“We had the wildfire plan that was the model for the ski industry, but the fire didn’t follow the plan.”-John Rice, Sierra-At-Tahoe’s General Manager.
Back in August of 2021, the Caldor Fire destroyed much of the skiable footprint at Sierra-At-Tahoe in California. Recovery from this wildfire has taken years and its become an unfortunate reminder that the effects of climate change are here to stay.
There were a few major takeaways that Sierra-At-Tahoe had from the fire. The first was that it was actually safer to keep the snow groomers in the parking lot rather than in the building, as the lot served as a natural fire break in this fire. The other finding was that you should tape off the vents so ashes don’t get into the buildings.
Sierra-At-Tahoe had a successful reopening season this past winter, accumulating over 600″ of snow. They expect to open more terrain that was closed last winter due to wildfire recovery during the 2023-24 season.
In the video below, KCRA spoke with Sierra-at-Tahoe General Manager John Rice, who discussed the challenges of bringing the ski resort back from the Caldor Fire. Shoutout to the workers at Sierra-At-Tahoe for bringing back the ski resort from a nasty wildfire.
Image/Video Credits: Sierra-At-Tahoe, KCRA 3
