The ski season is quickly coming to an end across the United States, with resorts that typically stay open far into May, or even into June, having already wrapped up their seasons or planning to wrap up their seasons in the coming weeks. Just 2 ski resorts remain open in California, but recent snowfall has made for a pretty epic April on their slopes.
Palisades Tahoe, which initially planned to wrap up the winter season this month, has seen 81+ inches of snow in April alone. That’s nearly 7 feet, and it’s been enough for the resort to extend their season into early/mid-May. There’s no closing date set quite yet, and they’ll keep the party going for as long as they can.
It’s been quite the party there, too. Yesterday, Thursday, April 23rd, saw what might be the most epic Palisades session of the year, with skiers and snowboarders taking advantage of the conditions and putting down some seriously epic runs. The legendary Scott Gaffney captured quite a few of these epic runs, including Ryan Lapp attempting a 3 off Center Line (1st clip below), 16-year-old Oskar Roner grabbing first tracks on Center Line (2nd clip), Aaron Scott Fox and Daron Rahlves ripping the Tube Chutes (3rd clip), Trevor Semmens launching over the Tube Chutes, and more.
Daron Rahlves got some pretty gnarly POV shots through Chimney as well (see below).
Ryan Lapp‘s 360 attempt off Center Line may have been unsuccessful, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t epic. He got plenty of other gnarly runs in anyways (happy birthday Ryan, glad it was filled with epic lines).
Of course it wouldn’t be an epic Palisades day without a member of the Gaffney family going huge, and Noah Gaffney provided those exact sends we needed.
The undisputed champion of the day was certainly freeride icon Ross Tester, who proved once again that he’s one of the best skiers out there these days by successfully sending and landing a huge 360 off Center Line, all while in just a t-shirt. He’s certainly among Palisade’s biggest senders after this one.
Don’t worry, there were plenty of wipeouts along side the epic sends.
If you’re unaware, the Palisades include some of Palisades Tahoe’s most iconic terrain, with high-exposure chutes like Chimney and Main being featured in plenty of ski films. It’s easily some of the most legendary in-bound terrain in North America, sitting high among other legendary routes like Corbet’s Couloir at Jackson Hole and Air Jordan at Whistler Blackcomb. It stands out among the rest with how many different run options it offers.
Palisades Tahoe is yet to announce a closing date, though right now they’re hoping to keep the party going into early-to-mid May. The resort currently has 11 of 49 lifts spinning with 40 of 296 trails open. Lift tickets are currently available online for as low as $84.
