One of the most anticipated new chairlifts for the 2023-24 season has made its debut.

On Saturday, Mammoth Mountain opened the new Chair 16, also known as the Canyon Express. Chair 16, which opened back in 1994, was replaced this past offseason by a state-of-the-art chairlift.

The new Doppelmayr D-Line six-pack detachable high-speed chairlift is a game changer for the California ski resort. This capacity upgrade, which can fit 25% more guests compared to its predecessor, will help reduce lines at the Canyon Lodge base area. The enclosed top and bottom terminals will help it open quicker during deep storm cycles and windy days. In addition, the chairlift has been realigned slightly to the north to reduce the impact of snow slides from the nearby Avalanche Chutes.

There were some critics of the new chairlift though. Some noted that the off-ramp at the top terminal is pretty steep, leading to riders crashing into each other. While it does look steep, I imagine some more snow will help mellow it out.

Other improvements at Mammoth this season include the continued buildout of the Woolly’s Adventure Summit (which includes the opening of a new mountain coaster), a $5.5 million investment in snowmaking, and an expansion of the bathrooms at the Chair 14 Melt House.

Image Credits: Mammoth Mountain (Peter Morning, Helly Hansen, Smith Optics)

After a major terrain expansion last winter, Mt. Shasta Ski Park has begun work on another major addition. However, this one isn’t quite as popular with guests.

Earlier this month, the California ski resort announced its plans to add a twenty-foot Virgin Mary statue at the top of Douglas Butte. This project was a shared goal of owners Ray Merlo and Robin Merlo. Ray passed away in 2020, so Robin has decided to press forward with these plans to honor his memory. Construction began earlier this year and is expected to be completed next summer.

Some locals aren’t as enthused about the plans. They believe the ski resort should keep religion out of the skiing and riding experience, and that it would take away from one of the best vista spots at the ski resort.

As is tradition when something controversial happens, a Change.com petition was created to stop construction. The petition currently has over 1900 signatures. A key thing to note that is inaccurate from this petition though is that they claim that the ski resort is on National Forest land. That isn’t true, as the land is privately owned by the ski resort.

Ed Valenzuela, who’s a Siskiyou County Supervisor, challenged locals concerns in a statement to the Los Angeles Times:

“It’s on private property. It’s a private business, It’s the holiday season. I have better things to think about than a statue going up on private property. The people that are against it, their response would be then don’t go to the ski park.”

In terms of the current conditions at Mt. Shasta Ski Park, they have yet to announce an opening date for this winter but hope to start spinning the lifts soon.

Image Credits: Mt. Shasta Ski Park

The 2021 Caldor Fire forever changed the terrain at Sierra-at-Tahoe. This wildfire swept through the California ski resort, burning most of the trees in its skiable footprint. Over the past couple of years, they’ve had to remove these trees from the mountain. After not opening for most of the 2021-22 season, they reopened with a powder-filled 2022-23 season.

As shown by PeakRankings’ video below, the mountain has been drastically altered by this wildfire, which is easy to recognize when you’re there.

To accurately reflect the terrain, Sierra-at-Tahoe had to update its trail map before the last ski season. The most noticeable change was to the West Bowl, where the tree drawings were vanquished. The orange zones represented areas where skiers couldn’t go last winter due to the dead trees.

This summer, many more trees were removed across the ski resort. Sierra-at-Tahoe removed trees in the eastern areas between Rerun & Castle, the eastern portions of Castle & Preacher’s Passion, Huckleberry Canyon, and the front side (which includes the Avalanche Bowl, and around Chute & Main).

This week, Sierra-At-Tahoe revealed its newest trail map. The 2023 map is again, very different.

It’s pretty depressing to see Sierra-at-Tahoe lose most of its tree terrain. On the plus side, previously roped-off sections in the Avalanche Bowl and Huckleberry Canyon are now open to the public. This will be the first time they’ve had all 2000 of its skiable acres open in a couple of years.

After all this adversity, Sierra-at-Tahoe is still standing. Perhaps not better than they ever did, but they are looking like a true survivor…

Image/Video Credits: Sierra-at-Tahoe, PeakRankings

Back in 2022, Homewood Mountain Resort seemed like it was going to become the latest private ski resort. Citing diminishing visitors and the rise of mega passes, the California ski resort announced that they would be transitioning towards a members-only model. After locals, led by the non-profit Keep Homewood Public, voiced their opposition to these plans, Homewood shifted course. This month, Homewood announced they will remain open to the public. They are still planning to sell memberships but will keep the ski resort accessible to locals.

