Tahoe ski resorts hoping for more snow by Thanksgiving

RENO, Nev. - Even though the Sierra got as much as 1 1/2 feet of snow last week, most Lake Tahoe ski resorts need more help from Mother Nature before they can open for the season.

Boreal, Heavenly, Northstar-at-Tahoe and Soda Springs have announced definite plans to be open with limited operations over the Thanksgiving holiday season, the traditional start of the Sierra ski season.

But most major resorts, including Kirkwood, Squaw Valley and Sierra-at-Tahoe, have said they need more snow before they can open.

The National Weather Service is calling for a chance of snow Sunday and Tuesday in the region.

"We wouldn't be able to be open without snow-making machines," said Nancy Barna of Northstar-at-Tahoe near Truckee, Calif., which opened for the season Saturday. "We still need more natural snow like everybody else."

Most Tahoe resorts traditionally offer limited operations over the Thanksgiving weekend and don't crank into full gear until the Christmas holiday period.

But because of a shortage of early-season snow this year, many resorts need more help from the skies to open by Thanksgiving.

"We're trying to open (Wednesday); that would be weather permitting, of course," Kirkwood spokeswoman Tania Magidson told the Tahoe Daily Tribune.

"We're hopeful, if we get the snow we expect, that we'll be open by then," added Sierra-at-Tahoe spokesman Ben McLeod. "It's snow dependent. We don't need too much."

At Boreal, top-to-bottom skiing and snowboarding began Saturday on 30 percent of the resort's slopes on Donner Summit.

Boreal spokeswoman Jody Churich said 6-8 inches of snow Wednesday and another 8-10 inches of snow Friday augmented man-made snow.

"(The latest storm) set the mountain up for a great holiday weekend," she said.

Friday's storm prompted chain controls on Interstate 80 over Donner Summit, but caused no major traffic problems, California authorities reported.

The controls were lifted Saturday morning on I-80, Northern California's main trans-Sierra highway.

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