Palisades Tahoe Sees Record-Breaking Snowfall, Silverado Zone Likely to See Earliest Opening in Years
The Silverado zone when it opened in late February last season. Thanks to near-record snowfall, the area may open as soon as a few days from now.
This season, Lake Tahoe has already seen its highest December snow totals in over 50 years. Palisades Tahoe has received a record-breaking 188 inches this month, including over 3 feet in the past 24 hours. In the wake of this situation, the resort has released an operations update for both its Olympic Valley and Alpine Meadows sides.
The storm has brought a number of extraordinary circumstances to the resort, including critical road closures (I-80 to both San Francisco and Reno has been closed for two-and-a-half days now), clearance issues with the Funitel, and extreme avalanche risks across the entirety of Alpine Meadows. A series of critical infrastructure components, including lifts, snowcats, and lodges, have been buried by the snow, and resort staff have been working tirelessly to get the resort up and running as quickly as possible.
While closed for the past two days due to the unprecedented storm, Palisades has issued an opening schedule for the coming days. Notably, the resort states that its Silverado zone should have enough snow to open, with access work to commence as soon as Granite Chief, Headwall, Emigrant, and Solitude are cleared.
Our Take
If the road closures, extreme avalanche hazards, and buried snowcats aren’t evidence enough, Palisades’s ability to open Silverado in December should underscore just how insane the resort’s snow totals have really been.
Silverado is an expert-oriented zone with no snowmaking, and runs range from single-black steeps to extreme 100-foot cliffs. The area needs significant snowfall to open up due to the work required to make a practical path to the lift’s bottom terminus, and this zone is one of the most variably open of any resort we’ve reviewed. For the 2020-21 season last winter, the Silverado area was only open for approximately two weeks in late February and early March; for the 2019-20 season before that, it didn’t open at all (although it may have been ready for a late March opening if not for COVID shutdowns). The area was also entirely closed for the 2017-18 season.
The last time the resort saw a comparable amount of snow in December was in 1970, but the Silverado expansion didn’t open up until 1993. On the surface, this might portend the earliest Silverado rope drop in history, but the resort was actually able to open the zone on December 30 back for the 2015-16 season. While its opening date probably won’t be record-breaking this winter, we’re still optimistic for a long and powdery Silverado season with lots of cliff hucks!
Considering a trip to Palisades Tahoe this winter in the wake of this epic storm? Check out our comprehensive Olympic Valley (formerly Squaw Valley) and Alpine Meadows mountain reviews. Additionally, check out our Lake Tahoe and West Coast rankings.
