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California’s Sierra has been walloped with seven fest in seven days. It’s so much snow, some ski resorts have actually had to shut down lifts and trails for safety.
Squaw Valley Alpine Meadows, which has received more than six feet of snow in this latest winter storm, had to close all lifts Monday because of whiteout conditions, high winds and avalanche dangers. The resort reopened five lifts late Tuesday morning.
Other resorts in the Tahoe area also got hit hard by the blizzard. Heavenly Mountain Resort reported a 24-hour snowfall total of 36 inches Tuesday morning.
Kirkwood reported 88 inches over the past week — that’s more than 7 feet of snow. All that snow delayed opening Tuesday to around noon.
Sugar Bowl closed early Monday, around 2 p.m., as winds gusted to 60 miles per hour.
Even when resorts were open to skiers and snowboarders, getting to them was a real problem. Interstate 80 was closed in both directions from Colfax to the Nevada state line all day Monday and into Tuesday morning. Highway 257, Highway 50 and Old Highway 40 were also all closed periodically.
