Boreal Mountain Resort's final ski weekend of the season arrives
SODA SPRINGS – It's the last weekend to hit the slopes at Boreal Mountain Resort as they say goodbye to ski season and hello to the warmer weather.
It seems like just yesterday Boreal was welcoming folks in for opening day.
As the first skier came down in November, crews never expected the months of dramatic weather conditions in California that would follow.
"From then on out we've seen quite a bit of snow out here on Donner Summit," said Tucker Norred, the resort's senior marketing manager. "We're over 800 inches for the year here at Boreal. It did come with road conditions changing on a daily basis, but we were able to continue operating."
The massive amounts of snowfall meant around-the-clock work for snow ops.
But for business, it was a welcome sight.
With an influx of visitors and lesson-sign ups, plus staying open two weeks longer than usual, they're bouncing back from pandemic losses.
For crews, the work doesn't stop on April 23 when the slopes shut down. They'll have to turn over their terrain to prepare for summer. That means clearing 25 feet of snow to make way for the next round of outdoor activities.
"We do have summer camps that we operate here with mountain biking on the chairlifts behind me, so we have to start digging out some of those mountain bike trails," Norred said.
But for now, they're welcoming folks in for their last hot cocoas and runs of the ski season – and counting down the minutes until their next opening day.
Boreal will have a DJ on deck to celebrate the final weekend. They're also advising visitors to pack their sunscreen as it's going to be warmer than most people are used to.