Sierra ski resorts are stepping up avalanche control efforts after a California man died in a slide and a string of storms dropped as much as 12 feet of snow over the last two weeks.
The U.S. Forest Service's Sierra Avalanche Center on Friday said the avalanche danger is moderate in backcountry areas above treeline in the central Sierra around Lake Tahoe.
Its advisory came a day after expert skier Randall Davis, 21, of Tahoe City, Calif., was found dead under several feet of snow at the Squaw Valley USA resort just north of Tahoe.
Davis vanished when he was skiing down expert terrain with a friend during a blizzard. His body was found on a very steep, thickly forested slope, the Placer County sheriff's office reported.
The heavy snow is prompting resorts to kick avalanche control efforts into full gear for the busy holiday ski season, said Rachael Woods, spokeswoman for the nearby Alpine Meadows resort.The efforts routinely involve the use of explosives in reducing snow on steep slopes, the closure of certain areas and talks with guests about snow safety, she said.
"They're committing all resources to snow safety," Woods said. "They're trying to mitigate the avalanche threat as much as possible."A pair of skiers at the Mount Rose ski resort south of Reno were found in good condition Thursday night after they went missing in the afternoon.
The Washoe County sheriff's office said it had been in contact with the duo by cell phone after they went out of bounds.Skiers and snowboarders packed the slopes on Friday to take advantage of sunny skies and up to 3 feet of snow from the latest storm.
Since Dec. 12, Alpine Meadows reported receiving about 10 feet of snow at its base lodge and about 13 feet of snow at its mid-mountain.To the south, Mammoth Mountain ski resort reported getting up to 13 inches of new snow and 12 1/2 feet of snow since Dec. 13.
Only two weeks ago, the Tahoe snowpack stood at about 2 percent of average for the date.The heavy snowfall has allowed ski resorts to kick into full operation."I have never seen such an influx of guests for the day after Christmas as I have today," Woods said Friday, adding it has been one of her resort's snowiest Decembers ever.
"We could not have asked for a better Christmas present two feet of snow," Mount Rose spokeswoman Krista Haggott told the Reno Gazette-Journal.On Friday, the California Highway Patrol reported heavy traffic on mountain highways but shorter delays than on Christmas Day, when the storm caused intermittent closures of Interstate 80 over Donner Summit, the main artery between northern Nevada and Northern California.
Chains or snow tires were required Friday on two other major trans-Sierra highways: U.S. 50 over Echo Summit and Highway 88 over Carson Pass. But there were no controls on I-80 in the Sierra.In northern Nevada, chains or snow tires also were required on many highways, including portions of I-80, U.S. 50 and U.S. 93.