A good start
Even with the record December snowfall last year, the snow didn’t really start until the middle of December with no snow in November. We didn’t even get our first day until Dec 11th.
This year has been very different with 97″ of snowfall at our house by December 12th, so we were able to get some really good skiing done in November and the first half of December.
Rosie breaks trail on November 9th, 2022
Sierra-at-Tahoe reopens after the Caldor fire
We had some good skiing in Tahoe at Heavenly and Kirkwood with a few powder days but really enjoyed our first day back at Sierra at Tahoe after the Caldor fire. They were closed all of last year and spent the whole summer clearing standing dead/burned trees. Now they are back open with all of the lifts repaired and almost all of the named trails open. We are so happy to have all 3 of our local resorts going again! Sierra is special and we really missed it last year.
First day at Sierra after the Caldor Fire, December 9th, 2022
Big storm December 9-12
Tahoe is known for huge storms and we were treated to one December 9th-12th with 34″ of snowfall at our house. Luckily we purchased a new Honda snowblower this year and it made clearing the driveway so much easier. The power was out for 14 hours which is why we also own a generator. Gotta be prepared living up here! The neighbors and I all got together with our Hondas and cleared the whole street after freeing a stuck truck. The arrival of plows is never something you can count on.
Aftermath of a huge Tahoe storm in our backyard, December 11, 2022
Dodge Ridge day trip
Our Sierra passes are good for 3 days at Dodge Ridge and we may just make it an annual pilgrimage. It’s a really fun place with interesting terrain, a really good grooming effort, and light crowds even on the Sunday before Christmas. It is big enough with enough challenge to make for a great day. This year the conditions were all-time great for this early in the season with everything open and some spectacular grooming.
Great conditions at Dodge Ridge, December 18th, 2022
The Plan
This year’s plan is to get as many of the east coast resorts done as possible in late February-early March. We will spend 2 weeks and keep it flexible with some down days in case of bad weather, which is virtually guaranteed. The Christmas week plan was to ski Red Mountain, BC and Whitewater, BC, but when we get pounded with snow in Tahoe it usually means it’s not snowing up there, which is exactly what happened. We didn’t want to ski those 2 areas known for great snow when it was thin, so we will have to get those late this season or wait for next year.
We are looking forward to the rest of the season and especially the adventure of bagging some more resorts on the list!
Good thing you are waiting for the Northeast because it’s been bad bad bad since the thaw (“torch”) has started post Christmas. Your old haunt Wildcat has only 14 trails open and is working hard to open Lynx top-to-bottom.
The pictures of Sierra-at-Tahoe are surreal.
Hi Josh,
We will likely still make the Northeast trip this year but we are waiting another month. Hopefully they get more snow but if we make the trip and a couple resorts are still struggling in March they might get dropped and replaced.
This project is stretching on so long that we really need to wrap it up so we can get back to some of our favorite places before we get too old! The Northeast has been a challenge to hit under good conditions — particularly when we are experiencing record snow depths at home.