This year’s incredible snowfall in Tahoe has led to all kinds of social media posts showing high snowbanks towering over the people standing next to them. This kind of snow can ironically even hamper ski resorts. For instance, this winter some temporary road closures meant there was no way for skiers to get to the mountains—but it also meant the ski season can be extended long past when spring turns to summer. At Palisades Tahoe, the last day of operation is...believe it or not...July 4. Palisades’s website reads, “Thanks to Lake Tahoe's second snowiest winter on record, we are extending our ski and snowboard season into the summer!”
As of 2021, Palisades Tahoe is the name of two ski areas combined: Alpine Meadows and Palisades Mountain, which hosted the Olympics Olympics in 1960 under its former name, which was changed in 2020. “The reasons were clear—the old name was derogatory and offensive,” reads the resort’s website. Palisades worked with the Washoe tribe of California and Nevada to effect the change. There’s a great series of essays on the website explaining the shift, starting with this one. A “base to base gondola” opened in December 2022 to connect the two mountains—and to be precise, it’s Alpine that will be open on the 4th, while Palisades closes on May 29.
We fully expect everyone to do the last runs in their red, white and blue ski gear. And if you’re not a big skiier, just tackle a few greens and then visit the Olympic Museum, which you can enter for free with your aerial tram ride.
Another Tahoe resort we love, Royal Gorge, closes April 23, well before the June 21 season change. All the more reason to get up there in the next week or two! Royal Gorge is North America’s largest cross-country ski area with 92 trails over 140 kilometers of groomed track. With forested quietude that opens up to dramatic views of the Northern Sierra, eight warming huts, and the chance to skate ski, snowhoe or traditionally cross-country ski, this resort is a treasure.
In a post tweeted out by Tahoefund.org, the following closing dates for these 10 resorts are:
Tahoe Donner: April 16
Sierra at Tahoe: April 16
Royal Gorge: April 23
Sugar Bowl: April 23
Mt. Rose: April 30
Northstar: April 30
Diamond Peak: May 1
Heavenly: May 7
Kirkwood: May 14
Palisades Tahoe: July 4
Bucket list plans: Ski one day, do the most beautiful bike ride in America the next?