According to Tahoe Guide, Harry Hirsch, who’s the vice president and general manager of Homewood, said the following at a Nov. 7 Breakfast club meeting:

“I know there’s been a lot of buzz surrounding our beautiful resorts and I’m just glad to share some pretty exciting updates with you. First and foremost, Homewood is and will continue to be reserved for all to enjoy. So, we are not closing our doors to passholders or daily ticket buyers and we will be open for all including our local community.”

The main planned addition is the replacement of the Madden chairlift with a high-speed detachable gondola. This gondola will speed up what is currently a very slow ride, so this gondola would make Homewood a year-round destination. The bottom terminals will have food and beverage spaces, while the top terminal will add a mid-mountain amenity space that’s open to everyone.

Other planned additions, which will be available to the public, include an ice skating rink, a boutique hotel, a general store, a gathering space for festivals and farmers markets, a community swimming pool, and an amphitheater. For the ski resort’s infrastructure, snowmaking and grooming equipment will be added. To improve traffic, parking reservations will now be required at Homewood.

However, these changes won’t come without an update to their master development plan. We received word from Keep Homewood Public that the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TPRA) and Placer County jointly informed Discovery Land Company (the developer that is working with the owner of the ski resort: JMA Ventures) that they would not approve any one-off permits, including for the gondola, without a comprehensive update to the resort’s Master Plan, which must address public access. A key contention point in the battle against privatization was how this altered from Homewood’s approved 2011 master plan.

Here’s Keep Homewood Public’s reaction to these latest developments:

“We consider this a huge win – it shows that TRPA and Placer County are listening to feedback from over 2400 community members who are wary of Discovery’s intentions. We anticipate Discovery submitting this plan within the next few months.

That said, the battle isn’t over. Discovery’s behavior at their other properties, such as Barbuda, Loch Tay, Baker Bay, and Yellowstone Club, shows a pattern of telling regulators what they want to hear, then ignoring their promises – even contracted commitments – once they get the permits they need. More here.

We intend to continue holding regulators accountable to the Master Plan, and will challenge any submission from Discovery that does not include enforceable specifics on public access, architecture, community enhancement elements, and lift/lodge upgrades.”

Homewood’s projected opening date is December 15th. However, the ski resorts around Tahoe are pretty bare at the moment, so that could be moved back.

Image Credits: Homewood Mountain Resort

With an increase in crowds and subpar public transportation systems across the country, ski resorts in the United States have been scrambling to solve traffic issues that they’ve created in many communities.

This winter, a few ski resorts in Lake Tahoe are enacting changes to their parking lots. The first batch, Heavenly, Kirkwood, and Northstar, which are operated by Vail Resorts, will require parking reservations. It should be noted that this system will not be for all of their lots. Then there’s Palisades Tahoe.

After a historic 2022-23 season, the California ski resort will be requiring parking reservations on weekends and holidays. If you are trying to get to the Palisades or Alpine in the morning, a reservation is needed. This reservation system, which went on sale a couple of days ago, costs $30 to reserve a parking spot for a single day this winter. Oof.

During the ski season though, they’ll also be offering the opportunity to reserve one week out from these dates. This one-week beforehand reservation process won’t cost any money for guests. Free parking without reservations will still be available on weekdays, along with weekends and holidays after 1 p.m.

The funds raised from the reservations will be “reinvested for both internal and 3rd party transportation initiatives here in the North Lake Tahoe region.”

People in the comments weren’t amused. Here are some of the angry comments:

• “You guys really have lost your roots its sad.”
• “RIP spontaneity.”
• “Hey hooligans you have an app for a reason make all of our lives easier and add this to your app so I don’t have [to] whip out some bs website every time I wanna make a reservation.”
• “This is utter garbage and an obvious money grab that won’t do anything beyond leaving empty spots in the lot. What happens when you reserve to park at Alpine, but B2B and upper mountain is on a wind hold? Can’t pull the plug and head to the Olympic side…your day is shot.”

