General Conditions

There’s been a lot of snow over the past 7 days; and it’s been cold.  To quote Andrew Schwartz of the Central Sierra Snow Lab on Tuesday, “If you are a skier or snowboarder, I would encourage you to get up because conditions are fantastic.”  It’s still pretty good, and it looks promising for the weekend.  This morning the Snow Lab (https://cssl.berkeley.edu) reported 0.0 inches of new snow in the past 24 hours, 13.2 inches in the past 48 hours, and 43.9 inches in the past week.  The season total is now 354.1 inches, compared to a median 325.9 inches for the same date over 1991-2020 and 360.2 inches for a ‘normal’ season. 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 (April 3) sunrise was at 6:42 AM, sunset will be at 7:27 PM. Sunrise is drifting earlier by about 9 minutes each week. Sunset is drifting later by about 7 minutes each week. The days are getting longer — by about 2-1/2 minutes each day; these rates will continue into May when we can start to feel as though it’s summer again.

Roughly 40° 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 — except for the waxing Moon, which is just above Jupiter. Look for Mars, close to the Gemini twins and nearly overhead. Mars and the twins form a very ‘flat’ triangle; Mars is the orange, most easterly one; in a few days Mars will drift to where it is in a straight line with the twins (and the Moon passes nearby). 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 (April 3) is forecast to be 39°, and the overnight low should be around 19°.  Mostly cloudy skies are forecast for today, but right now (11 AM) it’s very sunny.  Tomorrow (Friday) will be mostly sunny with a high/low temperature range 43°/24°, which will keep most of the snow powdery.  The weekend will have temperatures in the low 50s with overnight lows around 30° and skies will be cloudy to partly cloudy.  Those conditions will persist for the rest of the two-week forecast: spring skiing with increasing crust each morning (but not much deep freezing) and soft, wet snow by early afternoon.

If you want to recreate outdoors at Donner Summit over the next two weekends, this weekend should be great although a bit on the cloudy side.  Those conditions will continue through next weekend — low 50s during the day, around freezing at night.  There’s no significant precipitation in the forecast; the snow will just get older, but there’s still plenty of it.

Events

April 2-5 (Wednesday-Friday): The legendary Silver Belt returns to Sugar Bowl and is 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. For details go to https://www.sugarbowl.com/events

April 5 (Friday): Enjoy Raclette Night in Sugar Bowl’s Belt Room 6-9 PM each Friday.  The dining room and Belt Room are open until 9 PM each night.  Details at  https://www.sugarbowl.com/events

April 11 (Friday): Play Forever Friday at Boreal, Woodward, and Soda Springs — which raised over $100,000 for local community partners and non-profits 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. There are advance purchase requirements.  For more information, see https://www.rideboreal.com/explore/community/play-forever.

Resorts

Sugar Bowl is open daily 9 AM – 4 PM. Sugar Rush Tubing is open daily 10-4. Check https://www.sugarbowl.com for more information.

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.  There’s a Play Forever Friday on April 11 (see above).

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.

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. There’s a Play Forever Friday on April 11 (see above).

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

Royal Gorge is open 8:30 AM to 4 PM each day. It had 45 km of trails groomed today (expect more by the weekend).. Parking is 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.

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. Strong April sun may lead to wet snow avalanche conditions; so be wary when traveling in the backcountry.  Check the SAC web site (https://www.sierraavalanchecenter.org) for details.

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 for at least the next two weeks. 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.