NO SPOILER ALERT REQUIRED: The holiday season, traditionally a bustling time at higher-elevation resorts, has now wrapped. But what hasn't packed its bags and left the mountains is some solid snow-falling goodness, the kind of snow that summons joyful January skiers up to the peaks. The wet stuff keeps arriving at lower-elevation California cities that don't see snow as a rule, so if you're hoping to spend some ski time up the hills during the first month of the year, you're in luck. For rain below equals snow above, quite often, and that's what's happening as 2017 begins.
MAMMOTH MOUNTAIN... fully opened a few days ahead of the new year, with "all lifts" and "all runs" in full go mode. The flakes are falling as of Tuesday, Jan. 3, with snow in the forecast for Jan. 4, 5, 7, 8, and 9. That's some slope-plumping forecast, as any skier who has seen a too-quick dumpage pass through in a matter of hours.
SQUAW VALLEY... reports that the early January 2017 storm "has delivered 2.5 feet of snow and the forecast is calling for more than 4 feet of snow through Thursday." That's Thursday, Jan. 5, so if you can make it to Tahoe, and you didn't get a chance to do some schussing over the holiday season, now is your moment to commune with all of that deep, ski-ready cold stuff.
THE TIME TO SKI IS NIGH: Is your go-to slope or resort feeling the frosty love as 2017 kicks off? It's been a banner few days at multiple mountain resorts, with more snowflakes to fall (a lot of them). Don't dally if you plan to start the year with some peaks-style love and board-zoomy good times.
