A Dose of Winter has Tahoe Resorts Eyeing Early Openings

Thursday, Oct. 31, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

Boreal Ski Area, which typically tries to open around Halloween, is scheduled to open Saturday.

"We have so much snow, it's just wonderful," Boreal spokeswoman Kris Norris said Wednesday.

A storm system that barreled into the region on Tuesday dumped anywhere from 6 inches to more than 2 feet of snow in some parts of the Sierra by early Wednesday.

It was the second storm in a week, and ski resort operations were hopeful that winter's early muscle flexing would equate to a long and profitable season.

If the winter storms keep coming, it would be in sharp contrast to last year, when cloudless skies and warm temperatures kept many slopes brown and barren until mid December.

But even then the storms were fickle, and many ski areas shut down or had limited operations into January. Winter didn't really make its presence known until well into February and March.

This week's display, however, has ski enthusiasts optimistic.

Boreal, which has been making snow for the last three weeks, received 10 inches of snow from the latest storm.

"Mother Nature really helped us out," said Norris, who added that in areas around snow-making machines, the snow depth is 2-3 feet.

The brunt of the latest storm hit the central Sierra. And that was just fine with folks at Mammoth Mountain Ski Area, which received 30 inches of snow within 24 hours as of Wednesday.

"We have a lot of it," said Mammoth Mountain spokeswoman Mary Shoshone. "It's absolutely beautiful with all the fresh snow."

Added to machine-made snow, the resort has over 4 feet in some areas and is eyeing a Nov. 9 opening date, although that may be moved up, she said.

Other resort operators have not set target opening dates, but continue to make snow while keeping their fingers crossed for favorable weather.

Heavenly Ski Resort on the south side of Lake Tahoe began making snow on Oct. 21 - its earliest snow-making start in 20 years, said spokeswoman Monica Bandows.

The area received about 7 inches of snow in the last two days, and anywhere from 2-6 inches the previous weekend. But so far no opening date has been announced.

"Hopefully soon," Bandows said.