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It’s May, and at this point most people are thinking of summer sports, not skiing and snowboarding. But at Palisades Tahoe — a ski resort deep in California’s Sierra range — a late season dump of seven feet of snow in April means skiing is happening until May 30. As reported by SnowBrains, Palisades Tahoe offers the longest skiing and riding season in Tahoe. All other resorts in the area have already closed down.
That April snowfall gave the upper mountains more snow than in November, January, February and March combined. And while very welcome, the snow also caused electrical issues like power surges for certain lifts. On April 21, the weather was so intense (overnight, five inches of snow at the base and a whopping eight inches on the upper mountains) that lightning rolled in and staff completely froze operations to prevent avalanches.
Of course, by late March some employees had already concluded the season and moved on, so remaining staff members are working extra hard to keep Palisades open. Certain runs and chairlifts have already been closed to the season and won’t reopen.
The resort is now open Friday through Sunday, plus the terminal Memorial Day Monday. Just to make things more fun for the people eking out every last vestige of skiing and riding, Palisades is designating a different theme for each weekend, encouraging people to wear costumes while on the slopes. Next weekend is called ‘Wig out on the Wiggle’ where skiers can wear their favorite wig (of many?) while winding down one of the wiggle tracks, while May 13-15 is the Rodeo weekend for wearing cowboy hats and cutoffs. For May 20-22, it’s ‘Surf’s Up,’ a chance to surf slush in board trunks and bikinis, while anything red, white and blue closes out the season with the ‘U-S-A!’ theme for Memorial Day Weekend.