nevada tend to last two to three weeks.

“In the 56 years of recording at Mammoth, only one year, 1976-77, which was also the least snowy on record, had zero inches of snowfall in December,” he said. “Although we’ve had a few years come dangerously close, most recently actually in 2017.”

Korotkin said the odds are in favor that December will see more snow, but he can’t say how much and exactly when it will come.