Monday early evening update (5 p.m.)
The lifts will spin tomorrow!
That’s right, the downhill ski area is set to open tomorrow morning. Snowbird lift, Caterpillar Conveyor and Learning Conveyor are on the list for first thing, with potentially more throughout the day. The Cross Country Ski Center anticipates they will open at some point tomorrow as well. Check back for specific details in the morning.
Monday afternoon update (2 p.m.)
After experiencing difficutly trying to groom trails today, its been decided that the Cross Country Ski Center will not open by the end of the day. The snow is wet and heavy, thus creating some challenges for setting proper skiing tracks. Our crews outside are trying their best to get things up and running. Hopefully we’ll have a solid confirmation for you tomorrow morning. We have been watching lots of white flakes fall outside the marketing office window with bright smiles. It seems like we have been waiting forever and the snow is great news! Trust us, we are just as excited as you are to finally open and play outside. Fingers crossed tomorrow will be our big day!
Monday update
We have been challenged at the cross country center today to find the right equipment to groom this heavy snow. We hope to have at least a small loop open by 3 p.m. today and expect to open tomorrow with more terrain. No guesses at this point how much, but be assured that we are putting all resources into getting as much terrain open as quickly as possible.
Monday, January 23
It’s a beautiful Monday morning in Truckee! We are packing down copious amounts of snow at both the downhill and cross country skiing centers, trying to create a nice surface for skiers. We’ll likely have a few kilometers at XC this afternoon and more trail by tomorrow. At downhill, we should have the Snowbird lift and the lesson area open by tomorrow. And there’s another nice storm rolling through today!
Sunday, January 22
We tried grooming the snow at the cross country ski center this morning, but the consistency of the snow isn’t allowing for that to happen. We will try again tomorrow. The good news is that it looks like more snow is on the way!
Saturday, January 21
Overnight we received 6-10 inches of snow at the downhill ski area and 4-6 inches at the cross country ski center. The snow is quite wet and it’s sloppy underneath, so we’re keeping the XC groomers off it and waiting for the water to drain out. It’s still snowing and a Sunday opening there is possible. The downhill ski area will still need a couple more feet, so a midweek opening is our hope there. Do you have a Twitter account? You can follow the cross country center at @tdxc and the downhill ski area at @skitahoedonner. Keep doing those snow dances – it’s working!
Friday, January 20
The storm we’ve been waiting for hit Truckee last night and we’re expecting waves of snow throughout the next few days. We received 3-5 inches of snow overnight at the downhill ski area but will need a good 36 inches of snow to get that facility open. We expect that to happen by the middle of next week. The cross country ski center doesn’t need as much snow to open, so potentially we could be open there as early as tomorrow. Snowplay needs a little more snow on which to put a groomer but will be open at least for sledding by late next week. If we get enough snow to build banked turns, there will be tubing as well.
Don’t miss out on our contest to guess when there will be 18 inches of snow at Northwoods Clubhouse. You could win a prize!
For up-to-the-moment info this weekend, keep an eye on our Facebook and Twitter pages. After being closed for a few days this week for kitchen renovations, the Lodge Restaurant & Pub is back in action with its regular hours. Stop by for dinner, drinks and one of the NFL playoff games there or at Pizza on the Hill! And on that topic, we’ll add a partisan comment: Go Niners!