On that note, if you’re looking to make a reservation, you can do so here.

Image/Video Credits: Palisades Tahoe

Back in August of 2021, Sierra-At-Tahoe in California was rattled by the Caldor Fire. Many of the trees that were a part of the skiable terrain were burnt, and they were unable to open for most of the 2021-22 season. Thanks to intense clearing efforts in the 2022 offseason, Sierra was able to reopen for a powder-filled 2022-23 season.

Last Friday, Sierra-At-Tahoe gave its latest update on the recovery process. The efforts are being led by the ski resort, El Dorado RCD, and the United States Forest Service.

Unfortunately, many trees have needed to be removed from the mountain. When wildfires occur, “beetles, disease impacts or stress” lead to delayed tree mortality across the affected forests. This unfortunately happened at Sierra, with the Western White Pine and Red Fir trees being most affected.

Work began for phase two of the restoration on July 1st. On August 7th, they began using a helicopter to transfer trees from hard-to-reach areas to a staging zone. By August 15th, 2.5 million gross board feet had been transferred to Tahoe Forest Products. They’ve been delivering 30-40 truckloads a day to Tahoe Forest Products, which is impressive considering a single log weighs 10,000 pounds. For the timber that’s not sellable, they’re chipping it and placing it across the mountain for insulation, which increases snow preservation during the early and late seasons.

With these steps being completed, Sierra is nearing the end of phase two of the recovery process, which will give guests the chance to experience “the ‘newest terrain’ in the ski industry.”

Here are the trails and glades that they’ve been focusing on for this offseason:

• The eastern areas between Rerun + Castle. 
• The eastern areas of Castle + Preacher’s Passion going towards the Grandview rope line. 
• The backside (Huckleberry Canyon). 
• The front side (Avalanche Bowl, areas around Chute + Main). 

This second phase of restoration will allow skiers and riders next season to shred “new views, new lines, and bigger bowls.” A video update from Sierra-At-Tahoe is below.

Image/Video Credits: Sierra-At-Tahoe

It’s officially the final boarding call at Mammoth Mountain. On Monday, Mammoth Mountain gave a lift and conditions report on its social media pages.

Currently, Mammoth has six ski trails open. In terms of lift operations, Broadway (1) has taken its final curtain call for the 2022-23 season. The Face Lift (3), Chair 23, and the Panorama Gondola are currently operating daily from 7:30 AM-12 PM. Due to the diminishing snowpack, no beginner terrain is available.

The most significant part of this post is that it officially confirms that Mammoth will be closing on August 6th. They originally had the closing day set for July 31st, but they announced on July 20th a season extension to this Sunday.

Sunday will feature a host of activities. They’ll be offering free stickers, coffee, juice, and donuts for guests that arrive early. After the lifts closed on Sunday, work will start on their offseason projects, including a new Canyon Express (16) chairlift. In addition, Mammoth’s bike park will be open daily from 9 AM-6 PM.

If Timberline Lodge makes it past Sunday, the Oregon ski resort will be the last outdoor lift-serviced ski resort open in the United States for the 2022-23 season.

Image Credits: Mammoth Mountain

After a historic winter with 701 inches of snowfall, China Peak Mountain Resort is about to modernize. In a recent episode of Stuart Winchester’s Storm Skiing Podcast, he spoke with Tim Cohee, who is the President of China Peak. The podcast is worth a listen due to the extensive discussion of the rise of China Peak and the Cali Pass. One of the most interesting tidbits, including that during the next two ski seasons, China Peak will be getting two new lifts.

For the 2023-24 season, the first lift replacement will be the Canyon chairlift (6), which will become a fixed-grip quad. This chairlift is coming from Jackson Hole, where it was known as the Thunder Quad. This allows for increased capacity out of the base area and begins the modernization of China Peak’s chairlift network that’s coming over the next few years.

In 2024, the Firebowl T-bar is going to be replaced by a fixed-grip quad chairlift. This lift is coming from Taos Ski Valley, where it was known as Lift 4. The old Taos chairlift will be going to two places. Most of the lift will be going to Firebowl, an old t-bar that has been inoperable for numerous years. The other remaining lift towers and chairs will be going to the Dodge Ridge, and replacing Chair 5. The double chairlift that is currently there has a quad drive system, making the replacement at Dodge Ridge much simpler.

