Palisades Tahoe, CA Is Prime For A Long And Prosperous Spring Ski Season

The beginning of the season was bleak for Palisades Tahoe. For a time, nearly every forecasted storm fizzled out to rain and mild temperatures.

As a new resident of the area, I was perplexed. Skiers all around me were complaining about how poor the start of the season was, and yet one phrase seemed to bookend the majority of conversations- "The snow will come."

This wishful-thinking sentence might have just been an empty promise used by my new friends and colleagues to calm my anxieties, but I adopted it as a mantra.

Before my jealously could turn into anger that ski resorts in Utah's Cottonwood Canyons were getting dumped on by feet of snow, I would stop and say to myself, "The snow will come."

When the fifth consecutive forecasted storm was downgraded to "some wet snow, mostly rain at all elevations", I reminded myself, "The snow will come."

I found solace in accepting that I couldn't bend Mother Nature's will to my desires as a wide-eyed east coaster looking to score endless pow in his first season out west. I felt powerless, and that was okay.

Those of you who have been paying attention know that the snow did eventually come, and in a very big way. Check out my brief conditions report on how the snow is holding up at Palisades Tahoe as of April 9, 2024, below.

Palisades Tahoe Conditions Report (4/09/24)

I drove over to Palisades Tahoe around 1:30PM yesterday (April 9, 2024).

The sun was shining, the trees stood still, and the thermometer on my car displayed a staggering reading of 58 degrees Fahrenheit, easily the warmest day of the year.

I pulled into the parking lot with low expectations. I knew that getting on the mountain so late wasn't ideal, but I wasn't going to let the probability of sticky snow deter me. I didn't move all the way to Lake Tahoe, California to not ski.

The low-angle trails were expectedly slow, but I found fun and fast-enough spring corn donning the slopes of KT-22's 'West Face', and across the majority of Headwall.

The highlight of the afternoon was descending 'North Bowl' in glorious pre-corn conditions. The snow was somewhere between firm and soft, but the pitch of the slope was perfect. I charged hard through the combination of chop, moguls, and slush.

Like any spring day, the snow quality varied depending on the slope angle. I couldn't get over, however, just how much snow is still blanketing nearly ever inch of Palisades' terrain.

From Granite Chief to Resort Chair, Palisades is still sporting a gloriously thick coat of white. Conditions will continue to deteriorate as spring progresses, but yesterday was an indicator that we're in for a long and prosperous spring season at Palisades Tahoe.

I'm looking forward to at least 6 more weeks of harvesting corn, basking in sunshine, and stacking vertical on spring snow while much of the rest of the world moves on to other, less-fun activities.

See you out there?

Related: Why A "Bad Bear" Temporarily Closed Palisades Tahoe's Granite Chief Lift

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