‘Miracle March’ means plenty of spring skiing

Snow is on the ground but spring is in the air, and for many North Lake Tahoe ski resorts that means it’s time to put the snow cats and the powder hounds to rest.

However, die-hard and fair-weather skiers shouldn’t fear. Recent snow also means that some resorts will be able to stick with it well into spring.

Miracle March, as resorts are now calling this stormy month, brought an unexpected, though much hoped for, 15 feet of snow to the Sierra. It’s just what Sugar Bowl and Northstar-at-Tahoe were looking for to carry them through spring.

“We are really having a solid March, and we’re gaining on losses from the Christmas holiday,” said Greg Murtha, Sugar Bowl’s marketing director. “We were going to close [earlier], but business has been picking up with all the snow, so we are going to see if we can stretch that along.”

“It’s finally time to break out the T-shirts,” Murtha said.

Northstar was also planning on an earlier closure, but has decided to stick it out, according to Katrina Paz, spokeswoman for the North Lake Tahoe Resort Association.

RESORT CLOSURE SCHEDULE April 2: Granlibakken April 9: Royal Gorge Cross Country April 16: Diamond Peak, Boreal, Spooner Lake Cross Country and Tahoe Donner April 23: Northstar-at-Tahoe, Homewood Mountain Resort, Sugar Bowl, Mt. Rose-Ski Tahoe and Tahoe Cross Country Ski Area May 29: Alpine Meadows and Squaw Valley