Tahoe ski resort openings delayed

RENO -- A storm dropped a few inches of snow around Lake Tahoe, but it was not enough to allow skiers and snowboarders to hit the slopes in full force yet.

Like most Sierra resorts, Kirkwood officials had wanted to open by Thanksgiving. But even an opening this weekend appeared doubtful after Wednesday's scant snowfall, Kirkwood spokesman Daniel Pistoresi said.

"It would take a pretty miraculous change for that to happen," Pistoresi told the Reno Gazette-Journal. "Now, we've got to play catch-up a little."

At Mount Rose Ski Tahoe, where the resort's bunny run has been open since Nov. 13, operators are waiting for Mother Nature to deliver enough snow for full operations.

"We always shoot for Thanksgiving if we can get it. Historically, it can go either way," resort spokesman Mike Pierce said, adding the past three seasons failed to produce conditions to allow such an early start.

Resort operators prefer to open by Thanksgiving to gear up for the peak Christmas holiday skiing period.

Bob Roberts, executive director of the California Ski Industry Association, said Sierra resorts were fully open only 21 percent of the time on Thanksgiving in the past decade, 39 percent not at all and 40 percent partially.

Alpine Meadows, which initially had planned to open the day before Thanksgiving, is shooting for a tentative opening date of Dec. 6.

The Mount Rose and Boreal resorts have been open on a limited basis since earlier this month, while Heavenly joined them on Friday with the same status.

The National Weather Service doesn't foresee a chance of snow around Tahoe through the next week.