TWIN BRIDGES, Calif. — 313 inches of snowfall so far this season is making for an exciting holiday weekend for skiers and snowboarders, and preparations are well underway.
Sierra at Tahoe is expecting a crowd but just how many is unknown due to all the recent weather.
Katie Hunter, director of sales and marketing Sierra at Tahoe, said she has seen conditions like this back in 2010.
“I think with so many storms, we really haven’t seen the crowds coming up,” said Hunter.
Hunter doesn't expect it will be as bad as 2020, the weekend after the holiday when they had to deal with capacity restrictions due to COVID-19.
“We have not seen numbers like that. It was a basically a perfect storm. We had incredible conditions, a great snow storm right before the weekend and then we hit our capacity prior to guests being able to get up here. I don’t see that being the same travel pattern because we have a lot more capacity this year,” said Hunter.
Sierra at Tahoe recommends checking resort websites and Caltrans before heading up. Caltrans is already working on the roads, and residents like Illona Sargent are preparing for more storms.
“I go shopping ahead of time. I have a generator; I’m one of the lucky ones. My son set me up with that so all I have to do is start the thing, flip it over and I’m good to go,” said Sargent.
Illona has been living near Pollock Pines since the 1970s and said, during those times, they used to tunnel through the snow. While the recent storms might seem like a lot right now, she said it’s nothing compared to the past.
“Over the years, it kind of dwindled down, so we really don’t get that much snow as we used to. At least, I think we don’t,” said Sargent.
The ski resorts recommend people come early or later in the day to avoid peak rush time of 10 a.m.
For those that bought passes, if Sierra at Tahoe is at capacity by the time some people make it up this holiday weekend, they will honor their pass another day.
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