Sierra ski resorts plan to stay open into July
TRUCKEE -- The slopes are open for summer, at least in California.
Several California ski resorts have announced they have received so much snow that they plan to stay open until well into the summer months.
Mammoth Mountain, a popular four-season resort located in the Eastern Sierra mountains, announced earlier this week it would be open for skiing at least until the end of July. This is the earliest in the year the resort has ever announced it would be open so late, according to communications director Lauren Burke.
Burke said that the resort was just 5 inches away from breaking its season snowfall record of 668 inches, set in 2010.
"We aim to keep lifts spinning until as long as conditions allow, which definitely could go into August this season," she wrote. "Spring skiing and riding conditions are going to be the best we've ever seen with the mountain in mid-winter form."
Similarly, Palisades Tahoe announced on Thursday it would continue to operate the Alpine portion of the resort until the July 4 weekend. They attributed the extension to "Lake Tahoe's second snowiest winter on record."
California has faced dramatic weather conditions in the past weeks. The state has been racked by powerful, atmospheric river storms that have brought a deluge of rain and snow after a yearslong, historic megadrought.
The onslaught of moisture has relieved the drought and replenished crucial reservoirs but has also triggered flooding and mudslides in some parts of the state.
Last week, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported that it expects the West's influx of rain and snow will likely turn off in April.