A consideration down the line could be a new detachable chairlift. Tim said that they’re considering replacing the Summit Chairlift (1) with a detachable six-pack. This is possible now due to the new California Mountain Resort Company, which now owns China Peak, Dodge Ridge, and Mountain High. This tandem creates more revenue, and thus, the potential for more investments.

You can listen to Stuart’s podcast episode with China Peak President Tim Cohee here.

Image Credits: China Peak Mountain Resort

Palisades Tahoe remains one of the few North American ski resorts that is still open, with a projected closing date of July 4th. The Alpine Meadows side of Palisades remains open for skiing on weekends and will reopen again this Friday thru Sunday. After that, they’ll be closed until June 30th. Then, the festive weekend begins. America, f**k yeah.

June 30th will be quieter than the whole weekend, so parking at Alpine Meadows will be free. For the rest of the long weekend though, you’ll have to reserve your parking spots on Alpine Meadows.

On July 1st, they will be changing up their parking strategy due to the expected crowds. If you want to park at Alpine Meadows, a $10 paid parking reservation is required from July 1st-4th. The proceeds will go towards the Truckee North Tahoe Transportation Management Association, which is “a non-profit membership organization dedicated to innovative solutions for the transportation challenges of the North Lake Tahoe Truckee region.”

Over at the Palisades village area, parking will be free. A shuttle service will be running on July 1st-4th from 7:30 am- 5 pm, with buses departing every fifteen minutes. Due to the agreement with the Granite Chief Wilderness Protection League, the Base to Base Gondola closed for the season on April 30th, and will not operate for the Fourth of July Weekend.

Skiing will happen at Alpine Meadows from 8 am-2 pm from June 30 to July 4th. The Aerial Tram will open for daily summer operations on June 30th and is free to ride for Ikon Passholders. The weekend will feature live music, t-shirts commemorating the historic season, and other festivities.

Click here for more information about Palisades Tahoe’s closing weekend.

It has been one of the most memorable seasons EVER with 723 inches of snow. We’re sending winter off with a celebration of FREEDOM FEST at Alpine. For the full event details and more tips on how to enjoy Freedom Fest, check out our latest blog: https://t.co/fCWqtcGOsr pic.twitter.com/o3VBzxnI8y

— Palisades Tahoe (@palisadestahoe) June 20, 2023

Image Credits: Palisades Tahoe

Back in 2022, Art Chapman, who is the founder and chairman of JMA Ventures, announced his intention to make Homewood Mountain Resort, which they own, into a semi-private ski resort. Eventually, access would only be available to homeowners at the ski resort and people that are a part of HOAs on the West Shore.

Since then, they’ve refined the plan to have some limited public access to skiers and riders on a limited amount of the weekdays. These moves prompted strong resistance from the local community.

The battle between the ski resort and advocacy groups such as Keep Homewood Public and The Homewood Project, has come to a head over the past couple of months. This week, Keep Homewood Public scored a major victory.

The Tahoe Regional Planning Authority (TRPA) told Keep Homewood Public this week that they have paused permitting on the various Homewood Mountain Resort redevelopment projects. Homewood Mountain Resort now has to submit an updated proposal for the entire redevelopment project.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Csmt9YiPH5A/

Unsurprisingly, JMA Ventures is not thrilled about this. Here was the response of Chip Wilkins, a lawyer that represents JMA Ventures, back on April 28th, when it started to seem like TPRA was going to pause the plans:

“Not only is the status quo not the environmentally superior or preferred alternative, it is not financially sustainable. If the implementation of the Master Plan continues to be delayed, there is a substantial risk that the current commitments of investment capital will be lost and HMR will close.

As your e-mail correctly points out, the EIS certified by TRPA concluded that closing the ski resort would result in significant and unavoidable impacts to recreation. To avoid this risk, my client requests that TRPA refrain from spreading the false claims of project opponents that JMA Ventures and its partners intend to privatize HMR.”

First opened back in 1962, Homewood Mountain Resort has been known for its stunning views of Lake Tahoe, its local feel compared to other nearby corporate resorts, and its variety of terrain.

