Lake Tahoe's Largest Ski Resort Receives New Snowcats
Even if you prefer going off piste, you probably like your groomers, you know... groomed.
Lucky for you and anyone who skis Palisades Tahoe in Northern California, Palisades (and sister resort Alpine Meadows) now have the largest fleet of snowcats in North America at a whopping 53 snowcats in operation across both mountains.
This news came from the Mountain Operations team at Palisades, and they broke down the snowcat selection very carefully, separating different cats by their winch power.
Winching, as explained in an article in The New York Times covering winch cats specifically, points out that winch cats are needed in situations where regular cats cannot be trusted safely, such as on extra steep terrain. (And Palisades has plenty of that!)
The NYT defines winch cats as "special snowcats equipped with huge winches that house spools with several thousand feet of braided steel cable, and steel booms that pay out the cable away from the cat’s cabin."
These cats operate by anchoring their cable to a concrete block or shackle at the top of the trail and then lowering themselves down the mountain.
Watch a winch cat in action in Sugarloaf's "Behind the Scenes" video here:
Palisades reportedly purchased 5 new cats, including three 600 Winch cats, one Park Pro 400 Winch cat, and one 600 Snowcat (which is free and does not use the winching method).
One 600 Winch is headed to Palisades, one is headed to Alpine, and one is uncertain at this point. The Park Pro 400 Winch will be going to Palisades, and the 600 Snowcat will be going to Alpine.
Because so many of the new cats use winching to groom, winch picks will be installed strategically around the mountain. The winch picks will mostly cover the race venues, such as Mainline and Racers.
Maybe you don't pay attention to different types of cats on the mountain, but at least you have a great way to break the ice with the next Mountain Ops guy or gal you end up next to on the chairlift.
Related: Why Is A Wisconsin Ski Area Getting A Winch Cat From Breckenridge?
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