News

General Conditions

Spring ended today … or at least the first burst of spring.  Daytime high temperatures have been around 60° with bright sun since the weekend but today’s high/low temperature range is 39°/29° and rain/snow is in the air.  A winter weather advisory has been posted.  There’s been good spring skiing, which means soft snow by early afternoon.   This morning the Central Sierra Snow Laboratory (https://cssl.berkeley.edu) reported 0.0 inches of new snow in the past week.  The season total is now 310 inches, compared to a median 322 inches for the same date over 1991-2020.  We have a bit less than 7 feet based on a homemade snow gauge in our shaded north-facing back yard at 7000 ft. Check local webcams at Sugar Bowl (https://www.sugarbowl.com) and Donner Ski Ranch (http://webcams.donnerskiranch.com) for up-to-the-minute views of local conditions.

Today’s (March 27) sunrise was at 6:53 AM, sunset will be at 7:20 PM. Sunrise is drifting earlier by about 11 minutes each week. Sunset is drifting later — by about 7 minutes each week. The days are getting longer — by 2-1/2 minutes each day; these rates will continue into May when we can start to feel as though it’s summer again. The vernal equinox was a week ago — we’ll be having longer days than nights for the next 6 months.

Venus passed between Earth and the Sun last weekend, so it’s now a morning “star” though a little hard to spot unless you’re looking at the eastern horizon just before sunrise.  Roughly 45° above the western horizon at sunset you should be able to spot Jupiter, which is now the brightest object in that part of the sky. Look for Mars, close to the Gemini twins and nearly overhead. Mars and the twins form a triangle; Mars is the orange one, and it’s drifting slowly eastward relative to the other two.  The Moon will be new in the early morning of Saturday (March 29).  If you have trouble finding the Big Dipper, this is a great time of year to look; it’s almost directly overhead at midnight; the pan opens to the north and the handle stretches east.

Forecast

The daytime high temperature today (March 27) is forecast to be 39°, and the overnight low should be around 29°.  There is rain/snow in the forecast, most probably in the late afternoon or early evening; it will be windy.  There could be 2-4 inches of new snow by tomorrow morning.  Tomorrow (March 28) will be a copy of today but with less wind; expect another 2-4 inches of snow.  Saturday will be partly cloudy with a daytime high near 42°, but there’s 4-8 inches of snow in the forecast for Sunday.  Monday could be a big snow day with 8-12 inches during the day and another 3-5 inches Sunday night.  Tuesday-Thursday next week each have 4-8 inches of new snow in the forecast with temperature ranges looking like 33°/25°.  Then there will be a break but with mostly cloudy skies as temperatures rise to around 50° two weeks from today.

If you want to recreate outdoors at Donner Summit over the next two weekends, there’s not much to choose between them.  Expect partly cloudy skies both Saturdays with snow moving in this Sunday and rain/snow showers on Sunday April 6.  The first weekend in April will be slightly warmer this the last weekend in March.

Sugar Bowl Uphiller

March 29 (Saturday): See how many human-powered round trips you can make to the top of Mt. Lincoln during a single day. For details go to https://www.sugarbowl.com/events

Gold Rush

March 30 (Sunday, 8:30 AM – 4 PM): Royal Gorge’s annual Gold Rush Festival, originally scheduled for March 15-16, has been postponed to March 30. Go to https://www.royalgorge.com/events for information about races, a terrain park, vendors, demos, and music on the Summit Station deck.

Snow Briefing

April 1 (Tuesday, 1-2 PM): Andrew Schwartz, Director of the Central Sierra Snow Lab, will give the monthly briefing on snowfall, snowpack, upcoming weather predictions, and related topics via Zoom (https://berkeley.zoom.us/j/95609193036; Meeting ID 956 0919 3036).

Sugar Bowl

Sugar Bowl is open daily 9 AM – 4 PM. Sugar Rush Tubing is open daily 10-4. Check the Sugar Bowl web site for more information (https://www.sugarbowl.com). There may be some restrictions on operations because of weather.

Sugar Bowl EVENTS (for details go to https://www.sugarbowl.com/events):

Dining: Sugar Bowl’s dining room and Belt Room bar are open until 9 PM each night. Enjoy Raclette Night in the Belt Room 6-9 PM each Friday.