The 2011 Master Plan aimed to modernize Homewood. Some of the plans included a hotel, a mid-mountain lodge, the replacement of the Madden and Ellis chairs, and more. Notably, Homewood said in the master plan that they would “maintain the heritage of a ski resort that can be enjoyed equally by local residents and visitors.”

Since the plan was approved, not many on-mountain improvements have been made. Their on-mountain lodges are aging, and they have only one high-speed chairlift. Meanwhile, their local competitors, Northstar, and Palisades Tahoe have drastically improved their slopes with continued investments in lifts and facilities.

Due to a lack of investment at the ski resort, significant traffic issues around Homewood, and the rise of the Epic and Ikon Passes, skier visitation is down 40% since 2011. Back in 2022, Art Chapman stated that they were seeing less than 1000 guests on weekends, and fewer than 100 skiers on weekdays.

The problem with Homewood Mountain Resort throughout this situation has been messaging.

Art Chapman stated back in 2022 that the public day ticket model no longer worked for them, and they wanted to eliminate access to commuter skiers that didn’t own real estate around the area. He also said to the Moonshine Ink that there was no assurance that they wouldn’t become a private ski resort. Similar sentiments from Art Chapman were echoed in a June 2022 Sierra Sun article. This was in stark contrast to what was approved in the 2011 Master Plan.

Over the past couple of weeks, they’ve now been releasing statements saying that it will still be open to the public if the developments were approved. Here’s what Homewood said in a statement to the Sierra Sun:

“Homewood Mountain Resort has been part of the West Shore and Lake Tahoe business community for over 60 years. We understand the significance the mountain has in the region as it is our home. The Homewood Mountain Resort redevelopment project continues to conform to the approved master plan and does not privatize the mountain. The plan will deliver significant environmental benefits to the Tahoe Basin and will continue to support community access to the mountain during all seasons.”

Keep Homewood Public easily found various quotes that showed what the ski resort wants to eventually do, while Homewood Mountain Resort kept altering its position since the initial announcement last year. We still don’t know from them what a membership will cost and what the season pass prices will be for the 2023-24 season.

In the meantime, a new proposal has to be made to the Tahoe Regional Planning Authority to get Homewood’s plans to move forward. This has led the Discovery Land Company, which has partnered with the ski resort on the plans, to meet with community members to try and find common ground. Here’s Keep Homewood Public’s statement regarding this meeting:

“Our advocacy also elicited a surprising response from Homewood partner Discovery Land Company. Last week, Discovery representatives met with several West Shore community members, including KHP representatives, to learn the community’s wishes for the project. (Notably, JMA did not participate in the meetings.) Your West Shore neighbors all relayed the same message: We want what was promised in the Master Plan. As a result of these meetings, we expect Discovery to have a stronger hand in crafting the developers’ upcoming proposal to TRPA.”

I’m curious to see what Homewood’s next move is here. They were supposed to construct a new gondola to replace the Madden Chair this offseason. They needed the approvals to get started on the new gondola, so they’re kind of screwed at the moment for having it open during the 2023-24 season.

It’ll be interesting to see whether they’ll invest in the resort to keep it competitive in the Lake Tahoe region, or if they’ll continue to push the membership model.

Update 5/25 at 8 pm: We’ve received a statement from Homewood Mountain Resort, which you can read below:

“We will deliver on our promises to make Homewood extremely special to the West Shore. While twelve years have passed since the original Master Plan approvals, the key programming and community benefits under the Master Plan will remain intact. 

The development plan will preserve the mountain as a key gathering area for the West Shore and provide a robust array of all-year community and recreational access to the mountain including community season passes and daily ski access. Homewood’s North Base will serve as the heart of the development, surrounded by a new general store open to the community along with a new amphitheater that will offer outdoor summer concerts. Locals will also enjoy seasonal pop-ups including a winter ice rink. Access to hiking on the mountain will continue alongside community offerings and services including bike rentals, electric charging stations, an ice cream parlor, and more.

Additionally, the plan will not privatize the mountain nor include ‘members-only’ access. It will also deliver significant environmental benefits to the Tahoe Basin and continues the resort’s two decades of environmental stewardship.

In the coming months, we will further engage with the community, sharing a plan in greater alignment with the original Master Plan and vision.” 

Image Credits: Keep Homewood Public (Featured & Header Image), Homewood Mountain Resort