YOUR AD HERE »

Hang up the skis and get ready for summer

Paul RaymoreSierra Sun
Photo by Ryan Salm/Sierra SunThe Northstar-at-Tahoe mountain bike park is set to open on June 25. Depending on how much snow is still on the ground, various types of terrain, like this ramp, will be open.
ALL |

How soon we forget. Though it hasnt even been a week since Alpine Meadows and Squaw Valley closed their runs to skiers and snowboarders, resorts around the Truckee-Tahoe area are already getting ready for a busy summer season.Nowhere is that more obvious than at Northstar-at-Tahoe, where mountain bikers will mix with construction workers all summer as the resort opens its mountain bike park and continues building phase I of the new Northstar Village.Slated to open on June 25, Northstars mountain bike park includes two chairlifts and more than 100 miles of trails rated from easy to extremely difficult.The construction around the resort has kept the mountain bike park crew from creating any new trails this year, according to Park Manager Dan Warren, but that doesnt mean riders wont find anything new on the hill this summer.The only real changes were going to make are improvements to our skills area at the bottom of the Vista lift, he said. Were going to add some more box features and more logs down there.Looking up at the slopes of Northstar this week, its hard to imagine hordes of mountain bikers dodging down dicey singletrack on burley shock-absorbing steeds since there is still a good bit of snow on the upper mountain. But Warren said he hopes that a couple more warm days will melt off enough of it that the entire mountain will be open by June 25.Snow could possibly be an issue, he said. It really depends on what the weather does in the next three weeks. If we have a couple more of those 80-degree days then it wont be a problem. But if its cool then well definitely open the Village Express lift on the lower part of the mountain on June 25 and the Vista lift on the upper trails will be snow dependent.

Other resorts are rushing to prepare for the wedding and conference season, which brings a new slew of visitors up to the mountains during the summertime.Kristen York, Sugar Bowls marketing manager, spoke about the rapid changeover from winter to summer activities at the resort.Our first wedding is next weekend, so were trying to get the grass green out there. They want to get married on the lawn outside the village, so weve cleared the snow away but theres still going to be a lot of snow around them, she said.Sugar Bowl plans to concentrate most of their summertime resources on finishing construction on a 12,000 foot addition to their Judah Lodge and the installation of a new high-speed quad chairlift in place of the old Christmas Tree lift.Over at Alpine Meadows, lift replacement is also a priority as crews have until the start of next season to replace the old Sherwood Express triple chair with a new high-speed quad.And at Squaw Valley, summertime visitors will have to wait until Friday, June 24 when the Cable Car and High Camp reopen to bring people up to Squaws swimming pool and spa and Olympic ice pavilion. Squaw even goes so far as to offer season passes for its cable car, swimming pool and ice skating rink to visitors who plan on making frequent use of those facilities.From June 25 on, High camps pool will remain open until 7 p.m. and the ice skating rink and Alexanders Restaurant will stay open until 9 p.m.Also coming up that weekend is Squaws High Altitude Kite & Music Festival. An annual gathering of several regional kite organizations with kite-making and flying demonstrations, the kite festival is scheduled for Saturday, June 25.


Support Local Journalism

 

Support Local Journalism

Readers around Lake Tahoe, Truckee, and beyond make the Sierra Sun's work possible. Your financial contribution supports our efforts to deliver quality, locally relevant journalism.

Now more than ever, your support is critical to help us keep our community informed about the evolving coronavirus pandemic and the impact it is having locally. Every contribution, however large or small, will make a difference.

Your donation will help us continue to cover COVID-19 and our other vital local news.