The Silver Belt (April 2-5): The legendary Silver Belt is back and bigger than ever! Once a high-speed, off-piste giant slalom that drew Olympians and World Cup skiers in the 1940s, this iconic event has evolved into an adrenaline-fueled freeride competition that’s a favorite among athletes.

Boreal / Woodward

Boreal (the mountain) is open daily 9 AM – 8 PM. Tahoe Tubing opens at 9:30 AM. Woodward (indoors) is open Monday-Friday noon – 8 PM and weekends 10 AM – 8 PM. Check https://www.rideboreal.com

Boreal, Woodward, and Soda Springs raised over $100,000 for local community partners and non-profits through their Play Forever Fridays program in 2024. This initiative allows guests to purchase $25 lift tickets, tubing access, and bunker sessions, with $5 from each ticket directly supporting community organizations. The next Play Forever Friday is April 11. There are advance purchase requirements. For more information, see https://www.rideboreal.com/explore/community/play-forever. For a complete list of dates, see https://www.rideboreal.com/day-access/tickets/play-forever-friday

Auburn Ski Club

Auburn Ski Club offers alpine, Nordic, biathlon and snowboard athletic programs including 25 km of Nordic skiing groomed to competition standards. Check their web site — https://www.asctrainingcenter.org — for more information.

Royal Gorge

Royal Gorge is open 8:30 AM to 4 PM each day. It had 65 km of trails groomed today, including Pt Mariah. Parking was available at both Summit Station and Van Norden Meadow. Check http://www.royalgorge.com/home for updates. The bar at Summit Station has drinks and lunch-like food items until 9 PM Friday and Saturday.

Soda Springs

Soda Springs Mountain Resort, including kids facilities and tubing, is open 9-4 on weekends and 10-4 Mondays, Thursdays, and Fridays (with expanded operations during holiday periods). For details check https://www.skisodasprings.com. See Boreal/Woodward (above) for information on Play Forever Fridays (including April 11).

Donner Ski Ranch

Donner Ski Ranch, including tubing, is open daily 10-4 with all lifts running. DSR’s Old 40 Bar and Grill is open daily from 8 AM. Check their web site at https://www.donnerskiranch.com

Kingvale Resort

Kingvale Resort (on the south side of I-80 at exit 171) offers tubing, sledding, and a rope tow terrain park. Their web site is http://www.kingvaleresort.com. For snowmobile tours, you can check the web site of their Kingvale partner at https://www.hlatours.com

Avalanche Forecast

The Sierra Avalanche Center forecast shows current avalanche danger to be “2. Moderate” at all elevations. Surface warming may lead to slabs and unstable snow structure; so be wary when traveling in the backcountry. New snow over the next couple days could complicate matters for the weekend.

SAC is worried about losing one of their forecasters to federal downsizing.  Check the SAC web site (https://www.sierraavalanchecenter.org) for details about conditions of both their staffing and the snow they monitor.

Public Transport

Sugar Bowl is operating a free, daily, public shuttle connecting Truckee with Donner Summit this winter. Service started December 9 and will end April 20. The shuttle service makes two loops in the morning and two in the afternoon with stops at Sugar Bowl’s Mt. Judah Lodge, Donner Ski Ranch, the west end of Donner Lake (old TART stop), and the Coldstream TART stop, where riders can make a timed transfer to and from the TART Truckee Local Route. The shuttle will be equipped with exterior ski storage. No dogs, apart from qualified service animals, are permitted on the shuttle. The shuttle service will not operate when Old 40 is closed. The detailed schedule is at https://tahoetruckeetransit.com

Roads

I-80: There are currently no chain requirements on I-80 and the forecast is generally favorable — at least until Sunday PM. Watch for water on the road and ice where that water has frozen. Plan ahead by following CalTrans road reports at https://roads.dot.ca.gov, then drive carefully. Public parking is available at California Sno-Park sites (https://ohv.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=23055); purchase permits in advance through the web site or at vendors on approaches to Donner Summit.

General: Secondary roads around the Summit should be open with no restrictions.