Ski resorts in the Lake Tahoe area have gotten a good amount of snow over the last few days, and crews at Sierra At Tahoe are busy trying to safely open all of the runs.
The risk of an avalanche happening is low, but it is early in the season, which means the landscape is constantly changing.
With snow and rain mixing recently, there are icy layers being created under the powder, which can cause inconsistencies in the snowpack.
"So, our patrol will do avalanche mitigation measures to understand what the snowpack looks like and, you know, the stability of it," said John Rice, General Manager for Sierra At Tahoe.
Patrol teams have a couple different ways of minimizing avalanche risks depending on how the snow looks.
"They start from ski cutting as sort of the primary, all the way up to the use of explosives. In the case of explosives, they are trying to get a concussive blast to actually get snow to move," said John Rice.
When using explosives, the entire run will close down and there is lots of communication to keep everyone as safe as possible.
Once they have moved enough snow, patrol teams will ski the run until they determine it is safe for riders.
Sierra At Tahoe has been able to open most runs, but Rice says there are still multiple black diamond trails that will remain closed, since they are more prone to avalanches because of how steep they are.
"Most avalanches you here about happen outside the boundaries. There are closed signs for a reason, a lot of people will break those closures. It's punishable by you know local ordinances in both California and Nevada," said John Rice.
If you would like to learn more about avalanche safety and deep snow safety, you can click here.
