Skiers and snowboarders are taking advantage of the clear conditions in the Sierra for the final day of the three-day weekend.
"We were here Saturday, Sunday and today," says Ray Pacello of Reno, Nevada, "Saturday and Sunday were very busy. Today, not busy at all cause a lot of people have left to go back home... Conditions have been fantastic. Best I've ever seen."
Boreal Mountain Resort is one of many Tahoe area slopes coming off a packed weekend
"Two-hundred inches of snow, followed by blue bird conditions on a holiday weekend, that spells busy, busy, busy," says Matt Peterson with Boreal.
Peterson says much of the mountain's traffic is from northern Nevada, but there are also more than 14 million people living to the West, and a lot of them like to ride.
"It's nice today. It's nice today," says Douglas Castillo. He drove up from Sacramento, California, "It's hot, but it's cold at the same time." He drove up from Sacramento Monday after waiting for the storms to die down. He says he had no issues with wet roads or traffic during his two-hour trip up to the mountain.
The same goes for Cameron Roberson, from San Mateo, California, "It was really easy, you know it was all dry roads and not too much traffic on a three-day weekend." Roberson picked this weekend to learn to snowboard for the first time, "It's a beautiful day and if you haven't tried snowboarding you should come try it, it's a lot of fun."
With sunshine and a holiday weekend coming off a week of snow, Tahoe roads were congested Saturday and Sunday. Officials at Squaw Valley off of California State Route 89 says the highway was congested most of the weekend.
Traffic is worst in the morning and afternoon (when resorts open and close) but Boreal says it has less congestion because of their hours of operation. The resort is open until 9 p.m. which gives riders a chance to race for the first chair, or sleep in without worry. Choosing one shift over the other is the best option for a busy day.
"Choose you battles," says Peterson, "Go very early, get up, be here early, make sure you've got a spot, or choose that you want to go later and then come in after that early crowd is leaving."
